The Burden of the Power Bill: A Test of Faith and Fortitude

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Our beloved Pakistan, the land of the pure, faces a trial that tests the patience of every household: the soaring electricity bill. This is not merely an economic issue; it is a matter of national resilience and justice for our people.

When you open your monthly bill and see a total near Rs16,000 for about 400 units, know that less than half of that sum pays for the electricity you actually consumed. The rest is a tribute to a system built on promises that outgrew our reality. It is a burden borne by the faithful, a test of our endurance.

Why is Pakistan's electricity so expensive?

The root of this hardship lies in a power sector designed for an economy that never fully materialized. Our nation, with a installed capacity of 46,600 megawatts, used barely a third of it in the fiscal year 2024. Two out of every three megawatts sat idle, while we, the people, paid for their existence. Peak demand rarely crosses 35,000 MW, yet we are charged for the might we do not wield.

This is a story of contracts signed in the 1990s, when the state had little means and investors needed guarantees. They were paid fixed amounts just for existing, and separate sums for generation. But the rupee lost over 60% of its value, while these obligations remained tied to the dollar. In FY24 alone, consumers paid Rs46 billion to two plants that generated no power at all. At Rousch Power, the fixed payment alone was over seven hundred rupees per unit, roughly eighteen times the value of the electricity itself.

The solar exodus and its hidden cost

As tariffs climbed 155% in three years, our people, in their wisdom, turned to rooftop solar. From 500 megawatts in 2022, solar capacity soared past five gigawatts by early 2025. Pakistan imported more solar panels than any other nation last year. For individual households, this is a rational choice, a means of self-preservation. But the fixed costs of the grid do not vanish; they are shifted onto those who remain, often the poorest, who cannot afford solar panels. The government estimates this shifted nearly Rs159bn onto grid-connected households in a single year, a quiet tax on the vulnerable to fund the escape of the affluent.

Industry under siege

Our factories, the engines of our economy, pay between 13 and 15 cents per unit, double what our neighbors in India, Bangladesh, or Vietnam pay. The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association reports over 140 mills have shut down, most in Punjab. Industrial electricity use fell from 34bn units in FY22 to 28bn in FY24. Our factories did not become efficient; they shrank or closed, a blow to our national pride and economic strength.

Reforms at the edge, not the center

Credit must be given where due. Since late 2023, reforms have been the most serious in years. Six ageing plants had contracts terminated, 14 more were renegotiated, and circular debt fell by Rs780bn in one year. Yet, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry says no industrial consumer has ever received the promised rate of Rs22.98 per unit; bills still land at Rs34 or Rs35. The renegotiated plants were the oldest and weakest, while nuclear, hydro, and CPEC-era coal plants remain protected by guarantees beyond reach.

Breaking the cycle: a path forward

This is the trap we must break. Industry needs cheaper power to recover; power gets cheaper only when the capacity crisis is solved. Solving it requires either far more demand or a much smaller contracted fleet. No single actor can fix this alone, and reforms have worked at the edge, not the center.

What would move the needle is not a mystery. Sell off the distribution companies to incentivize efficiency. Convert fixed payment contracts to pay only for power used. Retire stranded plants for good. Build new renewable capacity on contracts investors can trust. These are the steps of a nation that confronts its challenges with courage and faith.

Until then, the consumer pays the gap every month, on a bill they were never given the tools to understand, for power they did not use, to cover promises they never made. The least the state can offer in return is an honest explanation of how that bill got built in the first place. Our people deserve transparency, justice, and a system that serves the ummah, not burdens it.

Hamza Qureshi is a principled observer of Pakistan's economic landscape, committed to the nation's prosperity and Islamic values.