Brace for another power hike

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has sought the nod of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to impose a surcharge of Rs1.52 per unit on the consumers of K-Electric, Karachi’s sole electricity supplier.

The government wants to recover Rs24.5 billion from the consumers of K-Electric to be recovered in 12 months by imposing this surcharge, according to The Express Tribune.

The power regulator might approve incorporating the requested surcharge in the Schedule of Tariff (SoT) determined for the quarter April to June 2022 or including it in the latest one it was deciding.

NEPRA might also be issue it as a separate SoT.

The federal government filed a motion with respect to recommendation of consumer-end tariff for K-Electric under Section 31 of the Nepra Act, 1997 — read with rule 17 of NEPRA Tariff (Standards and Procedure) Rules, 1998 — for the application of the surcharge.

The government requested the power regulator to hold a public hearing for the purpose of providing detailed submissions.

To arrive at a just and informed decision and keeping in view the request of the federal government, NEPRA has decided to hold a hearing on the matter on August 15.

The authority has informed all stakeholders, interested or affected persons, and the general public that it would hold a public hearing on the 15th of the current month.

The participants and stakeholders would provide their views and comments on the imposition of the surcharge.

Earlier, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet had approved a surcharge of Rs1.52 per unit to be recovered from K-Electric consumers in 12 months.

The government claims that it is bearing a cost of Rs250.7 billion on account of subsidy for the consumers of Karachi on account of quarterly tariff adjustments.

NEPRA had been determining these adjustments.