Fuel adjustment: Power consumers to pay Rs1.6 per unit extra in October

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday allowed an increase of Rs1.16/unit in electricity tariff for all the power distribution companies except K-Electric on account of fuel price adjustment for August 2018.

This increase has been made, as in August the cost of fuel was high while the power consumers were charged with low rates, so this adjustment/increase has been made to recover that amount, the power regulator said.

Ex-Wapda Discos would charge this Rs1.16/unit increase in electricity bills of October 2018. The tariff adjustment/increase will however, not be applicable on lifeline consumers who consume up to 50 units in a month and K-Electric.

Nepra took the decision in a public hearing on a petition filed by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) on behalf of the power distribution companies (Discos). The CPPA, in its petition, sought Rs1.4931/unit increase in tariff for August. CPPA told the power regulator that actual cost of electricity generation stood at Rs6.248/unit against the reference fuel price of Rs4.755/unit, registering an increase of Rs1.4931/unit.

Ex-Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) discos would be able to collect an additional Rs16 billion from electricity consumers in their next month bills as a result of the latest tariff adjustment. Ex-Wapda discos include Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Sukkur and Tribal Areas electric supply companies.

The CPPA purchased 6.07 gigawatt/hour (GWh) of electricity generated from HSD-based power plants in August at a cost of Rs17.4975/unit. It bought 1,643.75 GWh of electricity produced on residual fuel oil (RFO), which accounted for 11.73 percent of total generation at Rs14.4663/unit.

The cost of electricity based on re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) stood at Rs10.3719/unit and its share was 22.74 percent in total electricity generation in August. The electricity generated from RLNG was 3,187.48GWh.

The total generation from hydropower sources was 4,478.41 GWh, accounting for 31.95 percent of total generation during the month under review. The cost of electricity generated by using indigenous gas was Rs4.9861/unit and its total share in electricity generation was 14.55 percent or 2,039.67 GWh.

The coal-fired power generation was 1,343.77 GWh, accounting for 9.59 percent of total generation at a cost of Rs6.4226/unit. Nuclear power plants generated 628.27 GWh of electricity occupying share of 4.48pc at Rs0.9566/unit in August, cheapest amongst all fuels. The electricity imported from Iran was 48.83 GWh at Rs11.5709/unit. The 80.27 GWh was generated through bagasse at a cost of Rs6.2089 and 439.3 GWh and 63.67 GWh were produced from wind and solar sources respectively.