ISLAMABAD: The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) on Tuesday recommended the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to approve a Rs2.65 per unit hike in power tariff under fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for the month of September.
According to NEPRA, the Central Power Purchasing Agency, on behalf of power distributing companies (DISCOs), has sought an increase in power prices, for which an online hearing would be held on 27th October 2021.
In September, 36.2% of electricity was generated from hydropower, 17.05% from coal, 8.9% from gas and 18.9% from imported LNG, the CPPA said in its plea.
However, the cost of electricity generated from the furnace oil was Rs 19.23 per unit in the month, the Central Power Purchasing Agency added.
On October 16, the federal government dropped an electricity bombshell on the people as the power tariff went up by Rs1.39 per unit in a major move to revive inflows from the international lending agencies — IMF and the World Bank.
Addressing a news conference, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said the decision to increase the base power tariff was taken during a meeting between the World Bank management and Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin.
The minister said the increase in power rates had been necessitated by the expensive power projects contracted by the previous government — much beyond the country’s needs. “Yet, we have not increased tariff as much as the international lending institutions insisted,” he said.
The minister said the capacity payments contributing to circular debt stood at Rs185 billion a year in 2013, but increased to Rs470bn in 2018, hovered between Rs700 and 800bn at present and were projected to be around Rs2,500-3,000bn by 2030 because the projects were too expensive. He said the PTI government had not contracted a single project.
