NEPRA approved a second-quarter adjustment for the last fiscal year that increased K-Electric rates by Rs1.55 per unit.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in ISLAMABAD has approved an Rs1.55 increase in the price of energy per unit for the metropolis of Karachi.
K-Electric’s rate increase was approved by regulators as part of an annualized second-quarter adjustment.
For official notice, Nepra has forwarded the decision to the federal government.
Additional payments will be collected through May 2023 through July 2023 bills.
Nepra was contacted by the federal government to help keep tariffs consistent across the country.
The regulatory board held the hearing at the government’s request and then gave the ruling.
Nepra announced earlier this month that the power tariff for K-Electric customers would rise by Rs3.93 per unit in March 2023 due to fuel cost adjustment (FCA).
The May 2023 electricity bill would reflect the Nepra verdict.
K-Electric requested a price hike of Rs4.49/unit.
The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) and K-Electric entered into a five-year power purchase agreement for the sale or purchase of 650MW on basket rates on January 26, 2010, according to the regulator.
In a subsequent meeting on November 8, 2012, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) decided to reduce the company’s supply of energy to K-Electric by 300MW in light of the petitioner’s plans to withdraw electricity from the NTDCL.
However, K-Electric challenged the CCI’s ruling at the Sindh High Court in Karachi through a series of lawsuits and petitions.
As of this writing, K-Electric and the NTDCL had not signed any new agreements.
K-Electric’s power consumption from the national grid remained stable at roughly 1,100MW.
The city’s utility had certified in its adjustment requests that it dispatched power according to economic merit order, both from its own generation units (using the available fuel resources) and from outside sources.
It also confirmed that no late payment surcharge, markup, or interest was added to the total of gasoline and power purchase claims.
Commentator Tanveer Barry voiced alarm over the high FCAs in the summer of 2023.
K-Electric replied that if Bin Qasim Power Station 3 (BQPS-III) were incorporated, the cost of generating power would go down.
Another commentator, Imran Shahid, argued that K-Electric shouldn’t be running inefficient plants that had reached the end of their useful life and were driving up generation costs.
In its response to the criticisms, K-Electric defended its 15-year effort to boost the efficiency of its generation fleet to 48%.
According to the report, BQPS-I units 1 and 2 would be shut down after three months, and units 5 and 6 would only be used to meet the load demand if they were lower in the economic merit order.
