NEPRA Hikes Electricity Tariff by Rs. 7.91 Per Unit

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Thursday approved an increase of Rs. 7.91 per unit in the price of electricity and issued a notification to this effect. The per-unit price of electricity has been increased from Rs. 16.91 to Rs. 24.82, which translates to a 47 percent increase in per unit price of electricity. NEPRA said that the price hike is driven by an increase in fuel prices and an increase in the cost of production. The new rates would come into effect from July 2022, the notification said, subject to government approval. NEPRA, in its determination for X-Wapda distribution companies (DISCOs) said that the companies had filed multi-year tariff petitions for FY 2020-21 to 2024-25 Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Lahore Electric Supply Company, and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company had filed annual adjustment/indexation requests under the already allowed multi-year tariff. According to NEPRA, the tariff has been determined for the FY 2022-23, which on National Average is Rs. 24.82 per unit (kWh), higher by Rs. 7.91 per unit than the earlier determined national average tariff of Rs. 16.91 per kWh. The increase of Rs. 7.91 per unit kWh is mainly due to the increase in fuel prices, capacity cost, and impact of rupee (PKR) devaluation, said the notification. As per NEPRA data, the Energy Purchase Price (EPP) is projected as Rs. 1,152 billion, while capacity charges including National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) cost are projected at Rs. 1,366 billion. The total Revenue requirement of XWDISCOs including DISCOs margin and Prior Year Adjustment (PYA) is projected ts Rs. 2,805 billion with projected sales of 113,001 Giga Watt Hour (GWh). MEPCO, GEPCO, HESCO, SEPCO, QESCO, PESCO & TESCO have been allowed an investment of around Rs. 406 billion for their distribution investment program for the 5-year period. XWDISCOs allowed T&D losses have been reduced from 13.46 percent to 11.70 percent for the FY 2022-23.