K-Electric seeks tariff cut by Rs5.02 per unit

NEPRA to hold public hearing on May 22; consumers may get Rs6.79b relief

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ISLAMABAD:

K-Electric (KE) has requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to reduce power tariff by Rs5.02 per unit (kilowatt-hour – kWh) on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for March 2025.

According to documents, KE has submitted a petition and sought tariff reduction by Rs5.02 per unit for its consumers. "KE has requested a provisional negative FCA for March 2025, which has been calculated on the basis of interim reference tariff of March 2023," said the documents.

If Nepra grants approval, the KE consumers will receive a relief of Rs6.79 billion. The regulatory authority has scheduled a public hearing for May 22 to deliberate on the private power utility's request for the negative FCA for March 2025.

In its plea, KE also urged Nepra to consider an additional adjustment of Rs14.6 billion, pending since July 2023, related to the actualisation of fuel costs, including costs from partial load operations, the open-cycle mode, degradation and the start of its power plants. Nepra has already set aside Rs9.4 billion in FCA decisions for the months of November 2024 to January 2025.

KE argued that adjusting the remaining amount now by utilising the negative fuel cost variations for February and March 2025 would prevent an additional financial burden on consumers in the future.

According to the documents, Nepra has outlined key issues that will be examined during the upcoming hearing. These include whether the proposed negative FCA for March 2025 is justified, whether KE adhered to the merit order while dispatching electricity from its own power plants and through external power purchases and whether the company's request to adjust the accumulated actual fuel costs, based on technical factors such as partial load operations, open-cycle running, degradation curves and startup costs, is reasonable.

The hearing will be conducted at the Nepra Tower and all interested and affected parties have been invited to submit written or oral comments. Relevant documents and determinations are available on the Nepra website.