ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday notified about Rs1.90 per unit additional fuel cost adjustment (FCA) in power tariff for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) for May to mop up about Rs25 billion in additional funds in the current billing month.

The “increase of Rs1.9039/kWh shall apply to all the consumer categories except electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers,” Nepra said in a notification.

The ex-Wapda Discos had proposed an additional FCA of Rs2.05 per unit to generate about Rs27bn in July’s bills. The regulator, however, calculated a positive FCA of Rs1.90 per unit with an additional revenue impact of about Rs25bn. It withheld the financial impact on account of deviation from economic merit order amounting to Rs1.67bn, on a provisional basis from the FCA claim till the time system operator — NTDC — provides complete justification for the violation.

The regulator said the NTDC had reported system constraints for the violation but it was not in the approved format which means the withheld amount could get back to haunt the consumers in the next monthly bills.

The FCA is reviewed every month as per the tariff regime applicable across the country and is usually applicable to the consumer’s bills for one month only.

The increase in FCA would apply to all consumer categories except lifeline power consumers, domestic consumers consuming up to 300 units, and agricultural consumers and electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS).

The FCA is also applicable to domestic consumers having Time-of-Use (ToU) meters irrespective of their consumption level.

About 56pc power generation during the said month came from domestic cheaper fuels, slightly higher from 54pc in April.

Hydropower, which has no fuel cost, stood at 27pc of the total power supply to the distribution companies followed by a 24.33pc share of imported LNG-based generation.

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. 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.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023