K-Electric Industrial Feeders Consume Record 6.08 Billion Units in FY26

K-Electric (KE) — Karachi's vertically integrated power utility — recorded a historic 6.08 billion units of electricity consumed across its industrial feeders in FY26 (July 2025 to June 2026), the highest figure in the company's history. The total surpasses the previous record of 5.84 billion units set in FY22 and represents a 20 percent year-on-year increase over the 5.04 billion units consumed in FY25, coinciding with Pakistan's GDP expanding by 3.7 percent in the same fiscal year.

Breaking the FY22 Record After Four Years

The FY22 peak of 5.84 billion units was achieved during a year when Pakistan's GDP growth crossed 6 percent and industrial activity was at a post-pandemic high. After that, KE's industrial consumption remained subdued through FY23, FY24, and most of FY25, as the national economy contended with severe import restrictions, currency devaluation, and double-digit inflation. The 20 percent year-on-year jump from FY25 to FY26 therefore reflects a meaningful economic recovery, not merely incremental growth.

KE Chief Executive Syed Muhammad Taha credited the milestone to the utility's sustained policy of maintaining loadshedding-exempt supply on industrial feeders — a commitment KE says has been in place since 2013. He noted that all of KE's industrial feeders operate on 100 percent smart meters, enabling customers to monitor real-time consumption data and plan production schedules accordingly.

Cement, Steel, and Textile Led Demand

The single largest consuming segment in FY26 was the B3 category, defined as industrial consumers with contracted demand between 501 and 5,000 kW. This band encompasses Karachi's cement manufacturers, steel mills, and textile producers — three sectors that are also heavy export contributors and major employers across the city's industrial zones.

Smaller industrial categories contributed to the overall figure, but B3 dominated the aggregate. On a monthly basis, June 2026 registered the highest single-month industrial consumption, followed by April — both falling within the peak summer production window when factory activity is high and cooling requirements compound base power demand.

349 New Connections and 168 MW of Added Demand

The record consumption was supported not only by growth in existing operations but also by a wave of new industrial customers joining KE's network during FY26:

• KE energised 349 new industrial connections across its Karachi service territory.
• A further 273 existing industrial customers applied for and received load expansions.
• Combined, these additions brought a cumulative 168 MW of new industrial demand onto KE's grid within a single fiscal year.

To put 168 MW in context, KE's total system peak demand varies roughly between 2,500 MW and 3,500 MW depending on the season. Adding that volume of contracted industrial load in twelve months signals that Karachi's manufacturing sector is committing fresh capital to expansion — a confidence vote in both the economic outlook and KE's supply reliability.