National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Saturday decided to increase the power tariff by Rs3.09.
The price hike would impose an additional burden of over Rs30 billion on consumers.
According to NEPRA, the price hike would not be applied to K Electric customers, as well as customers who used 50 units per month. NEPRA said that the pre-generation cost of electricity for December was Rs5.53 per unit while the production cost of electricity was Rs8.63 per unit.
It may be mentioned that on February 1, NEPRA completed the Central Power Purchasing Agency’s (CPPA’s) hearing regarding the Rs3.12 increase in the price of electricity. The hearing was chaired by NEPRA Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqi at NEPRA Headquarters, Islamabad.
The CPPA told the authority that the increase in the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and imported coal was the main reason for the increase in production cost, besides the 17 percent increase in power generation due to the package for industrial consumers.
The NEPRA case officer informed the authority that the increase in the fuel adjustment in December amounted to Rs3.09 per unit, however, the final decision to increase the price was taken by NEPRA in a few days.
