Energy conservation.

Byline: Hussain Siddiqui - Islamabad

ACCORDING to Nepra's State of Industry Report 2019, the domestic or household sector is the largest consumer of electricity, increasing manifold on year-on-year basis.

Last year, the domestic sector consumed more than 51,119 GWh energy or 48 per cent of the total electricity consumed by all the sectors, including industrial, commercial, agriculture and others that accounted for a total of 106,760 GWh.

Seemingly, the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2016 has not been effective, and it failed to achieve the desired results.

The governments, past and present, have not shown political will and commitment towards energy savings. There are reliable studies confirming that 10pc to 20pc saving or conserving electricity in various sectors is possible.

Whereas the government has so far relied heavily on the industrial consumers of electricity for energy efficiency, the domestic sector has been ignored, which provides great potential for energy saving.

Demand side management (DSM) or energy demand management, aimed at encouraging the electricity consumers to use less energy, has been successful in various countries such as the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia and India.

There is a need to initiate DSM programme in Pakistan's domestic or household sector in the first phase through various measures aiming at behavioural change through creating necessary awareness, and offering financial incentives to the consumers.

Major areas of electricity conservation in a household are lighting, heating and cooling, domestic appliances, electric motors for water pumping, etc...

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