Dawn
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03:06 Jan 19, 2026
• Leghari says electricity cuts due to fuel mismanagement, transmission constraints, among other causes • Minister contests ‘outdated’ Nepra report, says document should have been shared for ‘fact-checking’ • Claims tariff dropped from Rs53.04 in March 2024 to Rs42.27 in December 2025 ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday conceded power cuts in most parts of the country for the last 8–10 days despite surplus capacity due to transmission constraints and fuel mismanagement, the continuation of the debt servicing surcharge on consumers for the next six years, and the cost of inefficiencies being charged to taxpayers. Speaking at a press conference in the capital, Power Minister Awais Leghari said the grid faced problems due to fog, north-south transmission constraints, a few days of extension in the scheduled outage of a major nuclear power plant, and ‘mistakes’ in the right fuel arrangements by the Sahiwal Coal Power Project. He said the issue was, however, mainly due to the repeated tripping of the transmission...