ISLAMABAD-National Electric Regulatory Authority Thursday hinted at hike of up to Rs1.70 per unit in the electricity tariffs of ex-WAPDA distribution companies (XWDiscos) and K-Electric on account of monthly fuel charges adjustments (FCA) for February. 
In two separate public hearings, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has calculated that the tariff of XWDiscos is likely to go up by Rs 0.85 per unit and KE by up to Rs 1.70 per unit. In the public hearing on CPPA-G petition, presided over by Engineer Taseef H. Farooqui, Chairman NEPRA, NTDC has come under fire again for its failure to lay transmission lines to evacuate electricity from Thar coal-based power plants, which could burden consumers with Rs 80 billion. The consumers of Discos may have received some relief of Rs 0.06 per unit due to a reduction in electricity rates on account of monthly FCA for February 2023. However, if the power regulator allows previous adjustments of Rs 6.3 billion due to system constraints, the tariff will go up by Rs 0.85 per unit.
The meeting was attended by NEPRA members Engineer Rafiq Ahmed Sheikh, Engineer Maqsood Anwar Khan, Muthar Niaz Rana, and Amna Ahmed. During hearing, NTDC has requested an adjustment of Rs 6.7 billion due to the failure of evacuating power from Thar coal-based power plants. NEPRA expressed serious concerns and questioned why NTDC had not made proper planning and due diligence to lay transmission lines, keeping in view the timelines of Thar coal-based power plants. It was observed during the hearing that electricity demand would jump up during summer, and therefore the country would require higher electricity generation. NTDC officials said that two transmission lines were in place to evacuate 1400MW electricity, and two more lines would become operational in April to evacuate 2400 MW electricity from Thar coal-based plants.
CPPAG had submitted a request for an increase of Rs 0.85 per unit on account of fuel adjustment for the month of February 2023. In a petition submitted to NEPRA, on the behalf of power distribution companies (XWDISOCs), the CPPA-G said that for the month of February the reference fuel charges from the consumers were Rs 7.2120/unit while the actual fuel cost was Rs8.0689/unit. Therefore, it should be allowed to pass the increase of Rs0.8569/ unit to the consumers. According to NEPRA, the reduction amounts to Rs 0.06 per unit based on preliminary analysis of the data. However, the hike could go up to Rs 0.85 per unit if NTDC is able to satisfy the authority on the adjustment. While in a separate hearing on the petition of K Electric for fuel cost charge adjustment for February, as per the NEPRA’s initial data analysis, the increase in FCA for February will be from Rs 0.56 to Rs 1.7 per unit. K Electric had submitted a request for an increase of Rs 1.66 per unit under fuel cost adjustment (FCA). The authority will issue its detailed decision after further scrutiny of the data.