Electricity consumers of all power distributing companies (DISCOs), except K-Electric will find a relief worth Rs 20 billion in the form of electricity bills, as power sector regulator has approved Rs 3.23 per unit cut in electricity price for the month of November.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday approved Rs 3.23 per unit cut in electricity price under the head monthly fuel charges adjustment for the month of January. However, the decision will not be applicable to the consumers of K-Electric.
Power sector regulatory authority (NEPRA) took the decision of relief while hearing a tariff petition, filed by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). The hearing was chaired by chairman NEPRA Tariq Sadozai. CPPA pleaded before the regulatory authority to approve Rs 1.62/unit cut in electricity price under the head monthly fuel price adjustment for the month of January. The CPPA said that the actual generation cost of per unit of electricity was lower than the cost determined by NEPRA, implying that the distribution companies overcharged consumers under a presumptive reference tariff. Therefore, the extra money collected from the consumers needs to be refunded to the consumers through adjustment in the next billing month, under automatic fuel pass through mechanism.
It is important to note here that the distribution companies (DISCOs) under a practice in vogue, have been charging higher estimated fuel charge to their consumers which is later adjusted against actual costs in the subsequent month, with the approval of the power regulator.
During NEPRA’s hearing, the CPPA claimed that it sold about 6.63 billion (6,631.86 million) electricity units (kilowatt hours) to consumers in January. It said the power companies (DISCOs) had charged reference fuel charges of Rs9.86 per unit to consumers while the actual fuel cost remained low at Rs1.62 per unit in the mentioned month.
According to CPPA, hydel contribution in total power generation of the month of January was at 7.40 per cent, coal at 0.12 per cent, HSD (high speed diesel) at 5.24 per cent & RFO (residual fuel oil) at 43.47 per cent, gas at 30.57 per cent, RLNG (re-gasified liquefied natural gas) at 0.65 per cent, and nuclear at 8.40 per cent. Similarly, the contribution of the imported Irani electricity stood at 0.50 per cent, wind at 1.54 per cent, bagasse at 1.06 per cent and 0.58 per cent with a solar source of power generation recorded in January.
It is worth mentioning here that the decision would not be applicable to all agricultural and domestic consumers using less than 300 units per month, under a decision of the PML-N government that this was already a subsidised segment of the population. Also, the consumers of K-Electric and adjoining areas would also not avail the benefits of the relief.
