NEPRA Okays Another Power Tariff Hike for K-Electric Consumers

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday reserved its judgment on K Electric’s (KE) petition to increase the electricity prices for January. The petition called for an increase of Rs. 3.40 per unit on account of monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA).

A hearing in this regard was held with Chairman NEPRA, Tauseef H Farooqi, in the chair along with all the members of the authority. The authority approved an increase of Rs. 2.90 per unit on account of FCA, while the decision would be issued later on. The impact of this increase will be Rs. 3 billion on electricity consumers in Karachi.

KE informed that the company’s Bin Qasim Power Plant 3 is ready, and the first unit with the capacity of 450 Mega Watt (MW) will start power generation from March 7. KE’s current generation capacity is 1800 MW while 900 MW is being added to the system. KE assured the authority that this summer, KE generation would reach 3800 MW.

It was also revealed that during January, a coal-fired power plant was on scheduled maintenance, due to which, lesser power was generated in January from KE’s resources, resulting in more reliance on furnace oil and High-Speed Diesel for electricity generation. This caused the KE to request an increase in monthly adjustment in the tariff for power consumers. It was also informed that the RLNG supply to KE power plants was reduced due to a shortage of LNG imports.

Chairman NEPRA said that the issue of low gas pressure would likely not be resolved soon. NEPRA officials said that due to the low gas supply, consumers would have to pay an additional Rs 300 million. According to K Electric officials, Sui Southern Company needs more investment to supply additional gas to KE. Efforts are being made to settle the arrears with Sui Southern as soon as possible, said KE officials. Officials added that despite best efforts, Sui Southern is not guaranteeing improvements in gas pressure.

Representatives of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries complained of unscheduled load shedding by KE and gas shortages. NEPRA chairman asked KE to augment its system to give maximum relief to the consumers.

On a question regarding the Prime Ministers’ announcement of electricity prices reduction, Chairman NEPRA said that it is the government’s prerogative to give relief to the public. He welcomed PM’s announcement and said that NEPRA’s only role is to convey to the government a fair price of per unit electricity, and it is for the government to decide whether to pass it on to the consumers or give a subsidy.

“We will now consider how to implement the government announcement, and I will hold a meeting with Power Division officials,” Chairman NEPRA said.

KE also requested NEPRA to reduce the price of electricity by Rs. 0.30 per unit in terms of quarterly adjustments.

Faiz Paracha is a seasoned broadcast journalist with over 15 years’ experience in reporting and e...



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