The report cites weaknesses in public sector discos

Islamabad

Pakistan’s electricity distribution sector continued to show uneven progress in health, safety and environment (HSE) standards, according to the National Electricity Regulatory Authority (Nepra)’s HSE performance assessment report for the financial year 2024-25.

The report highlights the persistent weaknesses of many public sector distribution companies. Utilities such as the Lahore, Quetta and Hyderabad power companies were rated in the “fair” category, indicating gaps in safety governance, contractor oversight and implementation of safety procedures at the field level. Others, including the Islamabad, Peshawar and Sukkur electricity utilities, were rated only as ‘good’ and showed inconsistent performance on key indicators, suggesting that improvements have not yet been incorporated into mature and sustainable HSE management systems.

In the distribution segment, only a limited number of public sector utilities, including Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and tribal area power companies, achieved ‘outstanding’ ratings during the assessment period. While these companies demonstrated comparatively stronger compliance, their results showed greater year-to-year variation compared to the top performers. K-Electric was placed in the ‘excellent’ category with the highest score of 91 out of 100.

Nepra’s annual assessment covers generation, transmission and distribution licensees and assesses them against 20 standardized categories outlined in the Energy Security Code. These include accident prevention measures, contractor safety management, documentation quality, emergency preparedness and effectiveness of HSE management systems. Scores are set out of 100 and classified into five levels of performance ranging from “unsatisfactory” to “excellent”.

Beyond distribution companies, the report highlights generally stronger and more consistent performance among power generation licensees, many of which recorded multi-year high scores. Transmission companies showed mixed results, reflecting the operational challenges associated with managing extensive high-voltage grids spread over large geographic areas.