By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday allowed power distribution companies to charge an additional fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of Rs9.90 per unit on electricity they sold in June.
The power distribution firms will collect an extra Rs132 billion in their August bills.
“It has reviewed and assessed an increase of Rs9.8972 per kWh (kilowatt-hour) in the applicable tariff for Discos on account of variation in the fuel charges for June,” the regulator said.
“The additional FCA will apply to all consumer categories except lifeline consumers and will be shown separately in the consumers’ bills based on units billed to the consumers in June and reflected in August bills.”
The fuel prices have seen record hikes in recent weeks, pushing upward the generation cost for the companies.
Media reports said the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) — a subsidiary of the Power Division — on behalf of Discos had filed a petition for a record Rs9.91 per unit additional monthly FCA but Nepra approved Rs9.90, which is almost 166 percent higher than the reference fuel cost charged to consumers in June. It is also an unprecedented mismatch between estimated and actual fuel costs.
The CPPA claimed that the consumers were charged by Discos a reference fuel cost of Rs5.93 per unit in June, but the actual cost turned out to be Rs15.84 per unit, hence an additional charge of about Rs9.91 per unit to consumers. Nepra determined the actual fuel cost at Rs15.83 per unit.
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