Nepra reserves ruling on power tariff hike

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday concluded the public hearing of fuel price adjustments (FCA) for the month of December 2020 and reserved its decision on request for Rs1.80 per unit increase in electricity tariff.

The authority would announce the decision after reviewing data submitted by the Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA), which has sought an increase of Rs1.80 per unit increase in the tariff under the monthly fuel adjustment mechanism.

During the hearing, Nepra was informed that less electricity was generated from gas because of the shortage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in December. “Due to shortage of gas, electricity was generated through furnace oil,” an official said.

The hearing was informed that less gas was supplied to the power plants due to the supply of more gas to the domestic consumers. Nepra asked the authority how it would be explained to consumers that gas for the power sector had been diverted to the domestic sector.

During the hearing, officials said that if the more efficient plants were run, Rs665 million could have been saved. The Nepra chairman said that the increase in the price of electricity per unit could be from Rs1.30 to Rs1.60. However, the final decision will be taken after reviewing the statistics.

During the hearing, the Nepra chairman also said that expensive agreements were made with the power companies at the dollar rate. At present, the circular debt has reached the level of Rs2,400 billion.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)