ISLAMABAD: With an unending rise in inflation, the electricity costs continued to go up as ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (Discos) and K-Electric have sought clearance to extract almost Rs30 billion more from their consumers amid heat waves in the country.

In their separate tariff petitions, Discos are seeking to raise an additional Rs27bn from their consumers in July’s bill while KE has sought to extract about Rs2.8bn in fuel cost adjustments (FCAs) for electricity consumed in May. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has accepted the respective tariff petitions and called public hearings on July 5.

If approved, Discos would charge an additional Rs2.054 per unit for electricity consumed in May despite over 56pc power generation from domestic cheaper fuels, slightly higher from 54pc in April. On the other hand, KE would be able to charge R1.495 per unit additional cost to consumers to mop up about Rs2.78bn under FCA in July.

One of the key reasons behind the current FCA petitions is the relatively lower availability of hydropower generation (27pc of basket share) than estimated and the resultant increase in the share of imported LNG-based generation in the overall power supply — making it the second highest contributor at 24.33pc.

The third largest share came from coal-based generation at 16.78pc in May although its contribution was lower against 18pc in April while nuclear generation dropped to 12.6pc in May compared to 19pc in April and 24.28pc in February. The contribution of hydropower generation in the overall national power grid in May stood at 26.96pc against 24pc a month earlier. Hydropower has no fuel cost. Power supply from domestic gas stood at 10.35pc in May against 12pc in April and 11pc in February.

Interestingly, the fuel cost of furnace oil-based power generation stood at Rs23.24 per unit in May and was lower than the Rs24.5 per unit fuel cost of LNG-based power generation. However, the authorities produced just 1.96pc share from furnace oil-based generation compared to 24.33pc from LNG.

The cost of power generation from domestic gas increased to Rs12.45 per unit in May when compared to Rs10.07 per unit two months earlier because of the increase in gas prices notified by the government. The furnace oil-based power generation cost stood at almost Rs23.24 per unit significantly down from Rs34 per unit a few months earlier. Coal-based power generation cost also dropped to Rs10.5 against Rs12.3 a month earlier.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2023