Power hike of Rs4.33 per unit on cards

CPPA seeks increase in tariff on basis of monthly fuel adjustment

ISLAMABAD:

The price of electricity is likely to increase by Rs4.33 per unit as the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to jack up the tariff.

In case, the national regulator approves the application, power consumers would be burdened with an amount of Rs40 billion.

Nepra will hear the CPPA's application on December 29. The application had been moved on the basis of monthly fuel adjustment.

It stated that 8.24 billion units of electricity were generated in November. Last month, the production cost of electricity was Rs66 billion.

The most expensive electricity was generated from diesel costing Rs27.20 per unit. This was followed by furnace oil, which generated power at Rs20.27 per unit.

The production cost from LNG was Rs17.26 per unit.

Electricity from Iran was imported at Rs13.35 per unit while 20 paise per unit was lost due to power line losses.

Earlier this month, Nepra had notified an increase of Rs4.74 in the electricity tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for October 2021.

The FCA will be charged with the bill of December 2021 -- to be paid by all consumer categories of distribution companies -- except for lifeline customers, the notification had stated.

“While effecting the fuel adjustment charges, the concerned XWDISCOs shall keep in view and strictly comply with the orders of the courts notwithstanding this order,” it had added.

Also read: ECC okays hike in power prices

Before that, Nepra had allowed K-Electric to collect Rs3.75 per unit on account of FCA for the month of September from the consumers of the city.

The power consumers of the Karachi will pay an additional Rs7.22 billion in their electricity bills this December after the move.

Last month, Nepra had allowed up to Rs1.68 per unit increase in the electricity tariff to phase out power subsidies.

The tariff hike was the first phase of eliminating power subsidies.

More increases are on the cards as government is working on the second and third phases of reducing subsidies in the power sector.

Due to the increase in the base tariff, the government would collect Rs135 billion extra annually.

In a notification issued by Nepra, it had decided to increase the electricity tariff by up to Rs1.68 for domestic consumers and Rs1.39 per unit for commercial and industrial consumers. The increase was not applied to consumers using up to 200 units per month.

The new rate for consumers using up to 300 units was Rs13.83 per unit; for 400-700 units the rate was Rs21.23 per unit, while for 700 units or more, the price was fixed at Rs24.33.