ISLAMABAD - The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Tuesday approved Rs2.28 per unit reduction in power tariff for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) for the month of February under a monthly fuel adjustment formula.

The decision was taken by Nepra in a public hearing on the petition filed by Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). In its petition CPPA had sought tariff reduction by Rs 2.1928 per unit to make some previous adjustment. However, the Nepra decided to reduce power tariff by Rs 2.28 per unit.

Following reduction in power tariff, the consumers will enjoy a relief of over Rs 10 billion which will be provided in the bills of April. This adjustment/relief adjustment will be available to domestic consumers in the entire Pakistan except for K-Electric and the lifeline consumers.

The reason for not providing relief to the consumers of K-Electric was that it was a privatized company and distributing its own generated electricity to the consumers in Karachi and is not covered under this determination.

The relief will also not be available to the lifeline consumers consuming up to 300 units per month, as they were already being provided subsidized electricity. The relief will also not be passed on to the industrial consumers who were already getting cheaper electricity.

According to the petition, total energy generated in February 2018 was 6979.16 GWh at a total price of Rs 34.25 billion.

The net electricity delivered to power distribution companies was 6808 Gwh at cost of Rs 34.50 billion. Out of total electricity generation, losses stood at 2.25 per cent.

On the basis of data, Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has proposed a reduction of Rs 2.1928 per unit for February 2018 since the actual cost of generation was Rs5.0675 per unit in the period under review against reference price of Rs 7.2603 per unit.

CPPA, in its petition said that it had purchased 0.77 MW electricity generated on High Speed Diesel (HSD) in February 2018 which accounted for 0.01 per cent of total supply at cost of Rs 14.18 per unit. The total generation from hydel sources was 1356.59 GWh accounting for 19.44 percent of total consumption. The hydel generation had been reduced after reduction in water releases from Tarbela and Mangla.

CPPA purchased 581.39 GWh Residual Fuel Oil (RFO) based electricity produced at a cost of Rs 10.16 per unit and its share 8.33 per cent of total generation,

The total share of gas based electricity was 1672.87 GWh accounting for 23.97 per cent of total generation and its cost of electricity was Rs 4.71 per unit. The electricity generated from RLNG was 1340.07 GWh making a 19.20 percent of total generation, at a cost of Rs 9.02 per unit.

The Nuclear power plants contributed 609.23 GWh of electricity with a cost of Rs 1.07 per unit, cheapest amongst all fuels. The electricity imported from Iran was 34.53 GWh at a price of Rs 11.05 per unit. Baggasse based electricity contributed 80.69 GWh at cost of Rs 6.18.Similarly from Wind and Solar 84.92 GWh and 54.65 electricity was purchased respectively.