ISLAMABAD: Already burdened power consumers will find additional burden as National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved 19 paisa per unit hike in power tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) of August 2022 and issued a notification to this effect.
According to NEPRA notification, the authority has reviewed and assessed an increase of Rs 0.1918 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the applicable tariff of Ex-WAPDA power distribution companies (DISCOs) on account of variation in the fuel charges for the month of August.
The NEPRA had earlier fixed the reference fuel charge component for August 2022 at Rs 10.0852/kWh while actual fuel charge component registered at Rs 9.8934/kWh.
As per NEPRA notification, this increase of 19paisa/unit in electricity price shall be applicable to all consumers categories except Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers of all the DISCOs. The said adjustment shall be shown separately in the consumer’s bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers in the month of August 2022. The XWDISCOs shall reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of August 2022 in the billing month of October 2022, said NEPRA notification.
While adjusting the Fuel Adjustment Charges, the concerned XWDISCOs shall keep in view and strictly comply with the orders of the courts notwithstanding this order, NEPRA notification added.
Earlier, CPPA on behalf of power distribution companies (DISCOs) except K-Electric asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to approve Rs0.2192 per kilowatt hour (kWh) under FCA of August, 2022 and NEPRA conducted a hearing in this regard on September 29.
The CPPA, in its application, has submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of August was recorded at 14,052.59 GWh, at a basket price of Rs10.0587 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs141,351 million.
The power generation with hydel source was 5,353.69 GWh (giga watt per hour) constituting 38.10 per cent while power production with coal-fired power plants was 2,163.01 GWh which was 15.39 per cent of the total generation at a price of Rs20.5441 per unit and power generation with RFO was 1,021.38 GWh 7.27 per cent of total generation calculated at Rs35.6145 per unit.
Similarly, the power generation from gas-based power plants was 1,315.21 GWh, 9.36 per cent of the total generation, totaling Rs10.4930 per unit and the generation from Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) was 1,755.79 GWh, which was 12.49 per cent of total generation, at Rs24.7199 per unit.
Likewise, power production from mixed sources was 17.78 GWh at a price of Rs4.7544 per unit, generation from bagasse recorded at 33.13 GWh, the price of which has been calculated at Rs5.9822 per unit. The electricity generated from wind was recorded at 390.71 GWh, 2.78 per cent of total generation and solar at 73.44 GWh, 0.52 per cent of the total generation in August.
Moreover, electricity generation from nuclear sources was 1,873.98 GWh which came out at Rs1.0194 per unit, 13.34 per cent of the total generation, and electricity imported from Iran was 54.47 GWh that amounted to Rs20.9570 per unit, 0.39 per cent of the total power generation in the said month.
It is also learnt from the data submitted by the CCPA-G with NEPRA that net electricity delivered to DISCOs in August 2022 was 13,638.75 GWh at a rate of Rs10.1126 per unit, total price of which was Rs151.137,924 million.
The CPPA-G in its tariff adjustment request advocated that the reference fuel charges for August 2022 were fixed at Rs9.8934 per unit while the actual fuel charges were recorded at Rs10.9833 per unit. So an increase of Rs0.2194 per unit in the power tariff should be made for the month of August under FCA mechanism.
REDUCTION OF RS4.89 PER UNIT IN FCA FOR KE CONSUMERS
The Nepra approved a reduction of Rs4.89 per unit for K-Electric (KE) consumers on account of fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for electricity consumed in August.
In its notification for adjustment in electricity rates of KE, Nepra said the negative FCA would be applicable to all consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic consumers using up to 300 units, agriculture consumers and electric vehicle charging stations.
“It is hereby clarified that the negative adjustment on account of monthly FCA is also applicable to domestic consumers having Time of Use meters irrespective of their consumption level,” it added.
