NEPRA Issues DHA City Karachi Its First Private Power Distribution Licence

NEPRA (the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) on Friday awarded DHA Energy Supply Company — known as Desco — two parallel licences for electricity distribution and supplier of last resort (SoLR), valid for 21 years, making DHA City Karachi (DHACK) the first privately owned housing project in Pakistan to operate as a licensed power utility. The licences, issued after NEPRA overruled objections from K-Electric, the Central Power Purchasing Agency, and GEPCO, are strictly limited to facilities within DHACK, located approximately 56 kilometres from Karachi city along the M-9 motorway in District Malir.

A Historic First Under Pakistan's CTBCM Framework

Pakistan's electricity distribution has long been the preserve of two groups: the nine ex-WAPDA distribution companies — LESCO, IESCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, QESCO, FESCO, TESCO, and GEPCO — and K-Electric (KE), which serves greater Karachi. NEPRA's CTBCM (Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market) regime, designed to liberalise Pakistan's power sector and enable direct bilateral power purchase agreements, creates a legal pathway for new private entities to seek distribution licences. Desco is the first private company to successfully obtain both a distribution licence and an SoLR designation under this framework.

The SoLR designation legally obliges Desco to serve as the guaranteed electricity supplier for any DHACK consumer not covered by another licensed entity — a standard consumer-protection requirement NEPRA attaches to every distribution licence. Together, these two licences give Desco both the authority and the responsibility to manage DHACK's electricity supply from procurement through to end-user billing.

How Desco Plans to Source Electricity

DHACK currently has no direct connection to Pakistan's national grid or to KE's distribution infrastructure. As an initial solution, Desco has reached an understanding with Lucky Cement Limited to procure 6 MW of electricity. That power will be wheeled through KE's network to reach residential, commercial, and other consumers within DHACK. Six megawatts represents a modest early-phase load; as occupancy grows, Desco will need to expand its sourcing arrangements — whether through a direct grid connection, additional bilateral contracts, or renewable energy procurement that the CTBCM framework is designed to facilitate.

Objections From K-Electric, CPPA, and GEPCO Dismissed

Three entities formally opposed Desco's application before NEPRA:

• K-Electric, which holds distribution and SoLR licences for all of Karachi until June 2044. KE's exclusive monopoly formally ended in 2023, making its licences non-exclusive — but the utility still contested a competing licensee operating within its broader territory.
• CPPA (Central Power Purchasing Agency), the commercial arm of Pakistan's Power Division, which oversees centralised electricity procurement for ex-WAPDA DISCOs and raised concerns about the application.
• GEPCO (Gujranwala Electric Power Company), a Punjab-based DISCO whose service territory is geographically distant from DHACK, but which filed an objection — likely reflecting sector-wide concerns about the precedent this type of licence sets.

NEPRA dismissed all three objections, concluding that Desco's application met the criteria for grant and that the licences, strictly confined to DHACK's geographic boundaries, did not encroach on any existing licensee's jurisdiction.