The cost of staying up and running is soaring higher and higher for both households and businesses on the wings of rising energy prices.
By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: Come July 1, the price of electricity – that ubiquitous and most essential utility of our time – will climb even higher for households and businesses across much of Pakistan.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved a PKR 7.92 per unit increase in the electricity tariff on account of fuel adjustment, a NEPRA’s Additional Director (Media) Masroor Khan confirmed to Independent Pakistan Monday.
Earlier, NEPRA authorized a PKR 3.99 per unit increase in power tariffs on June 13 on account of fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for April 2022. But the quantum of the increase this time is almost double that.
The fuel prices have seen record hikes in recent weeks, pushing upward the generation cost for the companies.
The power sector regulator authorized the hike after conducting a hearing on the plea of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) seeking a hike of PKR 7.96 per unit.
Simultaneously, it required the approved tariff to be shown separately in the electricity bills based on units billed to consumers in the month of May 2022.
The determination will be applicable to all consumer categories of distribution companies, except Karachi Electric (KE) consumers and lifeline customers of all ex-WAPDA distribution companies (XWDISCOs).
The CPPA argues the hike request is based on historic high production costs of GENCOs. It says the power production cost was PKR 13.89 per unit in May while the fuel cost was PKR 5.93 per unit.
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