Nepra approves Rs 2.61/unit refund

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday approved refund of Rs 2.61 per unit for consumers for October 2016 overcharged by the power Distribution Companies (Discos) under monthly fuel adjustment mechanism. Agriculture consumers and domestic consumers using up to 300 units in a month are not eligible for the refund.
The decision was taken at a public hearing presided over Vice Chairman Hamat Ullah Khan on a monthly tariff petition filed by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). Not a single representative from NGOs funded by donors for protecting consumers was present in the hearing.
The authority also raised the issue of Nandipur Power Project which has been non-operational for the last six months but millions of rupees are being charged from consumers in the name of capacity charges. However, the representative of National Power Control Centre (CPPA) expressed his inability to give any reason as to why the plant is not functional.
"We sent our demand to plants management but they replied that maintenance of plant is underway. I cannot answer this question, the management of Nandipur is in a better position to answer this question," said the NPCC representative. The Vice Chairman directed one of Nepra's consultants to take up the issue of Nandipur with the quarters concerned including the Ministry of Water and Power.
The CPPA, in its petition claimed that it sold about 9.5 billion electricity units (kilowatt hours) to consumers in October at a total cost of Rs 40.27 billion. Discos charged reference fuel charges of Rs 7.34 per unit to consumers while the actual fuel cost came to Rs 4.74 per unit. Therefore, a refund of Rs 2.60 per unit was required to be passed on to the consumers.
However, according to Nepra's tariff experts, actual fuel charge component in October 2016 was Rs 4.7273 per unit against reference fuel charge component of Rs 7.3369 per unit. The authority approved a refund of Rs 2.6097 per unit. According to the tariff petition the highest contribution - almost 32 per cent (2.76bn units) power generation - came from hydropower plants. In contrast, the furnace oil-based power generation cost stood at Rs 7.96 per unit, which contributed about 30.3pc (2.63bn units) of the total electricity generation in October.
Gas-based average generation cost for 2.1 million units (or 24.4pc of total generation) worked out at Rs 5.5 per unit while power production from regasified-liquefied natural gas (RLNG) contributed about 2pc with an average cost of Rs 6.7 per unit.
The fuel cost of diesel-based plants was reported at Rs 12.11 per unit with the generation share of about 2pc. The coal-based power cost worked out at Rs 4.5 per unit with a negligible contribution of less than 0.2pc. Nuclear power plants contributed about 5pc units to the national grid at a cost of Rs 1.16pc while the fuel cost of electricity imported from Iran stood at Rs 10.6 per unit.
The representative of the CPPA provided the rationale for differential payment for use of RLNG by Fauji Kabirwala Power Plant and M/s Rousch Power: the two power companies were paid a portion of difference in price of gas and RLNG and the remaining was paid in October in accordance with Ogra's notified price.