K-Electric and the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) will be excluded from the federal government’s daily loadshedding plan, the Power Division’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Earlier today, the division said that due to rising electricity demand during peak hours, electricity would be suspended for around 2.25 hours daily between 5pm and 1am countrywide under its “peak relief strategy”.

However, a statement issued later in the day from the Power Division’s spokesperson said: “Government’s decision not to implement 2.25-hour load management in HESCO and K-Electric.”

The reason provided for not implementing load management in both distribution companies (DISCOs) was their lower dependence on furnace oil.

“There is abundant cheap electricity generated from other sources in the south of the country. The cheap electricity generated in the south is being used within both DISCOs. The consumers there are not being unnecessarily inconvenienced due to the generation of cheap electricity,” the statement said, adding that relief from the cheap electricity would be transferred to the public.

On April 6, the federal government had decided that markets and shopping malls in the country, barring those in Sindh, would close by 8pm as part of energy conservation measures.

The Sindh government subsequently announced on April 10 that all shops, markets, and shopping malls in Karachi and other divisional headquarters across the province would close at 9pm throughout the week, including Saturdays and Sundays, as part of austerity measures aligned with the federal government’s directive.