Increase will be applicable to all consumer categories, except for electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS)
ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday allowed Ex-WAPDA distribution companies (XWDiscos) to charge an additional Rs1.463/unit from their clients in September 2023 as they paid less while the cost of power generation, especially from imported fuel, was higher in July 2023.
The increase will be applicable to all consumer categories, except for electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), lifeline and K-Electric consumers. On August 30, the Authority held a public hearing on the petition of these companies. The petition was filed in relation to the monthly FCAs for July 2023, the decision of the regulator issued on Friday said.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) acting on behalf of XWDiscos, according to its petition, during July, consumers’ reference fuel charges were Rs6.8935 per unit, but the actual fuel cost amounted to Rs8.9638 per unit. The CPPA argues that the additional cost of Rs2.07 per unit should be transferred to consumers.
However, during the hearing, the CPPA submitted that it had revised its claim downward from Rs2.0703/unit to Rs1.5798/unit. Upon inquiry, the CPPA explained the revision is due to the issuance of the Authority’s latest approved fuel cost component (FCC) rates for certain power plants pertaining to the month of July 2023, which has resulted in a reduction in overall fuel cost of Rs3.668 billion. Besides, the adjustment amounting to Rs3.34 billion out of a total previous adjustment of Rs6.54 billion pertaining to various previous periods, was withheld as it requires technical and financial verification at the Nepra end. Being these adjustments over three years old, the authority directed CPPA to bring these adjustments separately before the Authority along with complete workings and detailed justification.
Nepra observed that during July 2023, the system operator had curtailed the withdrawl of energy from efficient power plants as due to avoid over-loading on Sarfraz Nagar, Gatti, Multan, and Muzaffargarh grid stations that cost Rs744.94 million; transmission congestion/HVDC strategic table for summer cost Rs617.94 million and tower collapse on Guddu-Shikarpur location costing Rs137.65 million. These issues cost the consumers Rs1.5 billion. The Authority temporarily withheld Rs1.5 billion from the FCA claim for July 2023, due to a deviation from the economic merit order (EMO) by the National Power Construction Corporation (NPCC) – part of NTDC. This withholding will continue until NTDC/NPCC provides satisfactory justification to the Authority. The Authority instructs CPPA to transfer this deduction’s impact to NTDC.
During July 2023, a total of 14,839 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity was generated, with an associated cost of Rs123.736 billion (equivalent to Rs8.3387 per unit). Moreover, 14,388 GWh, priced at Rs128.975 billion (or Rs8.9638 per unit), was delivered to distribution companies (Discos), while transmission losses stood at 2.84pc. It’s noteworthy that there was a 4.9 per cent increase in power generation in July 2023 compared to the same month the previous year. In comparison to the preceding month of June, generation rose by 8.2pc. However, the total power generation from January to July 2023 declined by 8.5pc to 75,861 GWh, as opposed to 82,948 GWh during the same seven months of 2022.
Generation cost in July 2023 decreased by 22.1pc to Rs8.34/unit over the same month of last year, and by 13.4pc over June 2023. This reduction was due to lower coal, furnace oil, and RLNG prices, as well as increased low-cost renewable energy. Hydropower accounted for 37.2pc of the total July 2023 generation reaching 5,518 GWh. This was up 33.5pc from the previous month. RLNG-based generation was 2,918 GWh at Rs24.43/unit, while nuclear power contributed 2,107 GWh at Rs1.1664/unit. Coal-based generation reached 2,180 GWh and cost Rs11.54/unit.
Natural gas-based generation was 1,129 GWh, costing Rs13.68/unit. No electricity came from High-Speed Diesel. Iran supplied 29 GWh at Rs23.6165/unit, while bagasse provided 40 GWh at Rs5.9822/unit. Wind and solar contributed 549 GWh and 75 GWh, respectively, to the grid in July.