ISLAMABAD  -   National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has reserved its judgment on the petition of power distribution companies (DISCOs) for a hike of Rs5.62/unit in tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for December 2023. NEPRA has conducted a public hearing on the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) petition for a hike of electricity price on account of FCA for December, 2023. In a petition submitted to NEPRA, on behalf of Ex-Wapda Discos (XWDiscos), the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) said that the reference fuel charged from the consumers during December was Rs 5.4031 per unit, while the cost of the energy delivered to Discos was Rs 11.0225 per unit, and requested an increase of Rs 5.6194 per unit over the reference charges on account of FCA for the month. The increase also includes the previous adjustments of Re 0.7003 per unit. The petition, if accepted in full by Nepra, will burden the electricity consumers with an additional burden of over Rs 51 billion (FCA+GST).

The CPPA, in its application, has submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of December was recorded a 7,726 GWh(gigawatt per hour), at a price of Rs 10.1341 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs 78,296 million. The electricity generation increased by 2.37 per cent in December to 7,726 GWh from 7547 GWh in November, while the generation cost increased by 41.33 per cent from Rs 7.1704 per unit to Rs 10.1341 per unit. The CPPA-G also sought previous adjustments of Rs 5.411 billion or Re 0.7003 per unit. The CPPA, in its application, claimed that the reference fuel cost for December 2023 was set at Rs5.403 per unit but the actual fuel cost came in at Rs11.022 per unit. The CPPA also submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of December was recorded at 97,726 GWh, at a price of Rs 10.1341 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs 78,296 million. Regarding the issue of overbilling of electricity companies, Member Napra Rafiq Shaikh said that the matter will be finalized by March. CPPA officials said that electricity consumption has decreased by 10 percent in the last month, while Nepra officials said that consumption by the industry has decreased by 13 percent. Member NEPRA Maqsood Anwar said that if the decline in electricity consumption continues, it will result further increase in the FCA during the months ahead. Member Nepra Mothar Niaz Rana said that nuclear power was generated less due to refueling of nuclear fuel. Nepra officials informed the hearing that the Discos will replace faulty meters by February. According the petition, 7,418 GWh at Rs 81,767 million had been delivered to Discos with 3.51 per cent as transmission losses. The transmission loss had increased from 3.02 per cent in November to 3.51 per cent in December. The data reveals that power generation from hydel source decreased by 32.62 per cent during December to 1859 GWh from 2,755 GWh constituting 24.06 per cent with zero cost of power generation while power production with coal-fired power plants was 1694 GWh (local + imported coal: 1310+ 384GWh). The share of local coal was 16.95 per cent at Rs 12.3307 per unit while the share of imported coal was 4.97 per cent at Rs 17.2525 per unit. A small volume of electricity of 6 GWh was generated from High Speed Diesel at Rs 42.1497 per unit. From RFO based power plants 168.2 GWh electricity(2.18 per cent) was generated at Rs 38.5499 per unit during the month. Similarly, the power generation from gas-based power plants also increased by 18.85 per cent to 826 GWh, in December, from 695 GWh, during the previous month. The gas based power plants contributed 10.69 per cent of the total generation at RS 14.6035 per unit. The generation from Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) also enhanced by 58.89 percent to 1,268 GWh in December from 798 GWh in November. The total contribution of RLNG based power plants was 16.41 per cent, at Rs 26.2230 per unit.The generation cost of the RLNG based power plants increased by 10.58 per cent from Rs23.7171 per unit in November to Rs 26.2230 per unit. Power generation from bagasse has increased by 274 percent from 27 GWh in November to 101 GWh in the December. Bagasse has contributed 1.31 per cent to the grid at Rs 5.9822 per unit. The electricity generated from wind was recorded at 150 GWh, 1.95 per cent of total generation and solar at 62 GWh, 0.80 per cent of the total generation in Dec 2023. Moreover, electricity generation from nuclear sources was 1,464 GWh which came out at Rs1.3162 per unit, 18.95 per cent of the total generation, and electricity imported from Iran was 28 GWh that amounted to Rs 33.1274 per unit in Dec, which was 19/47 per cent expensive than Rs 27.7281 per unit in Nov. The electricity imported from Iran was 0.37 per cent of the total power generation.