Consumers to Pay Rs 2.9 Per Unit Extra in Electricity Bills

Staff Report

The Electricity Consumers are likely to pay Rs 2.9402 per unit extra in tariff in electricity bills in May 2024 on account of fuel adjustment for March.

The consumers will pay an additional Rs 27 billion burden on account of the increase in electricity rates.

The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has said that the reference fuel cost stood at Rs 6.4417 per unit against the actual cost of the energy delivered to Discos was Rs 9.3819 per unit.

Therefore, it submitted a petition before Nepra seeking an increase of Rs 2.9402 per unit increase on account of FCA for the month.

The increase also includes the previous adjustments of Rs Rs 7.615 billion or Rs 0.9492 per unit.

The petition if accepted in full by Nepra, will burden the electricity consumers with an additional burden of over Rs 27 billion (FCA+GST). To consider the petition, NEPRA will conduct a public hearing on 26th April 2024.

The break­down of the data reveals vary­ing costs across different gen­eration sources, ranging from Rs. 1.5488 per unit for nuclear to Rs. 30.3729 per unit for electricity imported from Iran.

As per the data shared with NEPRA, the CPPA-G informed that a total of 8023 GWh was generated in March 2024, at the total cost of energy was Rs 66,680 million or Rs 8.3109 per unit.

The generation in March was around 8 percent less than the generation of 8741 GWh during the same month last year.

Net delivered to Discos was 7756 GWh at Rs 72, 764 million or Rs 9.3819 per unit with 2.96 transmission losses.

No electricity was generated from high speed diesel, furnace oil, or imported coal, which has resulted in a lower cost of generation during March.

The data reveals that power generation from the hydel source was 2,217 GWh in March, constituting 27.63 percent with zero cost of power generation.

The local coal generation cost increased by 35.53 percent from Rs12.3794 per unit in February 2024 to Rs 16.7779 per unit. From local coal, power generation was down by 13.28 percent to 862 GWh from 994 GWh in the previous month.

The electricity generated with local gas was 795 GWh (9.91pc) at Rs. 13.6857 per unit. RLNG-based 1658 GWh or 20.67 percent of electricity was generated at Rs. 22.1917 per unit during the month. RLNG-based generation in March 2024 increased by 14.34 percent from 1,450 GWh in February.

The RLNG per unit generation cost declined by 8.66 percent in March to Rs22.026 per unit from Rs 24.2952 per unit during the previous month.

Likewise, 2,070 GWh or 25.79 percent of power generation was from nuclear-based plants at Rs. 1.5488 per unit, and imported Iranian energy cost Rs. 30.3729 per unit during March. The consumers to Pay Rs 4.9 Per Unit Extra in Electricity Bills in April 2024

Generation from nuclear sources increased by 24.70 percent from February 2024’s generation of 1,660 GWh. Power generation from bagasse was 78 GWh in March or 1.41 percent at Rs 5.9822 per unit.

The electricity generated from wind was recorded at 205 GWh, 2.55 percent of total generation, and solar at 110 GWh or 1.37 percent of the total generation in March 2024.