ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday notified a reduction of Rs1.55 per unit in electricity tariffs across the country for a period of three months, from May to July 2025, under a quarterly adjustment mechanism.

This cut comes in addition to a 29-paisa per unit fuel cost adjustment for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) and a Rs3.64 per unit reduction for K-Electric consumers for the month of May.

As a result, consumers of Discos will receive a total of Rs1.84 per unit cheaper electricity in May and then Rs1.55 per unit in June and July. Similarly, K-Electric consumers will enjoy about Rs5.19 per unit cheaper rates in May and then Rs1.55 per unit in June and July.

The regulator said it allowed Rs1.55 per unit negative adjustment on account of the quarterly tariff adjustment for the January-March quarter of the current fiscal year.

The notification said Nepra “has decided to allow negative quarterly adjustments of Rs52.6bn pertaining to the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25, in a period of three months, i.e. May 2025 to July 2025, at a uniform rate of negative Rs1.5538 per kWh, to be applicable to all consumer categories, except lifeline consumers and prepaid consumers”.

Under government policy, the same quarterly adjustments will also apply to K-Electric consumers, with the same applicability period. In case any bills for the applicable period of the said adjustment are issued before this notification, the adjustment will be applied in the subsequent month.

Separately, Nepra notified consumers of Discos of a 29-paisa per unit negative fuel cost adjustment in May bills on account of consumption in February.

Similarly, Nepra also notified Rs3.64 per unit negative fuel cost adjustment in May billing against electricity consumed in February. As demanded by K-Electric, Nepra passed on only a partial reduction in fuel cost adjustment, instead of Rs6.62 per unit cheaper fuel cost than charged to consumers in February.

In its notification, Nepra also directed distribution companies to address technical losses and constraints, particularly in light of increasing integration of distributed solar generation and misaligned time-of-use (ToU) tariff structures.

Discos have also been directed to undertake a comprehensive study within four months to thoroughly examine the impact of existing ToU tariff timings and proposed measures for aligning demand with evolving load patterns and a comprehensive assessment of the financial and technical impacts of distributed solar photovoltaic integration on distribution utility operations and infrastructure.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2025