KARACHI - The KESC has fixed Rs 6 per unit rate for purchase of electricity from WAPDA after getting approval of the he Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, sources revealed to The Nation on Monday. The KESC is selling electricity to consumers at a rate of Rs 6 per unit to Rs 13 per unit. A domestic consumer of 300 units in a month is being charged around Rs. 6 per unit. Similarly, those spending between 300 to 1,000 units are being charged at a rate of Rs. 11 per unit while the consumers with 1,000 or more pay Rs. 12 to 13 per unit. "The dispute over the rates of electricity purchase still continues between WAPDA and KESC. The power supply to the KESC is on marginal rates. These rates are high because of electricity losses faced by the company during transmission. KESC has always demanded same rates as other companies are paying for the power utility. This dispute has been solved by ECC as the board allowed the KESC to purchase electricity from Wapda for Rs. 6", said the sources. "Before privatisation of the KESC, electricity was supplied to the company for Rs. 3.69 per unit but after privatisation, the rates of power purchase shot up to Rs.13 per unit. KESC was also barred from power tariff increment for 3 years. Earlier, the company was purchasing electricity on pool rate that included the rates both from hydel and thermal. About 32 per cent of electricity was supplied by hydel production and 65 % from thermal generation. Hydel-electricity was for supplied at a rate of Rs. 3 and thermal for Rs4 per unit. But after privatisation, the KESC was charged according to the thermal rates i.e. Rs. 13 per unit," revealed the sources. "The ongoing rift between KESC and Wapda began after the company demanded the supply at Rs. 6 per unit instead of Rs. 13 per unit fixed after its privatisation. The claim forwarded by Wapda that the KESC is the debtor of Rs. 76 billion is based on Rs. 13 per unit rate of power purchase. KESC, on the other hand, maintained that the company has to pay Rs. 30 billion to Wapda. This is in the context of price set at Rs. 4 before privatisation. The company is only willing to own Rs. 30 billion arrears towards Wapda. This matter is now before the government. The payments will be made after the agreement would be reached by the concerned authorities," it was learnt. It is worth noting here that the company is spending less on electricity purchase but charging high rate from the general public. The commercial consumers have been facing tariff hike up to 70 per cent. Recently, NEPRA has again allowed the KESC to increase tariff by Rs. 1.86 which led the total increment up to 20 per cent. The previous increment in September 2008 was about 40 %. On the other hand the official from the KESC mentioned that the rates for electricity purchase are not fixed and fluctuate time to time. He said the price was revised with a change in average cost of power generation.