ISLAMABAD: Amid official warnings about looming higher fuel costs in peak summer, a Rs1.52 per unit cut in average electricity tariff promised by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not reach consumers in the current month.
During a public hearing on Tuesday presided over by Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Waseem Mukhtar, representatives of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) said there was the possibility of increasing monthly fuel cost adjustments in the coming months given 20pc higher load demand and lower hydropower availability.
Responding to a question, a case officer of Nepra reported that the impact of about Rs52bn reduction in quarterly tariff adjustments would be about Rs1.52 per unit for the coming three months — May, June and July. Conveners representing export sector demanded that its application should come into force in April to June for which the prime minister had announced and on that basis they had booked export orders.
Nepra did not go beyond the earlier explanation of its application for May to July but it was evident that April bills were already out in some areas and could not be called back.
Consumers will not see relief in their April bills as promised by PM Shehbaz
The Nepra chairman disallowed representatives of Hyderabad, Multan and Quetta electric supply companies for the absence of their senior leadership and called for their explanations.
Mr Mukhtar also expressed displeasure over the absence of power division representation and directed that a letter should also be written to the federal secretary of power.
The CPPA reported about 4.4pc increase in power consumption in March over last year and sought about Rs1.52 per unit negative quarterly tariff adjustment (QTA) for the January-March 2025 period and another three paise per unit negative fuel price adjustment (FCA) for electricity consumed in March.
The Rs1.51 per unit negative QTA, involving a total of Rs51.5bn already overcharged by all Discos for the third quarter of FY25, was already made part of the tariff reduction announced by the prime minister for three months –April to June 2025.
The lower QTA stems from a combination of lower capacity charges, operations and maintenance costs, fixed costs on account of incremental sales and fewer system losses mainly because of relative stability in the exchange rate and decline in interest rates.
The decline in fuel cost is mainly because of substantially higher costs allowed by Nepra through a 20pc increase in base tariff effective July 1, 2024. About 75pc of the total power supply during March came from domestic fuel sources, almost 20pc of that at zero fuel cost.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), which filed the petition for negative adjustment of fuel cost for March, said the power consumption was 4.4pc higher than the same month last year and almost 22pc higher than February. It reported that electricity delivered to Discos stood at 8,114 gigawatt hours (GWh) in March against 6,666 GWh in February.
The power companies have claimed in their petitions that the average fuel cost amounted to Rs9.22 per unit in March compared to Rs9.34 per unit in the same month last year.
The CPPA said about 8,409 GWh of electricity was generated at an estimated fuel expenditure of Rs79.5bn (Rs9.46 per unit) in March, of which 8,114GWh energy was delivered to Discos at a cost of Rs74.85bn (at Rs9.22 per unit). However, the reference fuel cost already charged in March stood at Rs9.256 per unit, hence a refund of three paise per unit.
Hydropower lost its top position with about 15.42pc share in the overall grid owing to unfavourable hydrological conditions. Last year, hydropower contributed 28pc electricity to the grid in March. Nuclear energy emerged as the largest electricity supplier to the national grid with 26.4pc share.
The third biggest share in the national grid came RLNG at 18.17pc, followed by local coal at 16.57pc. This was followed by 11.64pc share from local local gas. Imported coal contributed 6.5pc to the national grid.
Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2025
