By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Power Division said Monday that electricity tariffs will remain unchanged in June, crediting a series of policy measures for shielding consumers from higher costs even as fuel supply disruptions and elevated generation expenses continue to weigh on the sector.
The decision spares households and businesses a monthly fuel adjustment charge that would otherwise have ranged between Rs5 and Rs6 a unit, a spokesperson for the division said. That adjustment, had it been passed through in full, would have pushed up electricity bills across the board.
Despite the suspension of liquefied natural gas supplies and continued reliance on more expensive furnace oil, no additional costs have been transferred to end users, the spokesperson added. The Power Division estimated that the combined measures have prevented an extra burden of about Rs38 billion from hitting the power sector.
The monthly fuel adjustment itself has been contained at a more modest increase of Rs1.73 a unit, averting what would have been a significantly steeper rise in tariffs. The spokesperson attributed the outcome to several factors working in tandem: the continuity of existing energy policies, a steady rise in electricity demand, and the implementation of a targeted special package designed to ease pressure on consumers.
Additional availability of local gas and higher output from imported coal-based power plants have also helped ease load-management strains, the spokesperson said. In the first quarter, consumers received refunds totaling Rs65 billion, while a quarterly adjustment delivered a further relief of Rs1.93 a unit. That adjustment, the spokesperson noted, effectively neutralized the impact of monthly fuel-cost fluctuations and provided extra breathing room despite challenging operational conditions.
The division has also confirmed that the reference tariff will not be raised next month, with consumers likely to receive an additional relief of about 20 paisa a unit. The announcement comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s broader push to reduce dependence on imported fuels. Earlier this month, Federal Energy Minister Awais Leghari said 74% of the country’s electricity is now generated from local sources, with the remaining 26% coming from imported coal and gas. He projected that the local share would rise to nearly 96% in the coming years, supported by feasibility studies for converting existing imported-coal plants to run on Thar coal.
The fuel-mix shift is expected to lower overall electricity costs, Leghari said. He cautioned, however, that wind and solar generation cannot fully replace base-load power, and that Pakistan would continue to rely on a combination of fossil fuels and hydropower to ensure stability and reliability in the grid. On the distribution side, Leghari noted that 11,500 of the country’s 14,000 electricity feeders currently face no load-shedding. Outages on the remaining feeders are largely the result of system losses rather than generation shortfalls. The government plans to introduce more granular management at the transformer level and has set a target of reaching 96% clean energy by 2032.
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