KE seeks another Rs3 per unit hike in quarterly adjustment

Kar­achi’s power utility K-Electric has sought another Rs3.02 per unit in tariff adjustment for the April-June quarter of this year. The National Electric Power Regulatory Autho­rity (Nepra) has accepted the petition for a public hearing on Oct 19 (Thurs­day) to examine whether KE’s request was justified and whether the company’s claim for Rs13.2 billion write-off against unrecovered bills should be allowed. K-Electric’s demand for Rs3.02 per unit additional quarterly tariff adjustment is based on a revision in price settings at Rs2.57 per unit during April-June, followed by an annual inflationary impact of 87 paise per unit on operations and maintenance on top of already covered expenses in base tariff, and a couple of other previous positive and negative changes. Based on its calculations and verifications, Nepra would forward its determination to the federal government for advice on when the adjustment would be passed on to consumers or whether it could be fully or partially set aside against the budgeted subsidy.