K-P to raise long standing issues in CCI meeting

These include Net Hydel Profit, Liquefied Natural Gas, and gas supply to villages

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government will raise the issues of Net Hydel Profit (NHP), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and gas supply to villages within five-kilometer radius of the well-heads at the Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting on Friday.

According to officials, the K-P government has two objections regarding the NHP, one over the NHP payment to Punjab and the other over its own NHP payment.

“The Wapda is collecting money in the tariff from the K-P consumers to pay us our annual share of Rs18 billion in NHP. We want Wapda or the federal government to pay us the NHP from its own revenue and not from the consumers,” said an official of the K-P government.

“NHP is our share in the profit which the federal government makes from the hydropower stations located in K-P. How can you [the federal government] pay us our share in your profit by collecting it from the consumers through hidden surcharges?” the official said.



The official added that the federal government was charging the consumers twice, by making profit from the hydel generation and through hidden charges in the bills. The official said that the K-P government was pressing for the uncapping of its NHP share from Rs6 billion.

The federal government and K-P signed an MOU on February 25, 2016 under which the K-P’s share in NHP was uncapped and decided at the rate of Rs1.10 per kilowatt hour for an interim period while, the K-P arrears of the NHP towards the federal govern ment were agreed at a total Rs70 billion.

The officials later found that the Wapda, through petitions filed to Nepra, increased the tariff in order to pay the K-P government its NHP share.

“The uncapping and payment of arrears has no benefit to K-P and its people when it is to be collected from the K-P consumers,” the officials said.



Regarding the Punjab’s share in the NHP, the K-P government wants the NHP share of both Punjab and K-P to be calculated and determined under the AGN Kazi formula.

“We want the CCI to amend its decision under which Punjab’s NHP was approved in its meeting held last year on December 16, as the NHP paid to Punjab is not according to the AGN Kazi formula,” said an official of the K-P government .

Another official informed that the K-P government does not accept all the decisions made in the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) regarding the LNG as the decisions have not been made in the CCI.

“CCI has the mandate to make decisions on the subject not the ECC. We will take up the issue in the meeting,” said the official adding that the matter regarding the supply of gas to houses falling within five-kilometer radius of the well-heads will also be taken in the meeting.



“The federal government would pay for the cost of the supply of the gas to the houses in the areas located within the five-kilometer radius. The K-P government or the consumers will not pay for it,” said the official adding that the K-P government will also raise the issue of the provision of petroleum blocks to provincial holding companies (the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Limited Company)  on government to government basis.