ISLAMABAD – The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) hastaken notice of increased load-shedding witnessed recently in various partsof the country.

The authority in its statement on Friday stated that the underlying issuehampering continuity of supply is overloaded grid stations of the NationalTransmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC).

The NTDC’s grid stations have suffered extensive overloading, specificallyin the service territories of Islamabad Electric Supply Company Limited(IESCO), Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) and Peshawar ElectricSupply Company (PESCO). This caused a forced load-shedding.

NEPRA said that it allowed a huge investment of Rs 96.63 billion to NTDCduring last three years for improvement and reliability of transmissionnetwork.

However, NTDC has failed to bring any improvement in its network.

Furthermore, NTDC also failed to convey information regarding constraintsin its network to NEPRA. The authority has issued directions to the NTDC toforthwith prepare and implement a prioritized plan for the elimination ofits overloading and network issues.