KARACHI: Nearly half of the K-Electric consumers may not get the benefit of exemption from paying fuel adjustment charges (FAC) in their monthly electricity bills as Federal Energy Minister Khurrum Dastagir said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced elimination of fuel adjustment charges in the entire country for only those who consumed up to 200 units of electricity per month.

Speaking at a press conference here at the KE head office, he said that the federal government had exempted over 17 million electricity consumers from FAC and traders from the fixed tax across the country.

According to a KE spokesperson, out of over 3.2m there are around 1.5m consumers who used up to 200 units of electricity per month.

The federal minister while giving the details of the package announced by the prime minister said that those who consumed less than 200 units of electricity in the country would not be charged FAC in the bills issued in August, adding that the facility would also be availed by agriculture consumers.

Energy minister says FAC will be waived for those who consumed up to 200 units per month; visits Hesco head office

He said that the customers who had paid the FAC in their August bills would be adjusted in the next month’s bills.

The federal minister said that the fixed tax levied on traders, which had already been abolished, would be collected as per the old system from October with some modifications.

New privatisation agreement with KE

Mr Dastagir hinted at a new privatisation agreement between the K-Electric and the federal government, saying that the benefits of privatisation of the power utility had not been achieved.

He said that there were legal and financial issues in the agreement, so its provisions were being reconsidered and a new agreement was being prepared.

He alleged that the increase in electricity prices was the result of former prime minister Imran Khan’s government.

“During 2018 to 2022, there had been no focus on generating cheap electricity from wind, solar, coal and nuclear energies,” he added.

He said that in the summer of this year, the maximum electricity demand in the country was 30,000 megawatts, while the country had 22,000MW to 25,000MW from efficient sources.

“Now this is the policy of the government, in the future; whatever new power plants will be built, they will not use imported fuel,” he added.

He said that the federal government wanted to ensure the cheap supply of electricity to citizens of Karachi and across the country and the policy had been decided that electricity would be generated from locally available resources and not on any imported fuel.

“We will give good news to the people of Karachi soon. We will start the 1,320 MW project of Shanghai Company in Thar coal field soon,” he added.

Financial affairs between KE, govt ‘very complicated’

The federal minister said that the financial affairs between K-Electric and the federal government were very complicated.

“There are some legal and financial issues between the federal government and K-Electric,” he said, without elaborating.

He said that floods had caused a lot of damage. “Therefore, the authorities have been asked to restore the submerged grid stations and other facilities as soon as possible,” he added.

Mr Dastagir said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed for bringing innovation in electricity distribution companies. “Providing cheap electricity to consumers is our goal,” he added.

The minister was also given a briefing during a meeting with the KE authorities. However, no details were available regarding the closed-door meeting.

Meanwhile, the federal minister visited the headquarters of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) headquarters on Wednesday.

However, a Hesco spokesperson has issued a press release in which not a single word has been attributed to the federal minister as if he remained silent in the briefing given to him.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2022