By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s power distribution companies are seeking regulatory approval to pass on Rs1.20 per unit in additional fuel charges to consumers next month, as the cost of imported liquefied natural gas nearly doubled and pushed generation expenses above budgeted levels.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency filed a petition with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority seeking the increase for June, which would add roughly Rs15.7 billion to August bills across all utilities, including the former Wapda distribution companies and K-Electric. Nepra has scheduled a public hearing for July 29 to review the request.
The fuel cost adjustment mechanism allows Pakistani power companies to recover the gap between reference fuel costs set in advance and actual costs incurred, passing the difference to consumers with a roughly two-month lag.
CPPA data show the reference fuel cost for June had been set at Rs7.714 per unit, while actual costs came in at Rs8.90 per unit. The shortfall stemmed largely from regasified liquefied natural gas, which cost Rs35 per unit in June, up from Rs16 per unit a year earlier. Furnace oil and diesel-fired plants added further pressure, with fuel costs of Rs52 and Rs57 per unit respectively, though those sources made up less than 1% of total generation.
The increase comes even as the bulk of Pakistan’s electricity in June was generated from low-cost domestic sources. Hydropower, which carries no fuel cost, accounted for 39% of supply, the largest single contribution to the grid. Nuclear power supplied 13.5%, at a fuel cost of just Rs2.85 per unit, while local coal contributed 10% at Rs11.5 per unit — less than half the Rs16.65 per unit cost of imported coal. Local gas made up 6.5% of supply at Rs13.7 per unit, versus Rs35.5 per unit for imported RLNG. Wind added 5%, with solar and bagasse-based generation contributing smaller shares of 0.82% and 0.35% respectively.
Electricity consumption in June totaled 13,066 million units, CPPA said, slightly below the 13,310 million units recorded in the same month last year.
The pressure on gas-fired generation costs follows a separate move by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, which this month raised RLNG prices at the distribution stage by around 15% for sales through Pakistan’s two state-run gas utilities. Ogra attributed the increase to spot-market purchases made at short notice after supply disruptions tied to the conflict between the US and Iran.
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