NEPRA approves tariff hike of Rs1.95 per unit
PHOTO: EXPRESS
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday allowed power distribution companies to ramp up electricity tariff by Rs1.95 per unit to recover a total of Rs30.4 billion from consumers.
The regulator approved the increase in tariff on account of fuel cost adjustment for August 2021.
It came in response to a request from the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G), which sought a tariff hike of Rs2.0719 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) with total impact of Rs32.30 billion on the consumers.
Nepra conducted a public hearing on September 30, 2021 and approved a positive fuel cost adjustment of Rs1.9539 per kWh having total impact of around Rs30.4 billion.
The fuel cost adjustment for August 2021 will be recovered in the billing month of October 2021 from all consumer categories of ex-Wapda distribution companies (DISCOs), except for lifeline consumers.
The adjustment will be applicable for one month only and will not be applied to K-Electric consumers.
Nepra calculated fuel cost for August 2021 after accounting for some adjustments and including the cost arising in the wake of application of various factors, as provided in the respective power purchase agreements (PPAs) of power producers and claimed by CPPA-G in its fuel cost adjustment request.
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The tariff increase is subject to adjustment based on the final outcome of ongoing suo motu proceedings against residual fuel oil-based independent power plants (IPPs).
National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) reported provisional transmission and distribution (T&D) losses of 448.852 gigawatt-hours (GWh), ie 2.862%, based on the energy delivered to its system, which was calculated at 15,685 GWh for August 2021.
In addition to that, NTDC reported T&D losses of 28.864 GWh for Pak Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line Company (PMLTC) high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) transmission line.
For August 2021, T&D losses of 442.24 GWh (2.665%) were verified for the NTDC system based on the units delivered through the 500-kilovolt and 220kv network.
The claimed T&D losses of 28.864 GWh (3.05%) for PMLTC, which were within the limit allowed by Nepra, were also considered while working out the fuel cost adjustment for August 2021.
Nepra directed CPPA-G to provide technically/ financially-verified data of each power generation company pertaining to the previous month along with its next monthly fuel cost adjustment request in order to ensure that required adjustments were made in a timely manner.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2021.
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