Nepra reduces power tariff for Nov by Rs3.11/unit

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday reduced the electricity tariff for November by Rs3.11/unit for ex-Wapda distribution companies under the monthly fuel adjustment formula.

The regulatory authority took this decision, while hearing a tariff petition of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), under which it had requested for a decrease of Rs1.47/unit in power price for the month of November 2017 due to variation in fuel charges.

CPPA had also requested to make an earlier adjustment of Rs15.77 billion in the tariff, but Nepra rejected the request and approved the reduction of Rs3.11/unit, which would likely to give the benefit of Rs25 billion in the electricity bills of December 2017. This adjustment / relief will be available to the domestic consumers in entire Pakistan, except Karachi and the lifeline consumers.

The consumers of Karachi will not get any relief of the said reduction in tariff, as K-Electric is a privately-owned company and distributing its own generated electricity to the consumers and is not been covered under this determination.

Besides the consumers of K-Electric, the relief will also not be available to the lifeline consumers who are consuming up to 300 units/month, as they were already being provided subsidised electricity. The CPPA-G filed a petition before the power regulator for a tariff cut on behalf of ex-Wapda distribution companies. In its petition, the CPPA-G reported that it had charged consumers a reference tariff of Rs7.3040/unit in November against the actual fuel cost of Rs5.8313/unit, requesting a reduction of Rs1.4727/unit.

The reduction in the actual generation cost is mainly because of a decline in fuel prices, zero use of high-speed diesel in the power plants and higher contribution from the cheapest source – hydropower.

In the past, there was more use of high-speed diesel in the power plants and consumers were burdened with multibillion rupees. According to the CPPA-G, around 7170.43GWh have been generated in November and 6994.47GWh delivered to the distribution companies having around 2.27 percent transmission and distribution losses.

Hydropower generation in the overall energy mix in November was 30.86 percent as compared to 23.96 percent in October. The share of wind power was 0.99 percent and solar was 0.59 percent, both with zero fuel cost.

Furnace oil-based generation was 9.04 percent as compared to 25.03 percent in October at a cost of Rs9.03/unit. Similarly, the natural gas-based generation was 24.80 percent in November at a cost of Rs4.58/unit. The generation from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) also contributed 9.34 percent to the overall power supply at the rate of Rs7.89/unit.

The overall energy contribution from coal was 13.41 percent against 6.75 percent in October and its fuel cost of generation stood at Rs4.29/unit.

The share of imported electricity from Iran contributed around 0.57 percent against 0.41 percent to the energy pool with a cost of Rs10.63/unit. Earlier, Pakistan had been importing 73MW, which had increased to 100MW now, it added.

The CPPA said total energy was generated at the cost of Rs25.24 billion, or Rs3.52/unit, while 2.27 percent lesser power was supplied to the distribution companies at the cost of Rs40.78 billion, or Rs5.8313/unit.