K-Electric seeks Rs 10.69/unit hike in basic power tariff

ISLAMABAD: K-Electric on Friday sought an increase of Rs 10.69 per unit in the basic power tariff, seeking to fix the tariff at Rs 44.69 per unit, ARY News reported.

As per details, currently, K-Electric’s average basic tariff is Rs 34 per unit. The company has requested a hike under the 7-year Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) framework.

The EPP component is requested to be fixed at Rs 18.88 per unit, while transmission charges and distribution charges are requested to be Rs 3.48 per unit and Rs 3.84 per unit, respectively.

Operation and maintenance charges are requested to be fixed at Rs 0.42 per unit, and retail margin is requested to be Rs 0.59 per unit.

Additionally, K-Electric has requested recovery of lost allocation of Rs 2.88 per unit and working capital of Rs 2.07 per unit.

Read more: K-Electric finally gets 20-year licence from NEPRA

NEPRA has sought input from stakeholders on K-Electric’s request within 7 days, and a decision is expected soon. If approved, the new tariff will likely affect millions of electricity consumers in Karachi and surrounding areas.

Last month, K-Electric sought a whopping Rs18.86/ unit hike in the power tariff on account of monthly Fuel charge adjustments (FCA) of seven months in an application to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).

The sole power provider of the port city has requested to lower the power tariff for two months by Rs0.29/unit.

In a separate development, it emerged that the federal government has finalised a plan to privatize profit-making power distribution companies (Discos).

The power companies include Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO), Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO).