ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: The Wapda has asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to provide an unspecified increase in power tariff that could meet its Rs32 billion deficit.
If the overall deficit of Rs32 billion is met through tariff, an increase of around 30.72 per cent or an average Re1.10 per unit would be required, an expert at the Nepra told Dawn .
But the Nepra would analyse all the details of Wapda performance in line loss reduction, recovery of dues and other parameters to create a balance between Wapda and consumer interests, he said.
A Wapda official told Dawn that the utility had refused to entertain a Nepra demand of providing the size of tariff increase it required to meet the deficit. “We have told Nepra that Rs32 billion is our deficit for the current year, now you decide how much tariff increase or other measures would meet this,” said the official.
In this way, he said, the Wapda has passed on the responsibility of determining the size of tariff increase on regulator’s shoulders instead of inviting public criticism before the petition is taken up for hearing,” said the official.
The Wapda official said that, historically, when utilities wanted an increase, it faced public outcry even when the demand was rejected. The Nepra never approved a tariff increase as required by Wapda. “When Nepra has to impose decisions based on its own calculations, there is no point in Wapda telling the size of the increase,” he said.
This time we have carefully read the Nepra Act that requires the power regulator to rationalize tariff to meet the utility’s cash needs and protect interests of both the power producer and the consumer, he said. He said that nowhere in the Nepra Act, any utility was required to quantify the tariff increase.
This has further worsened the working relationship between the power utility and the regulator which have been at the loggerheads for over two years now.
The Wapda had filed a tariff petition early last month asking the Nepra to provide relief through tariff increase to meet its Rs32 billion tariff increase.
A number of other non-tariff measures like reduction in fuel costs, additional supply of natural gas, conversion of federal government loans into equity proposed by the power utility to bridge deficit were rejected by the federal government.
The Nepra had, however, put on hold the hearing of the petition and had asked the Wapda to provide details and explain as to how much tariff increase was required to meet its cash needs. No progress could be made on that account since then, official sources said.
Earlier, the dispute between the power utility and the regulator had delayed the implementation on tariff determination announced by the Nepra that resulted in recovery of arrears in January/February with retrospective effect from August, 2001.