K-Electric seeks Rs3.09/unit hike in Dec bills

ISLAMABAD: K-Electric has requested Nepra to approve an additional charge of Rs3.09 per unit on electricity bills for December 2024, citing under-recovery of costs in July due to higher expenses from imported gas and oil.

In a petition filed with Nepra, K-Electric sought permission to recover Rs6.21 billion under the monthly Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) mechanism. The company claims it did not fully charge customers for fuel costs in July, and now needs to recoup those funds.

Nepra has scheduled a public hearing on the matter on August 29. If approved, consumers will see the increase reflected in their December bills. The additional charge, combined with an 18pc GST, would result in a total impact of Rs7.3278 billion, or Rs3.646 per unit, for K-Electric customers.

Over the past two years, rising costs of imported fuel have led to frequent FCA hikes, which are passed on to consumers on a monthly basis. Under the current tariff structure, these fuel costs are adjusted monthly, while other costs, such as power purchase price and transmission losses, are included in base tariff set by the federal government on a quarterly basis.

It should be recalled the regulator earlier granted K-Electric an extra collection of Rs2.5934 per unit in October and Rs3.1688 per unit in November bills. These increases are on account of May and June 2024 FCAs. The total impact of these adjustments amounts to Rs5.763 per unit, imposing an additional burden of nearly Rs10.6 billion on consumers.