NEPRA Power Tariff Cuts By Rs 1.86 Per Unit

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) cuts down the electricity tariff by RS 1.86 per unit.

The petition filed by Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) seeks the reduction of RS 2.62 per unit on the account of fuel price adjustment for the month of April 2015.

During the public hearing presided over by NEPRA chairman, Tariq Sadozai, the regulator passed the relief of RS 1.86 per unit to consumer while it withhold the relief of 76 paisa per unit to recover the outstanding dues of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC).

The Cess was originally due on the power producers but the authority passed on this burden to power consumers. The arrears of GIDC is about RS 11 billion. Power producer will get the arrears clear in three installments.

A petition was moved by Engro Powergen Qadirpur Limited (EPQL) before Nepra in which he pleaded that demand raised by Sui Northen Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to pay the outstanding dues of GIDC from 2013 to 2015 cannot meet as EPQL never recovered it from NTDC (National Transmission And Despatch Company), the sole purchaser of the electricity produced by EPQL.

In the petition, the point was also raised that Nepra had not revised the tariff for the GIDC as the matter was sub judice and high courts had passed stay order against the Cess.

The cess was imposed by the previous government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in a bid to raise funds for gas import projects like Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and LNG imports. The government has so far collected Rs94 billion, but it could not be used as the levy was rejected by the Supreme Court.

The PML N government was able to pass the Cess from Parliament despite of intense resistance from opposition benches. The bill legalize the already collected Rs94bn and to collect arrears from the gas consumers.

The share of gas fueled power plant is only 22% in the entire power generation system but the Cess was imposed on all the consumers. The tariff for gas based power plants will rise to RS 4.5 to RS 4.3 per unit.

Now the consumer will have to face “Loss in Profit” as he will only enjoy the deduction of Rs 1.86 per unit. The consumer using less than 300 units will not be able to enjoy this tariff cut as government thought that he is already heavily subsidized. The tariff cut will not also applicable on consumer of K-electric