National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has completed its hearing regarding K-Electric’s petition for provisional monthly fuel charge adjustments (FCA) for August 2024, which is proposed at Rs 0.51 per unit.
Following this public hearing, NEPRA will issue a decision outlining the FCA amount that will be applied to customer bills and the specific period during which these adjustments will take effect. In a prior request for July 2024, K-Electric sought an increase of Rs 3.09 per unit. The hearing for this request concluded on August 29, and a decision on the final amount and the corresponding month it will reflect in customer bills is still pending. In contrast, K-Electric’s August 2024 request represents a notable net decrease of Rs 2.58 per unit compared to the FCA requested for July. Fuel charge adjustments are essential for utilities, as they reflect the variations in global fuel prices used for electricity generation and shifts in the generation mix.
These costs are scrutinized and approved by NEPRA before being passed on to consumers. Notably, customers may also benefit from negative FCA when global fuel prices decline, resulting in lower charges on their bills. The rates that are ultimately charged to customer bills are determined by NEPRA and subsequently notified by the Federal Government, ensuring transparency and regulation in the billing process. The outcome of this hearing and the pending decision on the July FCA will provide further clarity on K-Electric’s pricing structure for its customers moving forward.
