ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has increased tariff of power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) by Rs1.46 per unit for July 2023 under the monthly Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) mechanism.
The revised FCA shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and the lifeline consumers. It shall be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers in July 2023.
DISCOs shall reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of July 2023 in the billing month of September 2023.
June power tariff to be billed in August: Nepra notifies additional FCA for KE and ex-Wapda Discos
The regulator conducted a public hearing on August 30, 2023, to verify data submitted by Central Power Purchasing Agency-G (CPPA-G).
The CPPA-G in its adjustment request had informed that the actual national average uniform charge component for July 2023 was Rs8.3565/kWh against the corresponding reference FCA of Rs6.8935/kWh.
During the hearing, the MD NTDC and the DMD SO-NTDC presented details regarding system constraints and justifications for the operation of RFO-based power plants and low utilisation of coal power plants. The authority observed that during July 2023, the system operator had curtailed the drawl of energy from efficient power plants.
The authority has decided to account for the energy and cost of power plants having bilateral contracts in the individual basket of each DISCOs, by excluding the same from the CPPA-G basket for the month of July 2023.
Similarly, the net metering units have also been accounted for as part of individual DISCOs basket. However, since a uniform tariff regime is in place in the country, therefore, the authority has also worked out a National Average Uniform monthly FCA to be charged to all the consumers of DISCOs.
Based on the aforementioned discussion, separate FCA of each DISCO after accounting for the energy purchased from CPPA-G, bilateral contracts (Captive, SPPs) and net metering as part of the individual basket of each DISCO has been worked out, along with National Average Uniform FCA (as per practice en-vogue for quarterly adjustment) to be charged from consumers of DISCOs for the month of July 2023.
The CPPA-G is directed to develop a proper mechanism for Inter DISCO settlement of FCA worked for each DISCO and the FCA charged from consumers after consultation with DISCOs, in order to ensure proper accounting of energy and cost of each DISCO as per their own basket.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023