The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) said that, as part of the fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for May 2023, the price of electricity would rise by an additional Rs1.90 per unit, burdening consumers across all distribution companies (DISCOs) with an additional Rs22.6 billion in costs.
Separately, Nepra announced a pricing increase of Rs1.45 per unit under the FCA for May for K-Electric (KE). Consumers in KE will spend a total of Rs2.6 billion due to this increase.
The regulator announced an increase in power pricing for DISCOs of Rs1.25 per unit as a third-quarter adjustment for the financial year 2022–23, costing consumers a total of Rs46.5 billion.
A petition submitted on behalf of former Wapda DISCOs was the subject of a public hearing, according to a statement released by Nepra on Wednesday. For the month of May 2023, the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G) asked for an FCA of Rs2.05 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
According to Nepra’s first calculations, the net FCA for May 2023 would be Rs1.90 per kWh, having an impact of Rs22.6 billion. After conducting due investigation and taking into account the opinions of all parties, it will decide.
The Sahiwal coal-fired power station imported 200,000 tons of coal at a cost of Rs 85,000 per ton, which was kept in storage for several months, it was disclosed during the hearing.
Receiving the electricity produced with very pricey coal was difficult for the government’s electricity buying agency. Instead, it was agreeing to the supply of power made from coal, which was available at Rs45,00 per ton.
The concerned parties were developing a formula to determine the weighted average cost of coal for the production of electricity.
Meanwhile, there was a dispute about the deduction of Rs38 billion due to system limitations between Nepra and the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).
