Pakistani power utilities sought permission to raise Pakistani Rupees (Rs) 44 billion additional funds in April by charging extra tariff from the customers of power distribution companies (Discos) and K-Electric.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), on behalf of all Discos, sought over 117 per cent increase or Rs5 in their Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) to Rs 9.3 per unit for electricity sold in January to generate about Rs 39 billion additional funds while K-Electric demanded Rs 3.45 per unit additional FCA for electricity sold in February to generate about Rs 4 billion revenue, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.
The CPPA has claimed that consumers were charged a reference fuel cost of Rs 4.25 per unit in January, but the actual cost was Rs 9.2 per unit, hence an additional charge of about Rs 5 per unit to consumers.
Over these demands, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) summoned both of them for separate public hearings on March 31 and April 4 to examine if their demands for higher fuel cost adjustment (FCA) are justified.
If both the demands would be approved by the Nepra, then the rise would nullify the impact of the discount that was announced by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for four months, according to Dawn.
If the Pakistani government approves the higher electricity rates, then the customers have to pay the revised bills from April, except those using less than 50 units per month.
Earlier, Nepra on March 10 allowed ex-Wapda distribution companies to charge an additional fuel cost of Rs 5.94 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) unit from consumers for consumption during January this year.
Nepra noted that the energy from costlier residual fuel oil (RFO) and high-speed diesel (HSD)-based power plants were generated of over PKR 43.62 billion during January 2022, Pakistani newspaper Daily Times reported on Friday.
Nepra in February has said that the power tariff can be increased by Rs 5.95 against the demand of Rs 6.10.
Even, in January, Nepra allowed ex-Wapda an increase of Rs 4.3 per kWh in the applicable tariff of power distribution companies on account of variations in fuel charges for November 2021, Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune reported on January 14, 2022.
( With inputs from ANI )
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