Pakistan’s NEPRA Considers Electricity Price Hike
Islamabad, Pakistan – The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) of Pakistan is considering a proposal to increase electricity tariffs across the country. This move is part of a quarterly adjustment aimed at addressing rising energy costs.
Proposed Increase and Its Impact
The proposed hike is expected to add an additional burden of PKR 8.73 billion on consumers, who are already facing high utility costs. The adjustment pertains to the first quarter of the current fiscal year and includes PKR 8.06 billion for capacity charges, PKR 1.25 billion for operations and maintenance, and PKR 1.65 billion for system charges and market operations fees.
Upcoming Hearing
NEPRA will hold a hearing on November 20 to discuss this proposal. Previously, NEPRA approved K-Electric’s request for an adjustment of PKR 2.17 per unit for November, raising the total price to PKR 4.91 per unit. Additionally, K-Electric announced a quarterly adjustment of PKR 1.74 per unit, to be charged separately.
Impact on Consumers
Electricity prices in Pakistan have surged more than 10 times since last year, resulting in an additional cost of over PKR 455 billion to consumers. These constant changes have made it difficult for citizens to manage their expenses, prompting calls for the government to review the fuel adjustment mechanism to provide relief.
Doubts Revealed
NEPRA -: NEPRA stands for National Electric Power Regulatory Authority. It is a government organization in Pakistan that makes rules and decisions about electricity, like how much it should cost.
PKR -: PKR stands for Pakistani Rupee, which is the currency used in Pakistan. It’s like how we use Indian Rupees (INR) in India.
Electricity tariffs -: Electricity tariffs are the prices people have to pay for using electricity. When tariffs go up, it means people have to pay more money for the same amount of electricity.
Quarterly review -: A quarterly review happens every three months. It’s a time when NEPRA checks and decides if they need to change the electricity prices based on costs and other factors.
Capacity, operations, and system fees -: These are different types of costs included in electricity bills. Capacity fees are for having enough electricity available, operations fees are for running the power plants, and system fees are for maintaining the electricity network.
Fuel adjustments -: Fuel adjustments are changes in electricity prices based on how much it costs to buy fuel for power plants. If fuel prices go up, electricity prices might also increase.
