ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) allowed on Tuesday an increase of 43 paisa per unit in electricity tariff for all distribution companies, except K-Electric.

At a public hearing presided over by Nepra vice-chairman Habibullah Khilji, the authority allowed the tariff increase on account of monthly fuel adjustment for July which would be recovered from consumers next month. This will have an additional financial impact of Rs3.34 billion.

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The increase in tariff will remain in place for one month and will not apply to lifeline consumers using less than 50 units per month.

The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) had sought the increase on the grounds that some power plants had to be run on expensive high speed diesel to minimise loadshedding. It said the distribution companies had been sold 10.23 billion units and total fuel cost of power generation stood at Rs76.72bn.

K-Electric and lifeline consumers exempted from tariff raise to be charged only for July

The CPPA said the actual average fuel cost in July stood at Rs7.50 per unit against a reference fuel cost of Rs7.06 per unit, necessitating passing on of an additional burden of 43 paisa per unit to consumers.

During July, about 37 per cent power generation came from hydropower plants with no fuel cost while that of 33.3pc came from furnace oil-based plants involving a cost of Rs16 per unit. About 21pc electricity was contributed by gas-based plants at a cost of about Rs5 per unit while that of 3.7pc each by nuclear- and diesel-based plants at the rate of Rs1.3 and Rs21 per unit, respectively.

During the hearing, Nepra member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Himayatullah Khan asked the CPPA if the quantum of electricity purchased from different companies, its generation cost, payments and revenue collection were being made public as previously desired by the regulator to ensure transparency.

When CPPA representatives replied in the negative, the Nepra member said the people had the right to know about the quantity of power generated by the companies and their performance in terms of cost, billing and recoveries.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2014