Pleas filed with NEPRA for power tariff hike

CCPA-G, K-Electric seek increase in monthly adjustments

ISLAMABAD:

The Central Power Purchasing Agency- Guarantee (CPPA-G) and K-Electric have filed separate petitions with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) seeking an increase in tariffs.

In their pleas, the CPPA-G has sought a monthly adjustment of 80 paisas and K-Electric a quarterly adjustment of Rs6.52.

The power regulatory authority will hear both the applications on July 28.

The petition filed by the CPPA read that last month, 29.40% of electricity was generated using water, 18.03% from coal and 18.81% using LNG.

Furnace oil and diesel generated 8.18% and 0.43% electricity, respectively, during June.
The application filed by K-Electric seeks monthly adjustments of Rs1.97 per unit for January, Rs2.49 for February and Rs1.49 for March.

The power company has also sought a reduction of 86 paisas per unit in April's monthly fuel adjustment, 86 paisas for May and an increase of 21 paisas for June.
K Electric has also requested an increase of 36 paisas in its tariff for the quarter from January to March this year.

Last month, Nepra had slashed power tariff by 26.44 paisa per unit on account of fuel cost adjustment for the month of May.

It allowed the CPPA-G to return 26.44 paisa per unit, which it had overcharged from electricity consumers during the month.The CPPA-G had requested Nepra to allow refund of the overcharged tariff of 12.5 paisa per unit to the consumers of distribution companies for May 2021 under the fuel cost adjustment (FCA) mechanism.

Nepra had conducted a hearing on the petition in May. During the hearing, the regulator noted that against the actual fuel cost component of Rs5.6734 per unit, the reference fuel cost component was Rs5.9322 per unit. The fuel price variation came in at 25.88 paisa for May.

Similarly, the deviation from the economic merit order caused an extra burden of Rs354.29 million or 2.78 paisa per unit. The total decrease recommended was 28.66 paisa per unit and its impact would have been Rs3.6 billion. However, Nepra allowed tariff reduction of 26.44 paisa per unit under FCA, which would have an impact of Rs3.3 billion.

In its petition, the CPPA-G had said the total energy generated in May was recorded at 13,009.51GWh at Rs5.7009 per unit.
The total cost of energy was calculated at Rs74.166 billion. According to the CPPA-G data, the net electricity delivered to distribution companies in May 2021 was 12,678.50GWh at Rs5.8067 per unit and its total price stood at Rs73.620 billion.

The CPPA-G, in its petition, said since the reference fuel charges for May were estimated at Rs5.9322 per unit whereas the actual fuel charges were Rs5.8067 per unit, hence a reduction of 12.55 paisa per unit was being sought for the month. The CPPA-G had also sought a reduction of Rs23 million in supplemental charges.