LAHORE – The United States is strengthening Pakistan’s energy sector and helping to end the energy crisis. In this effort, Deputy Director USAID Punjab, Gail Spence, launched a human resource management workshop at the Lahore University of ManagementSciences(LUMS.  The USAID Power Distribution Program (PDIP) organized the training for the nine power sector distribution companies (DISCOs) and the Department of Business Management Studies, LUMS designed the three-day program, says a press release.
The three-year long USAID Power Distribution Program’s mission is to reduce energy losses, increase revenue, improve customer service, and transform distribution companies to efficient utilities. “Effective organisations around the world make human resource management a priority, use a structured strategic planning process to identify their business priorities, and use innovative HR management techniques to implement key policies and intelligent solutions,” Ms. Gail Spence remarked.  “By supporting an improvement in the DISCO’s commercial performance and operational management, we will ultimately improve the financial and organizational sustainability of the entire power sector of Pakistan.”
In addition to supporting improvements in the power distribution system, USAID is helping to renovate and complete several power plants across the country and introducing energy efficiency measures in Pakistan. Together, these changes could restore or add up to 1,000 Mega Watts of power generation capacity to the national grid by 2013 and contribute to the reduction of power shortages across the country.