ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has notified Rs1.66 per unit increase in the electricity price on account of monthly fuel price adjustment (FPA) for the month of August 2019.
According to the NEPRA notification, the authority has assessed an increase of Rs1.6615/kWh in the applicable tariff for ex-WAPDA power distributing companies (XWDISCOs) on account of variations in the fuel charges for the month of August 2019. However, this per unit increase in electricity price will not be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers and it will be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers in the month of August.
Similarly, DISCOs will reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of August 2019 in the billing month of November 2019.
As per NEPRA, the actual fuel charges in August were Rs4.8660/kWh while NEPRA determined reference fuel charges were Rs3.2045/kWh.
“Due to variation in fuel price, electricity price has been increased by Rs1.6615 per unit,” the notification read.
NEPRA made this decision after obtaining details of the actual fuel charges from the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G).
The authority, while going through the “generation mix” data, noted that costlier energy of around 505 GWh at Rs12.511/kWh was generated from furnace oil-based power plants, whereas efficient coal-based power plants like Engro Power Gen Thar, Port Qasim and Sahiwal Coal were not fully utilized.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 31(7) of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act 1997, (NEPRA Act) read with the mechanism/formula determined by the authority in the tariff determinations for ExWAPDA DISCOs for the FY 2017-18 and notified in the official gazette, NEPRA has to make adjustments in the approved tariff on account of any variations in the fuel charges on a monthly basis.
