ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Monday accorded approval to Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) of Rs 1.90 per unit for fourth quarter of FY 2023-24 to recover additional amount of Rs 46.805 billion from consumers of Discos and KE, mainly due to less electricity demand in Discos, less utilization of MDI and application of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) based load shedding.
However, like past practice, neither the Authority nor Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guaranteed (CPPA-G) shared details of financial impact of AT&C load shedding nor the capacity payment made to IPPs sans utilization of booked capacity.
The Authority comprising of Chairman Nepra Waseem Mukhtar, Member (Technical) Sindh Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, Member (Tariff and Finance) Mathar Niaz Rana, Member KPK Maqsood Anwar Khan and Member (Law) Amina Ahmed officiated a hearing in this regard.
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However, Chairman NEPRA requested media to report positively, that with negative adjustment of Rs 0.31 per unit in FCA for July 2024 from exiting Rs 2.57 per unit and reduction in QTA by Rs 0. 90 per unit against QTA of third quarter of 2023-24, the net benefit to the consumers will be Rs 1.80 in their bills of September 2024. The impact of QTA will not be passed on to the consumers of KE as impact of variation in QTA for fourth quarter will be picked by the GoP as subsidy.
He expressed the hope that electricity tariff is most likely to remain flat in the months to come if macroeconomic conditions remain at the same level as at present as references were fixed after extensive consultations and so far they are as per NEPRA’s estimates.
“I can’t say that there would be no positive adjustment in QTAs and FCAs in future months, but these will be minor, which will not have substantial effect on consumers’ bills,” Waseem Mukhtar added.
According to the revised data shared with the Regulator, of the total amount of Rs 46.805 billion sought by Discos as QTA adjustment, for fourth quarter of FY 2023-24, the following has been sought: Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has sought positive adjustment of Rs 926 million for the fourth quarter; Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) Rs 3.995 billion, Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) Rs 7.682 billion, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) Rs 4.777 billion, Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) Rs 7.909 billion, Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) Rs 674 million, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) Rs 5.016 billion, Quetta Electric Quetta Supply Company (Qesco) Rs 8.078 billion, Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) Rs 4.538 billion and Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) Rs 3.210 billion.
Of Rs 46.805 billion, share of capacity charges is Rs 22.867 billion, variable O&M Rs3.566 billion, Use of System Charges (UoSC) and Market Operator Fee (MOP) Rs 7.513 billion, T&D losses impact on FCA, Rs 11.067 billion and cost of net metering/ SPPs purchases Rs 1.792 billion.
According to Nepra, in the light of policy guidelines issued by the federal government for application of uniform quarterly adjustments, the fourth quarterly adjustment for FY 2023-24 of Discos will be determined by the Authority, and shall also be applicable on the KE consumers.
Member (Technical) Sindh Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, expressed his annoyance at Discos for denying net metering to their consumers. The representative of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) explained that a Committee had decided to not allow net metering over 30 per cent of load of transformers, however, after receiving instructions, load factor on transformers was raised to 70 per cent.
The representative of GEPCO, Irfan Butt clarified that the Company is facilitating all consumers as per prescribed net metering regulations.
FESCO also came under criticism for not consuming only 1500 MW of electricity against demand of 1700 or 1800 MW to show less MDI. The representative of FESCO explained that the Company’s sale declined by 8 per cent in the previous quarter, nearly 27 per cent by industry as a large number of domestic, commercial and industrial consumers are shifting towards solarization.
Member (Tariff and Finance) Mathar Niaz Rana maintained that if a Disco takes less MDI from its allocated capacity, it should be penalized for transferring its allocated quota to their Disco.
Mubashir Bhatti, Director (Tariff) said that NEPRA has already called for an explanation from Discos on AT&C based load shedding and something will be issued against them as a result of ongoing inquiry.
Member KPK Maqsood Anwar Khan sought comprehensive details from Discos on utilized and unutilized quotas of their allocations by the National Power Control Centre.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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