Nepra okays extra charges for August bills

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) notified an additional fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of Rs1.81 per unit for power distribution companies (Discos) and Rs2.31 for the Karachi-based utility K-Electric on Wednesday, with a net financial impact of Rs29 billion. Consumers will see the surcharge separately in their August bills and it will be based on their power consumption in June. The adjustment of Rs1.81 per unit — equal to one kilowatt-hour, or kWh — would apply to all consumer categories except for electric vehicle charging stations and lifeline consumers, the power regulator said in a notification for Discos. A similar notification for K-Electric put the FCA at Rs2.31 per unit with a financial impact of Rs4.3bn. Discos, KE users to pay Rs1.81 and Rs2.31 per unit based on June consumption In its petition, K-Electric had sought an FCA of Rs2.34 per unit against electricity it sold in June to recover Rs4.4bn in additional funds in the August bill. However, Nepra worked an adjustment of Rs2.31 per unit. Likewise, the Discos had demanded Rs1.885 per unit FCA for June to tap Rs25bn in August, but the regulator cleared Rs1.81 per unit.