ISLAMABAD: The Central Power Purchasing Agency–Guaranteed (CPPA-G) has revealed that industrial electricity consumption increased by 20 percent in October 2025 compared to the corresponding month of 2024.
This was disclosed during a public hearing on Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for October 2025. The hearing was presided over by Nepra Chairman Waseem Mukhtar, Member (Technical) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, Member (Development) Maqsood Anwar Khan, and Member (Law) Amina Ahmed.
The CPPA-G proposed a negative adjustment of 65 paisa per kWh for October 2025. However, since it will replace the negative adjustment of 48 paisa per kWh for September 2025, the net impact on consumers—excluding lifeline consumers—will be 17 paisa per kWh.
PPP for CY26: CPPA-G indicates PKR decline, power demand growth
During the hearing, the Member (Development) expressed satisfaction over the sudden 20 percent increase in industrial electricity consumption during October 2025. He noted that previous hearings had highlighted a decline in industrial load due to a shift toward net metering and industry closures. However, the latest CPPA-G figures reflect a reversal of that trend.
The CPPA-G CEO Rehan Akhtar added that industrial consumption increased by approximately 25 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. However, there were differing views on the cause of this increase. It was suggested that the rise might be linked to Captive Power Plants (CPPs) shifting from gas to the national grid. Yet, the data presented covered consumption from distribution companies (DISCOs), including LESCO, but not from KE — where a majority of CPPs have shifted to the grid.
He further clarified that overall capacity payments to power producers have not changed despite the increase in KE’s supply from 1,000 MW to 2,050 MW, as these contractual payments are fixed and not dependent on volumes drawn.
According to him, under Nepra’s tariff methodology, PPP (ie, CPP + CPP) is pass-through in nature and any variation is passed on to consumers through the quarterly tariff adjustment mechanism. He added that, under the regulatory framework, all DISCOs and KE are treated equally, and generation from any specific power plant cannot be allocated to one utility alone. However, for assessment purposes, the System Operator simulated a “zero-drawl by KE” scenario while keeping all other variables unchanged.
Based on this simulation, the impact of additional KE drawl on FCA for the CPPA-G pool was calculated as: (i) August 2025: 9 paisa per kWh increase; (ii) September 2025: 7 paisa per kWh decrease and; (iii) October 2025: 34 paisa per kWh increase.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.