K-Electric extends Karachi loadshedding as power crisis deepens

K-Electric has extended loadshedding in Karachi, deepening the city's power crisis, according to reports carried by Lokmat Times, ANI News and The Tribune. The reports said the utility had extended the outages but did not give the new schedule, the number of hours involved, the areas affected, or the reason for the decision.

The three outlets ran substantially the same headline, saying the Karachi power crisis had deepened as K-Electric extended loadshedding. None of the copy available to Skardu Times carried a statement from the company, a duration for the extended outages, or a breakdown of which parts of the city would lose supply and for how long.

K-Electric distributes electricity across Karachi, the country's largest city and its main industrial and commercial centre. Load management decisions by the utility reach households, markets, small workshops, factories and hospitals, and extended outages change how businesses plan shifts and how residents plan their days.

No statement from a K-Electric spokesperson, the federal power ministry or the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority appeared in the reports available. Skardu Times could not independently confirm the length or the scope of the extension, and it was not immediately clear whether the extended loadshedding applied to the whole city or to specific feeders.

The reports did not say what had prompted the extension. Karachi's supply position depends on the generation available to the utility and on the transmission and distribution network it operates, and the outlets gave no figures for either.

Loadshedding schedules in Karachi are watched closely because they determine how many hours each area is without power, and any change is felt first by small businesses that cannot run generators through a long outage.