Islamabad, Sep 7: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has given distribution companies and K-Electric the ability to recoup Rs43.23 billion through quarterly adjustments for the fourth quarter (April–June) of the fiscal year 2023–2024.
Customers of K-Electric and state-owned distribution companies would be impacted burdening households already struggling with increased energy bills.
A sizeable Rs21.253 billion, or almost half of the total, is set aside for capacity charges, which are payments made to independent power producers (IPPs) to guarantee that generation capacity is maintained regardless of the amount of electricity consumed. These payments are the foundation of this recovery.
The remaining amounts are being recovered in the form of market operator fees and system usage charges of Rs7.368 billion, the impact of transmission and distribution (T&D) losses of Rs11.23 billion, and variable operation and maintenance charges of Rs3.5 billion.
Nepra did note that some DISCOs, including PESCO, chose to implement load shedding within their service region since they were unable to obtain electricity in accordance with their demand.
This resulted in lower sales while also lowering their portion of the overall pool’s capacity charges. These businesses had requested an extra Rs1.9 per unit of collection.
The Authority has determined to permit positive quarterly adjustments totaling Rs43.23 billion for the fourth quarter of FY2023–24.
These adjustments will be applied to all consumer categories, with the exception of lifeline consumers, and will take place over the course of three months, from September to November 2024, at a uniform rate of Rs1.7432/unit.