Power consumers get Rs1.81 per unit refund for October

Those who used over 300 units and K-Electric customers not included

ISLAMABAD:

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has cut the power tariff by Rs1.81 per unit for October on account of fuel adjustment.

Nepra took this decision on Tuesday at a public hearing on the monthly fuel adjustment mechanism. Officials of the Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA) and Nepra’s own tariff section attended the meeting.



The CPPA, which is responsible for the purchase and sale of electricity, had proposed the cut and a refund to the consumers.

Domestic consumers using over 300 electricity units and K-Electric consumers are not included. But Nepra also issued a notification reducing the power tariff by Rs1.16 per unit for K-Electric consumers.



The CPPA petition stated that the fuel cost of electricity delivered to distribution companies (Discos) was Rs5.52 per unit in October against the reference price of Rs7.33. The total energy generated from all sources was 8,297.10GWh at a cost of Rs38.09 billion in the month. However, 8,107.76GWh were delivered to Discos at a cost of Rs44.77 billion.



The financial impact of transmission losses has been recorded at 2.24 per cent.

In October, total hydel power generation was recorded at 2,497GWh, which was 30.08 per cent of the total generation. The electricity produced through LNG cost Rs6.7 billion in the month.

At the meeting, Nepra Vice-Chairman Haroon Rasheed expressed serious concerns that Quetta power generation company had not obtained a generation licence from a regulator. He termed the procurement of 25MW power from this company a violation of rules.

However, officials of the National Transmission And Despatch Company reasoned the electricity was bought to maintain the system.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd,  2015.