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KARACHI: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Friday approved a 32 paisa cut per unit in power tariff for K-Electric consumers for the month of April under the fuel cost adjustment formula.
The K-Electric had proposed a Rs 0.15.872 paisa per unit cut in power tariff. It said that variation is due to the increase in per unit weighted average fuel cost of generation at Bin Qasim Power Station-I (BQPS-I) from Rs 5.446/ kWh in reference month of March to Rs 5.815/ kWh in April. However, NEPRA has decided to pass on Rs 0.32.661/kWh to the consumers of the K-Electric as FCA for the month of April 2016, which will be charged by K-Electric in the billing month of July 2016.
It was decided at the public hearing, which was held with NEPRA Chairman Tariq Saduzai in the chair. Hearing the case relating to the cut in power tariff, the NEPRA chairman said that K-Electric saved Rs 468.650 through electricity generated by local and external sources. The fuel cost variation of K-Electric’s own power generation and power purchases from external sources for the month of April work out to be around minus Rs 468.650 million or minus Ps 32.661/ kWh.
“The impact of the aforementioned FCA of minus Ps 32.661/ kWh for April shall not be passed on to lifeline consumers, agriculture consumers and domestic consumers, consuming up to 300 units. K-Electric is directed by authority to provide the details of units billed to each of these consumer categories in April so that the same amount can be adjusted in K-Electric’s schedule of tariff through quarterly adjustment for the quarter April-June, 2016, to ensure reduction in GoP subsidy to the extent of that amount,” says a statement issued by the NEPRA.
The K-Electric claimed that it occurred due to a rise in the weighted average price of furnace oil from Rs 19,376 metric ton in March to Rs 21,386/ metric ton in April, adding that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority had revised gas prices for K-Electric from Rs 600/MMBTu to Rs 613/ MMBTu from April 1 onwards. This revision in gas price has also resulted in an upward fuel price variation not only in BQPS-I but all other power stations in K-Electric’s own generation fleet as well. The NEPRA used monthly weighted average method to work out the rate of furnace oil consumed in BQPS-I and the same has been used in calculation of fuel charges variations of the current month.
Further, K-Electric has claimed variation in gas price for BQPS-II, which has not been allowed due to non-finalisation of its heat rate. The reason for the difference between requested and allowed fuel cost of the power purchase is that K-Electric in its instant FCA request has used the fuel component invoiced by CPPA-G whereas the allowed variation in power purchase has been worked out using the fuel cost component of CPPA-G approved by the Authority for Ex-WAPDA distribution companies, the NEPRA said.
