LESCO bills Rs200mn to consumers below 100 units per month

Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz on Monday announced free electricity for consumers using 100 units of electricity in Punjab and he had said during a news conference in Lahore that the bill of 100 units of electricity users in Punjab for the last six months would be waived.

Profit obtained details from Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) on how many people in Lahore would benefit from the subsidy program.

A senior LESCO official informed Profit that 157,528 consumers in the city would entitled to free electricity under the CM package since that is the number of people using up to 100 units per month.

One fan and one lightbulb running for 24 hours is enough to consume 100 units in a month, the official said. Any consumption above this will take the billing above the threshold.

According to the official, consumers using 100 units had to pay RS 1,230 per month for electricity, in addition to the cost of electricity, they also had to pay about Rs 800 in various taxes and fees.

“Under this subsidy package, every consumer who consumes up to 100 units of electricity will get a benefit of more than RS 2,000 per month and the Punjab government will give a total monthly subsidy of about Rs 200 million to LESCO. LESCO currently has 5.8 million total consumers. Experts from the Punjab government and power companies have teamed up to work out a formula for the subsidy.

The official added that the old meters had been replaced by new meters in almost the entire city and this year too, when the summer season started, the remaining houses where the old style meters were installed were also replaced.

“New meters run 30 percent faster than old meters. That's why the electricity bill increases by 30 percent. In addition, many homes have three-phase meters installed that are up to 40 percent faster. For the past two years, middle and lower middle class families have shifted their common home appliances such as fans and air coolers to DC technology, which uses 12 volts and a few amperes of electricity. LED technology is now being used in homes to replace the typical 100-watt or 60-watt bulbs and tube lights, which consume very little electricity.