ISLAMABAD: Electricity consumers, who paid higher rates in July 2024, will receive refunds of Rs0.3692 per unit in their Sept bills, the power regulator announced on Friday.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) stated that the cost of power generation was lower than what consumers were charged by distribution companies (DISCOs) during the month. The adjustment comes after more than a year of significant additional charges on monthly electricity bills.
The decision on account of monthly fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for July 2024, will be applicable to all consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic consumers consuming up to 300 units, electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), pre-paid electricity consumers of all categories, who opted for pre-paid tariff and agriculture consumers of all XWDISCOs.
The decision also clarified that negative adjustment on account of monthly FCA is also applicable to the domestic consumers having time of use (ToU) meters irrespective of their consumption level.
On August 28, Nepra held a public hearing on the petition of Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) that sought Nepra’s approval to refund Rs0.3142 per unit to consumers as part of FCA for July 2024. However, the regulator reduced the tariff by Rs0.369 per unit.
The petition indicates that the reference fuel charges for July 2024 were Rs9.352 per unit, while the total cost per unit amounted to Rs9.0378. The CPPA seeks approval to refund the Rs0.3142 per unit differential to consumers.
A total of 14,880 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity was generated in July, costing Rs133.295 billion, with 14,411 GWh delivered to DISCOs.
The petition also highlights that electricity generated from furnace oil cost Rs30.965 per unit, compared to Rs31.6 in the previous month. Imported electricity from Iran was priced at Rs25.1575 per unit, down from Rs26.6597, while generation from RLNG-based power plants cost Rs24.887 per unit, compared to Rs26.328.
Local coal-based generation cost Rs11.3296 per unit, up from Rs11.029, while imported coal generation cost Rs16.2 per unit, up from Rs15.535.
Additionally, the cost of local natural gas generation was Rs13.7946 per unit, slightly down from Rs13.927 in the previous month.
The average generation cost in July 2024 was Rs8.9578 per unit, compared to Rs8.3387 in July 2023 and Rs8.8938 in June 2024.
Power generation figures reveal that local coal generation increased to 1,506 GWh from 1,489 GWh in the previous month. Hydropower generation rose to 5,341 GWh in July 2024, up from 4,729 GWh in the previous month but slightly down from 5,518 GWh in July 2023. Natural gas-based generation also increased to 1,180 GWh from 1,166 GWh in June 2024 and 1,129 GWh in July 2023.
The RLNG-based generation rose to 2,970 GWh in July 2024, up from 2,437 GWh in June 2024 and 2,918 GWh in July 2023.
Nuclear power generation decreased slightly to 1,988 GWh in July 2024 from 1,998 GWh in June 2024 and 2,107 GWh in July 2023. No electricity was generated from high-speed diesel. However, generation from residual fuel oil (RFO) dropped to 102 GWh from 263 GWh in June 2024 and 295 GWh in July 2023.