The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has reduced electricity tariff up to 75 paisa per unit for consumers of ex-Wapda power distribution companies (DISCOs) and K-Electric on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA).
The power-sector regulator cut tariff up to Rs0.7556 per unit for DISCOs due to variations in fuel charges in November 2024.
For K-Electric consumers, it slashed the power price by Rs0.4919 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for October 2024. The reimbursement on account of tariff reduction will be made in electricity bills for January 2025.
Discussing a tariff application of DISCOs, the regulator said that National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) reported provisional transmission and transformation (T&T) losses of 244.158 gigawatt hours (GWh), equivalent to 2.946%, based on energy delivered to the NTDC system during November 2024.
Additionally, NTDC reported T&T losses of 19.528 GWh, or 3.391%, for Pak Matiari-Lahore Transmission Company's (PMLTC) high-voltage, direct-current line.
NTDC is allowed T&T losses of 2.639% at 500-kilovolt and 220kV levels. For PMLTC, the permitted T&T losses are up to 4.3%.
Accordingly, for November 2024, the T&T losses of 263.686 GWh were verified for the NTDC system at 500kV and 220kV networks and for PMLTC, keeping them within permissible limits. These losses were included in the monthly FCA calculation.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G) provided details of net metering units. According to data, DISCOs purchased 80.78 GWh under net metering during November. Additionally, the CPPA-G reported that 18.22 GWh were supplied by power producers having bilateral contracts with DISCOs.
Regarding fuel costs for independent power producers/captive power plants, the CPPA-G provided only monthly data of NTDC for these suppliers to DISCOs but did not include the fuel cost claims with the FCA submission.
The adjustment will apply to all consumer categories except for lifeline consumers, domestic consumers using up to 300 units, electric vehicle charging stations, prepaid electricity consumers of all categories and agricultural consumers of DISCOs.
The regulator clarified that the negative tariff adjustment on account of monthly FCA would also apply to domestic consumers with time-of-use (ToU) meters, regardless of their consumption levels.
The adjustment will be shown separately in consumer bills based on the units billed in November. Terms and conditions of the Winter Demand Initiative dated December 6, 2024 will also apply to the FCA. DISCOs will reflect the FCA for November 2024 in the billing month of January 2025.
In case of K-Electric, the power-sector regulator slashed tariff up to Rs0.49 per unit on account of FCA for October 2024, which would be passed on to consumers in the billing month of January 2025. Total impact of the relief is calculated at Rs843 million.
Nepra has allowed the FCA provisionally, subject to adjustment once the new multi-year tariff (MYT) is approved for financial years 2024 to 2030. Any cost difference will be allowed in future adjustments once the MYT is notified.
The reduction will apply to all consumer categories except for lifeline consumers, domestic consumers using up to 300 units, EV charging stations, prepaid electricity consumers and agricultural consumers. The negative tariff adjustment also applies to domestic consumers having ToU meters, regardless of their consumption levels.
It will be shown separately in consumer bills based on the number of units billed in the respective month to which the adjustment applies. K-Electric will reflect the FCA for October 2024 in the billing month of January 2025.
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