ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday notified an additional fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of Rs3.99 per unit for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) with a financial burden of Rs51 billion in the current billing month (June).

Nepra “has reviewed and assessed an increase of Rs3.9923 per kwh in the applicable tariff for Discos on account of variations in the fuel charges for the month of April 2022,” the regulator announced. It also ordered the power companies to exclude the furnace oil, gas, and RLNG power plants that are not supplying energy to CPPA-G due to a lack of availability of fuel.

The notification issued here said, “The higher tariff adjustment shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers of all the XWDISCOs (ex-Wapda distribution companies).” It asked the Discos that the said adjustment be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to them in the month of April and reflect it in the billing month of June.

On behalf of all ex-Wapda Discos, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) requested a 61pc increase in their fuel price adjustment at Rs4.055 per unit (kwh) for electricity sold in April. It said consumers were charged a reference fuel cost of Rs6.61 per unit in April, but the actual cost turned out to be Rs10.664 per unit, hence an additional charge of about Rs4.055 per unit to consumers.

FCA for April not applicable to KE consumers

The regulator, however, finalised Rs3.99 per unit of additional FCA after minor disallowances. The higher electricity rates would be charged to all consumers in the current billing month (June) except those using fewer than 50 units per month. This tariff is not applicable to K-Electric (KE) consumers directly, although a part of it subsequently becomes part of KE’s tariff adjustments on account of its import from the national grid.

Vice Chairman Nepra and member Sindh Rafique A Shaikh, however, dissented to the regulator’s price calculations, saying the cost of mismanagement of fuel and non-availability of required RLNG could not be passed on to the consumers.

“In the wake of high load demand in the system and an ongoing electricity shortfall in the country, the full utilisation of these power plants (Balloki, Bhikki and Haveli Bahadur Shah) could minimise the load shedding, through the generation of electricity by cheaper resources on the one hand, while on the other hand, it could help avoid part load charges of Rs1.74bn,” it said.

The regulator also noted that the second most efficient RLNG power plants in Pakistan were the Orient, Saif, Sapphire, and Halmore power plants, with an efficiency factor of over 51pc, but their utilisation factor remained in the 42pc to 64pc band. Similarly, the utilisation factor of Saif Power and Sapphire Electric on diesel was around 16pc and 15pc.

“Operation of these power plants on part load resulted part load adjustment charges claim of more than Rs422 million,” it said.

Published in Dawn,June 14th, 2022