Businesses seek industrial tariff below 9 cents

FPCCI appreciates 12-cent rate, links cheaper power to export growth

KARACHI:

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) President Atif Ikram Sheikh has acknowledged the government's reduction of the industrial electricity tariff from 16 cents to 12 cents per unit over the last two years. He said that a further reduction to below nine cents, extended to all industrial consumers, was the definitive way to raise exports and reduce imports.

He cautioned that the 12-cent rate and selective schemes were temporary fixes and that only a uniform reduction for all industries, including B3 and B4 category consumers, could lift exports and cut imports.

Sheikh thanked Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Minister for Power Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari for the relief. He also acknowledged the minister's effort to bring forward two measures to meet industrial demand: an incremental consumption package and an optional two-part Time-of-Use (ToU) tariff. He welcomed the holding of three sessions with the industry on them.

The FPCCI chief said that the incremental consumption package offered a concessional rate on electricity consumed above a consumer's own baseline – which was its previous consumption. Existing load is billed as before and the incentive applies only to additional units. The two-part ToU tariff splits the bill into a fixed capacity charge per kW per month and a variable charge per unit that differs by time of use – with separate rates for non-solar, solar and peak hours. Its aim is to encourage industry to consume more during the day, when solar generation is abundant and so ease the duck curve.