ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Thursday approved Rs 3.11 per unit reduction in power tariff for ex-Wapda distribution companies for the month of November under the head of monthly fuel adjustment formula.
In a public hearing on a petition filed by Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G), the Nepra decided that a relief of Rs3.11 per unit or Rs 25 billion shall be passed on to consumers for the month of November. The hearing was chaired by Nepra Chairman Tariq Sadozai.
In his comments, Chairman NEPRA raised question over the use of expensive generation plants and said that the closure of cheap power plants and running of expensive power plants is multiplying problems.
The CPPA had filed a petition requesting a decrease of Rs1.47 per unit on account of fuel adjustment. CPPA had also requested to make old adjustment of Rs 15.77 billion in tariff but NEPRA rejected it which led to Rs 3.11 per unit reduction in tariff.
The consumers will get benefit of around Rs25 billion and the relief will be given in December bills. This adjustment/relief adjustment 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 was that it was a privatized 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 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 per unit in November against the actual fuel cost of Rs5.8313 per unit requesting a reduction of Rs 1.4727 per unit.
According to the CPPA-G, about 7170.43 GWh (Gigawatt hours) were generated in November and 6994.47 GWh delivered to distribution companies due to about 2.27% transmission and distribution losses.
