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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Nepra asks Discos to refund 62 paisa/unit to consumers

By Israr Khan
May 25, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Electricity consumers, who paid higher rates in April, will be getting refunds of 62 paisas/unit in their June bills after the power regulator on Thursday maintained that power generation cost was low during the month under review while the consumers were charged with high rates.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), the apex power watchdog took the decision in a public hearing on Thursday. Chairman of the regulatory body, Tariq Sadozai chaired the meeting and directed the distribution companies to reimburse the overcharged amount to the power consumers in their electricity bills of June 2018, as they have been charged at higher rate in April 2018. The decision was taken under Nepra’s monthly fuel adjustment formula.

It must be noted that Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) had filed a petition with the Nepra, seeking a reduction of Rs0.4498/unit on account of fuel adjustment. However, the regulator has provided extra release of Rs0.17 per unit to the consumers and reduced the tariff by Rs0.62 per unit.

This adjustment/relief will be available to domestic consumers in the entire Pakistan except for K-Electric and the lifeline consumers. The reason for not providing relief to the consumers of K-Electric is that it is a privatised company and distributing its own generated electricity to the consumers in Karachi and is not covered under this determination. The relief will also not be available to the lifeline consumers consuming up to 300 units per month, as they were already being provided subsidised electricity. The relief will also not be passed on to the industrial consumers who were already getting cheaper electricity.

The CPPA filed a petition before the power regulator for a tariff decrease on behalf of ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos). In its petition, the CPPA reported that it had charged consumers a reference tariff of Rs6.7227 per unit in April against the actual fuel cost of Rs 6.2729 per unit requesting a decrease of Rs 0.4498 per unit. This working was based on tariff for financial year 2015-16.

According to the CPPA, about 10135.08 GWh (Gigawatt hours) were generated in April and 9877.93 GWh delivered to distribution companies due to 2.54pc transmission and distribution losses. It said the share of hydropower production in the overall energy mix in April was improved a bit from around 10 percent in March to 15.07 per cent in April. Wind and solar plants together contributed about 2.04 pc and 0.70 pc energy respectively at no fuel cost.

The power generation from furnace oil-based power plants was 15.30 pc at a cost of Rs11.2224 per unit. The share of Nuclear based electricity was 8.25pc with the cost of Rs1.04 per unit.

Similarly, the natural gas-based generation was 16.24pc at a cost of Rs5.0652 per unit. The generation from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) also contributed 26.63 pc to the overall power supply at a rate of Rs9.0096 per unit. The overall energy contribution from coal was 13.83pc and its fuel cost of generation stood at Rs6.4414 per unit. The share of imported electricity from Iran contributed around 0.49pc with a cost of Rs11.04 per unit.