ISLAMABAD: In a rare move, the National Electricity Regulatory Authority (Nepra) said on Wednesday it would only allow 43 paisa per unit of reduction in electricity tariffs – about half of the 86 paisa suggested by power companies – as part of a monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for consumption in April.

In a public hearing on the monthly FCA, Nepra chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui said the regulator had denied about Rs 17 billion from certain costs, including using expensive factories or violating the order of economic merit for nearly a year, but month-to-month record checking. justified certain claims of the electricity companies.

Therefore, it allowed to adjust the costs previously deducted for August, September and October 2020 to the utilities. As such, it was earning Rs4.473 billion deducted from power companies for those months or 44 paisa per unit of tariff adjustment. He said the process of verifying the data and evidence would continue and the regulator would stand ready to return the remaining Rs13 billion or more.

It was explained that the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) on behalf of the distribution companies (Discos) said consumers were charged a benchmark fuel price of Rs.661 per unit in April 2020 as the actual cost of fuel turned out to be 5 rupees. 75 per unit and therefore Rs8.5bn should be refunded to consumers at the rate of 86 paisa per unit.

Nepra, however, decided to reimburse consumers only 4.4 billion rupees at a rate of around 43 paisa per unit after adjusting for previous deductions. However, only around 2.2 billion rupees would be practically refunded to consumers as this reduction is not allowed to consumers using less than 300 units and to agricultural consumers on the pretext that they are benefiting from subsidized tariffs.

The lower fuel cost, upon regulatory approval, would be adjusted in consumer bills during the next billing month of June. These tariffs would not be applicable to K-Electric consumers.

Total power generation from all sources in April was recorded at 10,481 gigawatt hours (GWh) at a total cost of 58.4 billion rupees at an average rate of 5.57 rupees per unit. Of this total, approximately 10,194 GWh was delivered to nightclubs at the cost of 58.8 billion rupees, at an average rate of 5.77 rupees per unit.

Data showed that hydropower production contributed 24.6% of the overall energy mix in April, up from 19.4% in March and 28% in February. As a result, the share of coal production fell 23% in April from 30.5% in March from 26% in February.

On the other hand, the output of oil-fired heating plants fell to 1.41 pc in April, compared to 2.62 pc in April and to 1 pc in February. There was absolutely no power intake from the high-speed diesel-based power plants. The share of RLNG-based power generation in the national grid increased to 24.54% in April, from 21% in March and 17.5% in February. Production from local gas also increased to 12.2 pc in April against 11.52 pc and 12.45 pc in February.

On the other hand, the nuclear share remained broadly unchanged at 10.2 pc. The share of wind power and baggas amounted to 1.88 pc and 0.68 pc respectively. There was no fuel cost on hydropower while the cost of coal fuel was Rs8 per unit. The cost of nuclear fuel was slightly over Rs 1.1 per unit, while electricity produced from local gas was Rs 7.46 per unit. The cost of RLNG-based factories has been set at Rs 9.9 per unit.

Electricity imported from Iran had a cost of 9.4 rupees per unit and its total share in the power supply was only 0.43 pc. The most expensive generation came at Rs12 per unit from oil-based factories.

Under the tariff mechanism, changes in the cost of fuel are passed on to consumers only on a monthly basis through an automatic mechanism, while quarterly tariff adjustments for transmission and distribution losses are incorporated into the tariff mechanism. the base rate by the federal government.

Posted in Dawn, le 3 June 2021