Ongoing planning for augmenting power tariff by 70 paisa once again

ISLAMABAD: The power tariff for distribution companies (Discos) of former Wapda are most likely to augment by 70 paisa per unit due to fuel price modification on monthly basis as the Pakistani rupee is devalued against US dollar, also resulting in higher price of oil from abroad.

Previously power tariff rise was done by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) by Rs1.25 per unit in the month of May 2018, due to furnace oil dependability and shortage of trade in of  liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Now the power tariff is to be raised by Rs0.70 per unit for the month of June 2018, and in order to provide a verdict a public hearing is due on 24th July 2018.

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Due to minor prices of global crude oil, the power patrons are easily affording tariff cuts in the past years, however there was a surplus charge of Rs2.3 per unit during Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

According to sources, it is stated that only eight LNG cargoes were imported for May 2018, as there was not ample requirement from power producers. However for the month of June 2018, eleven cargoes are purchased comparatively to final capacity of 12 cargoes. This is the main reason for stumpy tariff increase proposal comparatively to previous times.

The data explains the following statistics, the allocation related to LNG-based electricity in entire power production is of about 23.85% in May 2018, which is observed as 25.18% in June 2018.

Also, the involvement of hydroelectric power generation is 18.30% in May 2018, which has increased to 27.79% in June 2018. The total power generation in May 2018 was 12,117 gigawatt-hours (GWh) and has amplified to 12,913.86 Gwh in June 2018. However, the transmission and allocation thrashing were at the rate of 2.36% or Rs0.13 per unit.