May power bills: NEPRA approves Rs2.83 per unit hike in FCA

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved a hike of Rs2.83 per unit in the fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for March 2024, which will reflect in the bills of May 2024, according to its notification issued on Wednesday.

The latest levy will be applicable to all the consumer categories of the ex-Wapda distribution companies (XWDiscos) except Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers. The K.Electric (KE) consumers will also remain exempted from the said price hike.

NEPRA directed the XWDiscos to show the hike in FCA separately in the consumers’ bills of May 2024 on the basis of units billed to the consumers in March 2024.

“While effecting the fuel adjustment charges, the concerned XWDISCOs shall keep in view and strictly comply with the orders of the courts notwithstanding this order,” the authority emphasised.

It’s worth mentioning that power distribution companies (Discos) have also sought positive adjustment of up to Rs1.60 per unit to recover an additional amount of Rs52 billion from the consumers of KE and Discos for the third quarter (January to March 2024) of FY 2023-24 under Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) mechanism.

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NEPRA is scheduled to conduct a public hearing on May 17, 2024 on the petition of Discos filed by the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guaranteed (CPPA-G). Of the total requested adjustment of Rs51.883 billion, Rs31.348 billion is on account of the capacity charges to be paid to power generation plants.

Last month, Business Recorder reported that the CPPA-G had planned to extract about Rs23 billion from Discos consumers in April 2024 under monthly FCA mechanism.