On account of fuel adjustment fees for May, the National Electric and Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) approved a rise in the price of electricity on Monday to Rs. 7.90.
NEPRA authorities claim that over the past six months, petroleum products’ prices have dramatically increased on the international market.
They stated that if power plants had employed expensive fuels, the price would have increased even more.
According to Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) officials, the cost of coal has also gone up as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They also noted that by the end of July, LNG cargoes were available at a price of $42 per unit, but Pakistan was unable to purchase them due to its financial difficulties.
The NEPRA chairman claimed that the regulatory body was in a difficult situation since load-shedding would occur if it did not create electricity and inflation would result if it did so using imported fuel.
They stated that “The plants that could have produced a unit for Rs. 6-7 were opposed.” The chairman encouraged the government to hold off on building fuel-importing power facilities.
The authority accepted an increase in the power tariff of Rs. 1.55 per unit as a result of a quarterly adjustment on June 17.
According to a report in this publication, power distribution companies (DISCOs) will recoup Rs. 39 billion from consumers as a result of the pricing revision.
For the second quarter of the fiscal year 2021–22, the regulatory authority had approved an increase in the power tariff due to variation in capacity charges, variable operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, use of system charges, market operation fee, and the impact of transmission and distribution losses on fuel cost adjustment (FCA).
The federal government announced a significant hike in pricing for all petroleum products on June 15—the third such increase in a month—increasing the cost of gasoline by 24 rupees per liter and high-speed diesel (HSD) by 59.16 rupees per liter in particular.
In just one month, the government increased the cost of gasoline by more than 84 rupees a liter.
To read our blog on “The Federal Cabinet decided to put off a per unit increase in power tariff,” click here.
