Power consumers to face another price hike

The country's power consumers are expected to experience another increase in electricity rates, potentially rising by up to Rs5.62 per unit due to fuel cost adjustments (FCA) for December 2023.

This surge may impose a burden of Rs51 billion on consumers, covering both FCA and general sales tax (GST). Sources suggest that the FCA and GST impacts would amount to Rs43.41 billion and Rs7.81 billion, respectively.

The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) has proposed a hike of Rs5.62 per unit in the power tariff for December 2023.

In their petition to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on behalf of power distribution companies (DISCOS), CPPA highlighted that the cost charged from consumers in December was Rs5.4031 per unit, while the cost of the energy delivered to DISCOs was Rs11.0225 per unit. The requested increase of Rs5.6194 per unit includes previous adjustments of Rs0.7003 per unit.

NEPRA is scheduled to conduct a public hearing on the CPPA-G petition on January 31.

According to CPPA's application, the total electricity generated from various fuels in December was recorded at 7,726 GWh (gigawatt per hour) at a price of Rs10.1341 per unit.

The total cost of energy generated was Rs78,296 million. CPPA-G also sought previous adjustments of Rs5.411 billion or Rs0.7003 per unit.
The data reveals that power generation from hydel sources was 1,859 GWh, constituting 24.06% of total generation with zero cost of power generation.

Power production from coal-fired power plants was 1,694 GWh (local + imported coal: 1310 + 384 GWh). The share of local coal was 16.95% at Rs12.3307 per unit, while that of imported coal was 4.97% at Rs17.2525 per unit.

A small volume of electricity (6 GWh) was generated from high-speed diesel at Rs42.1497 per unit. From RFO-based power plants, 168.2 GWh of electricity (2.18%) was generated at Rs38.5499 per unit during the month.

Similarly, power generation from gas-based power plants was 826 GWh (10.69%) at Rs14.6035 per unit. The generation from Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) was 1,268 GWh in December, contributing 16.41% at Rs26.2230 per unit.

Electricity generation from bagasse was 101 GWh (1.31%) at Rs5.9822 per unit. Wind power contributed 150 GWh (1.95%), and solar generated 62 GWh (0.80%) of the total electricity in December 2023.

Moreover, electricity generation from nuclear sources was 1,464 GWh, costing Rs1.3162 per unit, constituting 18.95% of the total generation. Additionally, electricity imported from Iran was 28 GWh, amounting to Rs33.1274 per unit in December.