Islamabad: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Monday allowed K-Electric to hike the power tariff by Rs12.68 per unit under the mechanism of quarterly tariff adjustment (QTA) for the fourth quarter (April – June) of FY22.
According to a statement by the regulatory authority, KE had initially requested an adjustment of Rs14.85 per unit before revising and lowering it to Rs14.53.
In this regard, NEPRA held a public meeting on August 31. After perusal of the data provided, the regulatory authority allowed Rs 12.6818 per unit upward adjustment that will be applicable in the quarter July-Sept 2022.
However, it must be noted here that the decision is unlikely to affect consumers in Karachi because of the uniform tariff policy of the government under which the same power rates are applied across the country for consumers of all distribution companies, including KE.
Under the tariff mechanism, QTAs are made on account of variations in the power purchase price, capacity charges, variable operation and maintenance costs, and use of system charges, including the impact transmission and distribution losses, which are built into the base tariff by the federal government.
On August 14, NEPRA reduced the power tariff by Rs4.89 per unit on account of fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for August 2022.
In a notification, NEPRA said that the power distribution company had filed for negative Rs4.21 FCA for August. However, after perusal of the information provided, it said that the FCA would amount to Rs4.89.
The notification also read that the reduction in the FCA would be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic consumers consuming up to 300 units, agriculture consumers, and EVCS (Electric Vehicle Charging Station).
July FCA: NEPRA allows Discos to increase tariff by Rs4.34 per unit in Sept. bills
“K-Electric shall reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of August 2022, in the billing month of October 2022,” NEPRA said in its statement.
On the other hand, NEPRA raised the power tariff by Rs0.19 per unit for the consumers of ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (Discos), also on account of FCA for the month of August.
In a separate notification on Friday, NEPRA said that the actual fuel cost for the month of August 2022 was Rs10.1126/kWh, against the reference fuel cost of Rs.9.8934/kWh.
“The Authority, after incorporating the aforementioned adjustments, has reviewed and assessed an increase of Rs.0.19 in the applicable tariff for XWDISCOs on account of variations in the fuel charges for the month of August 2022,” the notification read.
NEPRA instructed Discos that the increase should be applicable to all the consumer categories except Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers.
“XWDISCOs shall reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of August 2022 in the billing month of October 2022,” it further said.
