ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has so far worked out Rs 10.80/unit cut in power price for consumers of K-Electric (KE) and Rs 2.32/unit for consumers of power distribution companies (DISCOs) on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for the month of December 2022.
NEPRA on Tuesday conducted separate hearings on the application of KE and the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) to consider variation in FCA of December 2022. After an initial scrutiny of the data, NEPRA has so far hinted at the approval of Rs 10.80/unit cut in power price for consumers of DISCOs and a Rs 2.32/unit cut in the power tariff for the consumers of KE.
The hearing was chaired by NEPRA chairman Tauseef H. Qureshi and NEPRA members Engineer Rafique Ahmed Shaikh, and Engineer Maqsood Anwar were in attendance.
CPPA, in its application on behalf of DISCOs, requested Rs 2.20 per unit reduction in the power tariff while KE, in its plea, sought Rs 1.26/unit cut under the head FCA for December 2022.
According to NEPRA, the FCA of December 2022 will not be applicable on DISCO’s lifeline consumers, domestic power consumers who use 300 units a month, agriculture consumers and Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS).
“The Authority will issue its detailed judgment regarding FCA of December 2022 after necessary scrutiny of the data,” said NEPRA.
It added that the FCA of December 2022 will be applicable for only one month.
Earlier, the CPPA, in its application, submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of December 2022 was recorded at 8,416.81 gigawatts hours (GWh), at a basket price of Rs 7.0441 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs 59,289 million.
Power generation from hydel was 1,720.43 GWh, or 20.44% of production, while coal-fired plants produced 1,520.93 GWh, or 18.07%, at a price of Rs 11.4954 per unit. Power generation from residual fuel oil (RFO) was 38.91 GWh, or 0.46% of total generation, at Rs 25.7971 per unit.
Gas-based plants produced 1,273.80 GWh, or 15.13%, at Rs10.4992 per unit, compared to power from regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) totalling 1,153.73 GWh, or 13.71%, at Rs 20.2071 per unit.
Production from mixed sources was 2.18 GWh at a price of Rs 3.2781 per unit; from bagasse 101.09 GWh, at Rs5.9731 per unit; from wind 211.57 GWh; from solar 69.46 GWh, at Rs 2.7773 per unit.
Generation from nuclear sources was 2,284.86 GWh, or 27.15% of the total generation, at Rs 1.0726 per unit. Electricity imported from Iran accounted for 39.85 GWh at Rs 21.5555 per unit.
Data submitted by the CPPA to NEPRA also showed that net electricity delivered to DISCOs in December 2022 was 8,096.88 GWh at Rs 7.1198 per unit, the total price of which was Rs 57,648 million.
The CPPA, in its tariff adjustment request, advocated that the reference fuel charges for December 2022, for DISCOs were fixed at Rs 9.3193 per unit while the actual fuel charges were recorded at Rs 10.9833 per unit.
According to KE, December’s FCA request was lower primarily due to a reduction in prices of RLNG, furnace oil, and power purchased from the central power purchasing agency (CPPA) by 17%, 15pc, and 29% respectively as compared to September 2022.
It is pertinent to mention that the FCA is reviewed every month as per the tariff regime applicable across the country and is usually applicable to the consumer’s bills for one month only.
FCAs are linked with changes in global fuel prices and passed onto consumer bills under prescribed rules and regulations of NEPRA and the government of Pakistan.
