Q1 of July-Sept 2022-23: Nepra allows Discos to recover Rs41.938bn under QTA mechanism

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has allowed power distribution companies (Discos) to recover Rs 41.938 billion from their consumers for the first quarter of (July-September) 2022-23 under the QTA mechanism.

The impact on IESCO consumers will be of Rs 1.97 per unit, LESCO Rs 2.76 per unit, GEPCO Rs 4.06 per unit, FESCO Rs 3.26 per unit, MEPCO Rs 4.80 per unit, PESCO Rs 1.25 per unit, HESCO Rs 1.77 per unit, QESCO Rs 4.09 per unit, SEPCO Rs 2.31 per unit, and TESCO Rs 3.62 per unit which will be recovered from the consumers in a period of two months i.e. February and March 2023.

The authority, in consistency with its earlier decision in the matter, has also decided not to include the amount of legal charges requested for the 1st Quarter amounting to Rs 4.2 million and also the amount of Rs 545.55 million requested for the previous quarters on the same account, while working out the instant quarterly adjustments.

July-September QTA: Nepra agrees to let Discos recover Rs43bn from consumers

The CPPA-G in its data has included amount of Rs 262 million on account of capacity charges of KAPCO. The authority noted that KAPCO’s PPA was amended by CPPA-G, wherein, it has been agreed that plant will be operated without payment of capacity charges from July 2021 onward and only energy charges would be paid. Upon inquiry from CPPA-G regarding the inclusion of capacity charges of Rs 262 million of KAPCO, it has been submitted that claimed cost is on account of truing up of costs pertaining to previous periods as per the PPA.

The CPPA-G, although provided some detail in this regard, however, the authority has decided to provisionally not consider the claimed amount of KAPCO and would consider it in the subsequent quarterly adjustments, once the same is verified. Accordingly, the amount of Rs 262 million has been deducted from the claim of Discos.

In light of discussion, information submitted by the CPPA-G and adjustment requests filed by Discos, the Authority has decided to restrict the amount of quarterly adjustment for the 1st Quarter of FY 2022-23, as requested by Discos on account of variation in capacity charges, variable O&M, Use of System Charges (UoSC), and Market Operator Fee (MOF).

However, regarding the FCA impact on T&D losses, since the authority’s decision in the matter of monthly FCA for September 2022 was not finalised till the submissions of quarterly adjustment requests by Discos, therefore, it has been worked out based on the approved monthly FCAs. Similarly, for working out the impact of the recovery of fixed cost on incremental sales, the data of incremental units as provided by the CPPA-G has been considered, as few of the Discos did not provide the required information in their adjustment requests.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023