- The government is reviewing the winter electricity tariff structure nationwide.
- Conservation incentives introduced in a context of growing energy demand.
- Additional charges apply beyond seasonal consumption thresholds.
ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved the federal government’s winter demand initiative for XDISCOS and K-Electric (KE) consumers, reported News SATURDAY.
According to a Nepra statement released on Friday, the winter package will benefit industrial net metering and transmission consumers, even though they were not initially included in the government’s request.
Under the winter package, the price of additional units used, compared to the previous year, would be Rs 26.07 per unit, and the package would be valid for three months – December to February.
The release further mentioned that the relief or reduction would be given to consumers on their December bills.
The Authority said the baseline consumption would be the higher of the relevant month’s consumption in FY 2024 or the historical consumption over the last three years for the relevant months, based on the approved formula.
It considered that the proposed initiative, being neutral in terms of subsidies, would not have an impact on the tariff determined by Nepra, as the variation in marginal cost, if any, would be passed on via monthly FCAs . On the other hand, if the marginal cost remains lower, the benefit will be shared with consumers through quarterly price adjustments.
Regarding the implementation of KE’s consumer initiative, the Authority observed that KE has filed its Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) requests, requesting tariff adjustment based on actual data sent, in accordance with the mechanism applied to XWDiscos and this application is currently being examined by the Authority.
The Authority is also aware that the exclusion of KE consumers from the winter package would not only have a negative impact on sales growth, a factor taken into account by the Federal Government when introducing the winter package, but would also result in a discriminatory treatment of KE consumers.
Therefore, the Authority recognized that KE consumers should not be deprived of the winter pass benefits provided by the Federal Government.
Taking this into account, the Authority decided that KE would be compensated in the same way as other Nightclubs for the duration of this winter package when determining and adjusting the final consumer rate. As such, KE is obliged to provide the same relief to its consumers under the winter package.
Meanwhile, Nepra has approved a reduction of Rs1.14 per unit for monthly adjustment of fuel charges for October.
According to Nepra, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) had submitted a request for reduction of Rs 1.01 per unit, which Nepra considered after holding a public hearing on November 26.
The discount will apply to all consumers of distribution companies (nightclubs), excluding lifeline consumers, prepaid users and electric vehicle charging stations. However, this will not apply to KE customers.
The Authority has considered the request/information provided by CAPP-G seeking a monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA). From the reading of the information thus provided by the CPPA-G, the actual cost of pool fuel for the month of October 2024, as claimed by the CPPA-G, was Rs 9.2593 per unit, per compared to the fuel benchmark cost element of Rs 10.2752 per unit. unit.
The actual fuel charges, as claimed by the CPPA-G, for October 2024 have decreased by Rs 1.0159 per unit compared to the baseline fuel charges.
In addition, the CPPA-G also provided data that as of October 2024, 21.93 GWh was supplied by power producers with bilateral contracts with nightclubs.
The Authority calculated the cost of fuel for the month of October 2024, after accounting adjustments and including costs resulting from the application of various factors.
In light of the Authority’s previous decisions to separate the FCA of each Disco after accounting for the energy purchased from CPPA-G, bilateral contracts and net billing under an individual basket of each Disco have been elaborated.
However, given that a uniform tariff regime is applicable in light of the Nepra Act, the NE Policy and Plan, the Authority has also developed a national average uniform monthly FCA to be charged to all consumers of XDisco and to In light of this, Nepra has approved a reduction of Rs 1.14 per unit for monthly adjustment of fuel charges for October 2024, which will be applicable to December 2024 electricity bills.
Later, Energy Minister Owais Leghari said the government was committed to further reducing electricity prices.