Consumers should brace themselves for another jolt in their electricity bills, as the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has requested a tariff increase of Rs4.9917 per unit due to fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for February 2024.
Following a rise of over Rs7 per unit in January due to fuel adjustments, CPPA, representing Ex-Wapda Discos (XWDiscos), submitted a petition to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). It cited that the reference fuel charge for February was Rs4.4337 per unit, while the actual cost of energy delivered to Discos was Rs9.4254 per unit. The requested increase of Rs4.9917 per unit includes previous adjustments of Rs0.5484 per unit. If fully approved by NEPRA, this could burden electricity consumers with an additional Rs40 billion (FCA + General Sales Tax). NEPRA will hold a public hearing on March 28, 2024, to review the petition.
The breakdown of data reveals varying costs across different generation sources, from Rs1.3213 per unit for nuclear to Rs27.1968 per unit for electricity imported from Iran. No electricity was generated from High Speed Diesel and Furnace Oil during the month.
CPPA’s application states that total electricity generated from various fuels in the month of February was 7,130 GWh (giga watt per hour), costing Rs8.6950 per unit, with a total energy cost of Rs61,996 million. Of this, 6,876 GWh costing Rs64,804 million was delivered to Discos, with 3.53% transmission losses.
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Power generation sources in February included 1766 GWh from hydel sources constituting 24.77% with zero cost of power generation, 1129 GWh from coal-fired plants (13.94% local coal at Rs14.1863 per unit and 1.89% imported coal at Rs20.2194 per unit), 787 GWh or 11.04% from local gas at the cost of Rs12.3794 per unit, 1450 GWh or 20.33% from RLNG at the cost of Rs24.2952 per unit, and 1,660 GWh or 23.29% from nuclear plants costing Rs1.3213 per unit. Imported Iranian energy cost Rs27.1968 per unit in February. Bagasse contributed 1.41% to the national grid at Rs5.9822 per unit, while wind and solar contributed 1.53% and 1.26%, respectively, to the total generation in February 2024.
Last week, Pakistan assured the International Monetary Fund of a timely increase in electricity prices, including the recovery of pending generation costs totalling over Rs210 billion.
After the Rs7.05 per unit increase in the fuel adjustment price of electricity in February 2024 for the month of January 2024, different business groups expressed grave concern and called the hike unexpected. They added that this increase would put a burden of Rs70 billion on the people of Pakistan, adding that apart from domestic consumers, the industrial sector, especially the export-oriented sector, will suffer a huge loss in terms of foreign exchange.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2024.
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