NTDC fails to evacuate committed electricity from Thar Plants

NTDC has come under fire again for its failure to lay transmission lines to evacuate electricity from Thar coal-based power plants, which could burden consumers with Rs 80 billion.

The consumers of power distribution companies (Discos) may have some relief due to a reduction in electricity rates on account of the monthly fuel adjustment for February 2023.

However, if the power regulator allows previous adjustments of Rs 6.3 billion due to system constraints, the tariff will go up by Rs 0.85 per unit.

Nepra conducted a public hearing to consider the petition of increasing electricity rates on account of fuel adjustment for the month of February 2023.

NTDC requested an adjustment of Rs 6.7 billion due to the failure of evacuating power from Thar coal-based power plants.

NEPRA expressed serious concerns and questioned why NTDC had not made proper planning and due diligence to lay transmission lines, keeping in view the timelines of Thar coal-based power plants.

It was observed during the hearing that electricity demand would jump up during summer, and therefore the country would require higher electricity generation.

NTDC officials said that two transmission lines were in place to evacuate 1400 MW of electricity, and two more lines would become operational in April to evacuate 2400 MW of electricity from Thar coal-based plants.

NEPRA conducted a public hearing at its headquarters regarding the February monthly fuel charges adjustment of DISCOs, which was presided over by Mr. Engineer Taseef H. Farooqui, Chairman of NEPRA.

NEPRA members Engineer Rafiq Ahmed Sheikh, Engineer Maqsood Anwar Khan, Muthar Niaz Rana, and Amna Ahmed were also present in the hearing.

CPPAG had submitted a request for an increase of 85 paise per unit on account of fuel adjustment for the month of February 2023.

According to NEPRA, the reduction amounts to 0.0006 per unit based on a preliminary analysis of the data.

However, the hike could go up to 85 paise per unit if NTDC is able to satisfy the authority on the adjustment.

It will be applicable for one month only and will apply to all customers of DISCOs except Lifeline and electric vehicle charging stations.

It will also not apply to K electric consumers. The authority will issue its detailed decision after further scrutiny of the data.

In the case of K Electric’s petition for fuel cost charge adjustment for February, a public hearing was also conducted at NEPRA headquarters, which was presided over by Mr. Engineer Taseef H. Farooqui, Chairman NEPRA. Check KE Duplicate Bill in 2023 | How To Check Online

K Electric had submitted a request for an increase of Rs 1.66 per unit under Fuel cost adjustment (FCA). According to a check of NEPRA’s data, the increase in FCA for February is from Rs 0.56 to Rs 1.7 per unit. The final figure will be notified later.

It will be applicable for one month only and will apply to all K Electric customers except Lifeline and electric vehicle charging stations.

The authority will issue its detailed decision after further scrutiny of the data.