March 2025: Nepra may approve Rs3.50 negative adjustment

Business Recorder

23-05-2025

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) is likely to approve a negative adjustment of Rs 3.50 per unit for consumers of Karachi for March 2025. This comes after accounting for a pending amount of approximately Rs 3 billion related to partial load, open cycle operations, degradation curves, and startup costs.
In its petition, K-Electric (KE) had initially proposed a refund of Rs 6.792 billion against the billing for March 2025. However, if the Rs 3 billion adjustment is approved, the net refund to consumers will amount to Rs 3.8 billion.
The NEPRA, comprising Chairman Waseem Mukhtar and other members, presided over a public hearing marked by a heated exchange. Member (Technical), Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, sharply criticised KE CEO Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi for failing to provide electricity even in high-theft areas, despite the widespread use of illegal connections (commonly referred to as kunda).
March FCA: KE seeks Rs5.02 interim negative adjustment
Member Shaikh rejected the CEO's proposal that NEPRA should issue a public appeal urging Karachi residents to pay their bills in exchange for guaranteed electricity supply. Karachi consumers present at the hearing complained about rampant unscheduled load shedding during the summer and inflated electricity bills, questioning why NEPRA had not yet penalized KE.
Responding to a question regarding electricity theft and the measures being undertaken to combat it, Moonis Alvi, CEO of K-Electric, emphasized that the utility remains fully committed to curbing power theft through all necessary actions. However, he noted that these efforts are often met with violent resistance from those involved in such illegal activities.
The KE staff and infrastructure continue to face serious threats, with recent incidents in P&T Colony and Nazimabad highlighting the severity of the situation—where even law enforcement agencies struggled to safely extract KE personnel from mob attacks.
Member Shaikh was unconvinced, questioning the pattern of power cuts.
'Are connections cut for just three hours, and power resumes afterward? Why is there no load shedding during winter months?' he asked. Shaikh, who is also a member of the Sindh government and resides in Karachi, expressed skepticism about the official narrative.
Alvi reiterated his request for the NEPRA to publicly urge citizens to pay their bills to avoid disconnections, but Shaikh dismissed the suggestion as 'childish,' adding that the actual condition of KE's distribution network is far worse than portrayed.
Tanveer Barry, a representative from the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), also raised concerns. He said KE had requested NEPRA to allow adjustments for previously unaccounted actual fuel costs from prior months.
'If this adjustment is approved, the full benefit of the Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) will not be passed on to consumers,' Barry noted. He highlighted operational inefficiencies in KE's system, pointing to high startup and standby times for multiple generating units—symptoms of poor load management and frequent cycling that increase per-unit fuel costs.
Barry further emphasized that many of KE's older plants have poor heat rates and low thermal efficiency. A heavy reliance on expensive re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) and occasional use of high-speed diesel (HSD) have also inflated generation costs.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025