ISLAMABAD  -  The consumers protesting against the inflated power bills are unlikely to get any relief from high cost of electrici­ty soon, as the National Electric Pow­er Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved another hike of Rs1.463 per unit for the consumers of Ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (XWDiscos) on account of the fuel adjustment for the month of July 2013.

The increase will be charged from the consumers in September bills.

The Authority, after incorporating various adjustments, has re­viewed and assessed a Nation­al Average Uniform increase of Rs1.463/unit in the applica­ble tariff for XWDISCOs on ac­count of variations in the fuel charges for the month of July 2023, said NEPRA decision is­sued here Friday. According to the Nepra decision, from perusal of the information so provided by CPPA-G, the actu­al pool fuel cost for the month of July 2023, as claimed by CPPA-G, is Rs.8.9638/unit, against the reference fuel cost component of Rs.6.8935/unit as indicated in the of the notified consumer-end tar­iff of Ex-WAPDA DISCOs for the FY 2023-24. The actu­al fuel charges, as claimed by CPPA-G, for the month of July 2023 increased by Rs.2.0703/unit as compared to the ref­erence fuel charges. During the hearing, CPPA-G submit­ted that it has revised its claim downward from Rs.2.0703/unit to Rs1.5798/unit. Upon inquiry, CPPA-G explained this revision is due to issu­ance of Authority’s latest ap­proved FCC rates for certain power plants pertaining to the month of July 2023, which has resulted in reduction in over­all fuel cost. CPPA-G further submitted that adjustment amounting to Rs.3.34 billion out of a total previous adjust­ments of Rs.6.54 billion per­tains to various previous pe­riods, and requires technical and financial verification at NEPRA end. Accordingly, CP­PA-G requested the Authority to withhold the same, provi­sionally, and may allow in sub­sequent monthly adjistments once verification is completed. The Authority observed that during July 2023, the System Operator had curtailed the drawl of energy from efficient power plants. In view of the above, the financial impact on account deviation from EMO total amount of Rs. 1,500.54 million is provisionally with­held from the FCA claim for the month of July 2023, till the time NTDC/NPCC pro­vides complete justification to the satisfaction of the Au­thority. Since the deduction is made by the Authority due to deviation from EMO by NPCC, which is part of NTDC, there­fore, the Authority directs CP­PA-G to pass on the impact of such deduction to NTDC.