Pak power companies seek further tariff hike

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) will hold a hearing on the petitions of the 10 power distribution companies (DISCOs) over increasing the electricity tariffs on August 23, reported The News International on Tuesday.

The News International is an English-language newspaper in Pakistan.

It is expected that the increase in electricity tariffs per unit could be Pakistani currency (PKR) Rs 3.50–6, which could result in an additional burden of Rs 144.688 billion on the consumers from July 1, 2023.

The power companies have requested NEPRA to allow them to recover Rs 122 billion from their consumers on account of capacity charges and Rs 7.35 billion on account of the T&D losses.

As per the statement of NEPRA official reported by The News International, "If the required increase is recovered from consumers in the first three months of FY24, the tariff increase would be in the range of Rs5–6 per unit. However, if the increase is spread over six months, the tariff increase would be in the range of Rs 2.50–3 per unit. Ultimately, it is up to the government to decide how to deal with the increase in headcount in the fourth quarter of FY23."

At present, the average tariff of ToU consumers is Rs 49.57 per unit after the inclusion of surcharges, electricity duty, PTV fee, GST, Sales Tax, FPA, and ongoing QTA.

After the further hike, this is expected to increase in the fourth quarter of FY23, bringing the end consumer price up to Rs 53.56 per unit.

According to The News International, out of Rs144.688 billion, ten DISCOs asked for Rs122.413 billion in the head of capacity Payment required to be recovered for the last quarter of FY23, Rs7.497 billion on account of variable O&M, Rs14.349 billion in the head of UoSC and MoF, Rs7.352 billion by virtue of impact of T&D losses on monthly FCA, Rs6.960 billion in the wake of the impact of incremental units, and Rs 34 million on account of the impact of lifeline consumers.

As per the publication by The News International, under the fourth QTA for FY23 petitions, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) asked for the recovery of Rs23.491 billion from consumers, Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) Rs16.139 billion, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) Rs9.328 billion, Islamabad Electric Supply Company Limited (IESCO) Rs 9.891 billion, Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) Rs31.877 billion, Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) Rs27.266 billion, Quetta Electric Supply Company (QUESCO) Rs7.582 billion, Sukkur Electric Supply Company (SEPCO) Rs5.195 billion, and Tribal Electric Supply Company (TESCO) sought Rs4.016 billion to be recovered from consumers. (ANI)