KE to adjust Rs1.19 cut in tariff by April

KARACHI: The consumers in Karachi will get some relief in their electricity bills by April, as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved a gradual cut of Rs1.19 per unit under the fuel cost adjustment.
Nepra has approved a cumulative of Rs1.19 per unit (kWh), which will be gradually adjusted in the bills of February, March and April. K-Electric Limited had proposed a cumulative reduction of 94 paisas for the months of July, August and September 2014.
According to the Nepra decision, K-Electric had proposed a reduction of 12.3 paisas in the tariff for the month of July 2014 under fuel cost adjustment, but the authority had approved 13 paisas reduction to be adjusted in the billing month of February 2015.
Similarly, K-Electric had proposed 76.7 paisas reduction for August 2014, while 86 paisas were approved to be adjusted in the bills of March 2015.
The regulatory authority has approved 13 paisas against proposed 5.4 paisas cut in the tariff for September 2014, to be adjusted in the bills of April 2015. K-Electric submitted that its own generation on furnace oil had reduced from 271.708Gwh in the reference month of June 2014 to 259.422Gwh in July; 163.234Gwh in August and 212.768Gwh in September 2014.
K-Electric used the gas prices of Rs488.23/MMBTU in its calculation as compared to Rs515.23/MMBTU in the reference month of June 2014, the difference being the amount of GID Cess of Rs27/MMBTU previously being charged by the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited to KEL.
Based on the analysis of the data as submitted by KEL, the authority has noted with concern that the power utility is subjecting its consumers to undue and unauthorised load-shedding by continuously underutilising the available energy of its system (own + external).
Moreover, it was also said KEL is keeping its available generation capacity idle and relying more on the energy purchased from the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) in violation of the terms of the power purchase agreement signed between the utilities.
By doing so, KEL is necessitating the operations of the most expensive power plants in NTDC system, as well as aggravating the menace of load-shedding in the entire country.
In view thereof, Nepra has directed KEL to prudently utilise the available energy of its system and strictly comply with the terms of the power purchase agreement to eliminate / reduce the load-shedding in its territorial jurisdiction and in the entire country.