Consumers to see Rs51.5b power tariff relief

Consumers are set to receive a relief of Rs51.493 billion on account of the third quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, with NEPRA scheduled to hold a public hearing on April 29, 2025, to consider the requests of ex-WAPDA distribution companies (DISCOs) for these quarterly adjustments. The proposed reductions pertain to capacity charges, transmission charges, market operator fees, variable operation and maintenance costs, the impact of incremental units, and transmission and distribution losses on the monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA).

According to documents, the DISCOs submitted a consolidated request for the January–March 2025 quarter, in accordance with NEPRA’s notified tariff and approved adjustment mechanism. The net adjustment is negative, indicating a reduction in recoverable costs for most companies.

Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) submitted the largest reduction request of Rs15.646 billion, followed by Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) at Rs9.077 billion, Gujranwala Electric Supply Company (GEPCO) at Rs7.204 billion, Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (TESCO) at Rs4.341 billion, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) at Rs4.690 billion, and Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) at Rs2.238 million, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) at Rs3.903 billion, and Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) at Rs3.494 billion. Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), in contrast, requested a net positive adjustment of Rs1.762 billion.

Capacity charges form a substantial portion of these adjustments. Key figures include MEPCO at Rs14.437 billion, LESCO at Rs7.824 billion, GEPCO at Rs7.204 billion, FESCO at Rs4.254 billion, SEPCO at Rs3.317 billion, HESCO at Rs3.903 billion, QESCO at Rs2.289 billion, and TESCO at Rs4.035 billion. IESCO and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) each reported multiple figures for capacity charge adjustments.

NEPRA has clarified that under federal policy guidelines, the quarterly adjustment, once determined, will also apply to K-Electric consumers. A public hearing notice invites stakeholders to submit written or oral comments. Relevant regulations and requests are available on NEPRA’s website.

FCA for March

Additionally, consumers of all DISCOs except K-Electric may benefit from a further relief of Rs0.0309 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as a fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for March 2025. NEPRA has scheduled a separate public hearing on April 29 to deliberate this proposed decrease. The request, submitted by the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G), proposes reducing the fuel cost component from the reference rate of Rs9.2560/kWh to Rs9.2251/kWh.

Under Section 31(7) of the NEPRA Act, NEPRA is empowered to adjust monthly tariffs based on fuel price variations, subject to federal policy guidelines. If approved, the adjustment will be notified in the official Gazette. In March 2025, total energy generation stood at 8,409 GWh.

Hydel sources contributed 1,297 GWh (15.42%), local coal 1,393 GWh (16.57%) at Rs12.2408/kWh, and imported coal 545 GWh (6.48%) at Rs17.7377/kWh. No generation occurred using high-speed diesel, while RFO-based generation was 4 GWh at Rs29.5109/kWh.

Gas-based generation stood at 979 GWh (11.64%) at Rs11.8982/kWh, and RLNG accounted for 1,528 GWh (18.17%) at Rs23.1144/kWh. Nuclear energy provided the largest low-cost share at 2,223 GWh (26.43%) at Rs1.9999/kWh. Iran supplied 39 GWh at Rs24.9993/kWh.

Renewable sources contributed modestly: wind at 230 GWh (2.74%), solar at 120 GWh (1.43%), and bagasse at 51 GWh (0.61%) at Rs5.9822/kWh. Total generation cost Rs79.522 billion, averaging Rs9.4569/kWh.

After adjusting for a previous negative FCA of Rs0.3914/kWh (Rs3.291 billion) and energy sales to IPPs of 27 GWh (Rs1.379 billion), net energy delivered to DISCOs was 8,114 GWh.