CPPA seeks Rs1.23 per unit hike in power tariff 

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has been asked to increase power price by Rs1.23 per unit under the head monthly fuel price adjustment mechanism for February 2019.

The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), in a tariff petition submitted on behalf of the power distribution companies (DISCOs), has requested NEPRA to jack up the power tariff on account of variation in the monthly fuel charges.

NEPRA is scheduled to hold a public hearing on CPPA’s tariff petition on March 29th in Islamabad. The power regulator has invited all the interested/affected parties to raise written/oral objection as permissible under the law.

According to NEPRA, an increase of Rs1.23 per kWh over the reference fuel charges, i-e. Rs3.97 per kWh for DISCOs, has been proposed by CPPA for the month of February.

As per the documents, the total energy generated in February was 6,686.81 Gigawatt hours, while net delivered to DISCOs was 6,425.29GWh. During the month under review, power generation from hydel sources remained at 1,522.60GWh (22.77pc), coal 1,167.69GWh (17.46pc), residual fuel oil 112.35GWh (1.68pc), gas 1,595.08GWh (23.85pc), re-gasified liquefied natural gas 1,129.23GWh (16.89pc), nuclear 744.03GWh (11.13pc), Iranian import 28.38GWh (0.42pc), mixed 23.49GWh, wind 212.51GWh (3.18pc), bagasse  98.53GWh (1.47pc) and solar 52.93GWh (0.79pc).

Pursuant to Section 31(7) of the NEPRA Act (XL of 1997) and the mechanism for monthly fuel price adjustments prescribed by NEPRA in the tariff determination of ex-WAPDA DISCOs, the authority has to review and revise the tariff on account of any variation in the fuel charges on monthly basis.

Ahmad Ahmadani
Ahmad Ahmadani
The author is a an investigative journalist at Profit. He can be reached at [email protected].

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