ISLAMABAD: The government has requested an increase of Rs1.25 per unit on account of quarterly adjustment for the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (July-September 2023) to recover Rs22.56 billion from the consumers.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday reserved its decision with regard to quarterly power adjustment.
The power distribution companies (XWDISCOs) filed a request with the NEPRA for adjustments on account of various charges for the 1st quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24 July-September 2023, in line with the notified mechanism in this regard.
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The NEPRA conducted a hearing on the application of XWDISCOs under the chairmanship of NEPRA Chairman Waseem Mukhtar and announced to issue a final decision later.
NEPRA officials, during the hearing, stated that XWDISCOs have sought a total increase of more than Rs22.56 billion and its precise impact will depend on which month this quarterly adjustment is recovered from the consumers.
They added that if the increase in power tariff is approved then the power tariff hike in the next three months will be around Rs1.25 per unit.
They said XWDISCOs reduced power purchase in July, August and September as their purchase of power was decreased by 9.50 percent. The XWDISCOs purchased a total of 38 billion units instead of 42 billion, said NEPRA officials.
Adjustments could have been negative if the figures were as per reference cost, they added.
Responding to a question, NEPRA officials clarified that an increase in power tariff will be applicable to all customers across the country under quarterly adjustment because uniform increase will be applied across the country on the direction of the federal government.
They said that implementation of quarterly adjustments in the case of K-Electric faced delays, the difference of K-Electric’s quarterly adjustments between the adjustments of the DISCOs would be paid by the federal government with subsidy.
Final decision regarding power price hike will be issued later, said NEPRA at the end of public hearing on quarterly adjustment sought by the XWDISCOs on account of variation in Power Purchase Price (PPP) for the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2023-24.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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