The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has jacked up the power tariff by Rs5.94 per unit on account of Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for the month of January 2022 and issued a notification to this effect.
According to NEPRA notification, an increase of Rs5.94 per unit on account of FCA for January 2022 will be charged from the power consumers through the electricity bill of March 2022 which will cause additional burden of approximately Rs58.5 billion on consumers, including the General Sales Tax (GST).
Similarly, this increase in the power price by Rs5.94 per unit will be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers of all the Ex-WAPDA power distribution companies (XWDISCOs).
Furthermore, the said adjustment shall be shown separately in the consumers’ bills based on units billed to the consumers in the month of January 2022 by the DISCOs, said NEPRA notification.
“While effecting the fuel adjustment charges, the concerned XWDISCOs shall keep in view and strictly comply with the orders of the courts notwithstanding this order,” read the notification issued by NEPRA on March 10, 2022.
Earlier, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), on behalf of power distribution companies (DISCOs), requested National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to approve Rs6.1060 per kilowatt (kWh) increase in the power tariff under the head FCA of the month of January 2022 for all consumer categories of distribution companies, except for lifeline and K-Electric consumers.
The CPPA, in its application, informed that 5.83 per cent electricity was produced with water/hydel source, 33.15 per cent from coal, 6.73 per cent from high speed diesel (HSD), 14.37 per cent from natural gas, 7.12 per cent from imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), 14.37 per cent from nuclear power, wind 2.22 per cent, baggasse 1.22 per cent, import Iran 0.36 per cent and with solar source was 0.53 per cent. Similarly, total energy generated was 8,797 Gigawatt (GWh).
It is also learnt from CPPA request that the most expensive electricity was generated from high-speed diesel during the month of January 2022 as the cost of the electricity generated from diesel (HSD) was registered at Rs25.98 paisa per unit while the cost of power generation from coal stood at Rs14.10 per unit, furnace oil Rs22.80 per unit, LNG Rs16.70 per unit, gas Rs7.74 per unit, nuclear Rs1.07 per unit, bagasse Rs5.98 per unit.
Reportedly, the regulatory authority (NEPRA) had earlier increased power tariff by Rs3.09 per unit on account of FCA for December 2021 which placed an additional burden of Rs30 billion on the power consumers while more than 8.5 billion units of electricity were used in December last year, said the notification.
