KE eyes Rs19 per unit hike to clear backlog

The Karachi-based K-Electric has sought approval to charge up to Rs18.6 per unit additional fuel cost from power consumers at an average monthly burden of about Rs2 per unit to mop up about Rs28bn additional funds and clear a backlog of about nine months (July 2023 to March 2024). In a series of petitions filed before the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), the KE presented three different options for additional fuel cost recovery from consumers on a “provisional basis” to clear the backlog and avoid a sudden increase in burden on its consumers. Nepra has called a public hearing on May 9 for the KE’s petition on provisional monthly fuel charges adjustments (FCA) for the period of July 2023 to March 2024. The KE explained that since its multi-year tariff (2024-30) was currently under regulator’s deliberation, it has filed FCAs based on three scenarios with the request for the approval of any one of the three scenarios and guide recovery mechanism for these nine months to facilitate timely recovery of costs and avoid further accumulation of adjustments to be recovered from customers.