KE consumers to see reduction of Rs7.43

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday allowed K-Electric (KE) to reduce its power tariff by Rs7.43 per unit on account of monthly fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for electricity consumed in November 2022.

The power regulator also increased the price by Rs0.1857 per unit for consumers of ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (Discos), also on account of FCA for the same month.

Following a petition filed by KE, in which the company sought a reduction of Rs7.043 per unit, the power regulator said that it has allowed KE to reduce its tariff by Rs7.4307 per unit for the month of November, which will provide relief of Rs10.67billion to its consumers in Karachi.

According to a notification issued by Nepra, the KE’s negative FCA for November 2022 shall be applicable to all consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic consumers consuming up-to 300 units, agriculture consumers and Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS) consumers of KE.

The negative adjustment, on account of monthly FCA, is also applicable to domestic consumers with Time of Use (ToU) metres – irrespective of their consumption level. KE shall reflect November 2022’s FCA in the billing month of January 2023, it read.

Regarding the cost of energy purchased from the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) in the current month, KE has used the rate of Rs6.2700 per unit, however, the authority’s approved fuel cost component in the matter of XWDiscos for the current month is Rs6.2654 per unit. This has resulted in a decrease in total fuel cost by around Rs3.4 million.

Earlier, KE had requested for the release of Rs546 million, withheld on account of Economic Merit Order (EMO) violations for the period from June 2021 to September 2022. The claimed amount of Rs546 million has been withheld from KE’s FCA claim for November 2022, until the issue is finalised.

In its decision on CPPA-G’s petition, seeking an increase in tariff on account of monthly FCA for November, Nepra said that after scrutiny the regulator has calculated a hike of Rs0.1857 per unit.

The CPPA-G had filed a petition on behalf of XWDiscos, requesting that since the reference fuel charges for November 2022 were estimated at Rs6.0762 per unit, whereas the actual fuel charges were Rs6.2700 per unit, that they be allowed to increase the tariff by Rs0.1938 per unit under the FCA mechanism.

Nepra in its decision noted that the National Power Parks Management Company Limited’s powerplant at Haveli Bahadur Shah (HBS) and Baloki are the most efficient plants in Pakistan’s power sector – with an efficiency level of over 61%. During the month of November 2022, the utilisation factors of these RLNG powerplants stood at 75.44% for HBS and 31.16% for Baloki.

Average load management during the month of November, 2022 was around 2,700 MW. While on one hand, full utilisation of these power plants could minimise load shedding and on the other it could help avoid part load charges of Rs1.458 billion, it observed.

As per data submitted by the National Power Construction Corporation (NPCC), the average RLNG allocated to the power sector during the month of November 2022 was 292 MMCFD, whereas average consumption was 229 MMCFD. Due to lower allocation of RLNG, however, during some days of the month the RFO plants were operated to meet with the system demand, which caused an indicative financial impact of Rs63.82 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2023.

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