Latest news with #AmirSheikh
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
March 2025: Nepra allows Rs3 negative adjustment for KE consumers
ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has allowed negative adjustment of Rs 3 per unit for KE consumers for March 2025 and Rs 0.93 per unit positive adjustment for Discos consumers for April 2025 under monthly Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) mechanism. In this regard, NEPRA has issued separate notifications, according to which KE's negative adjustment and Discos positive adjustment will be effective in bills of June 2025. For Discos, NEPRA conducted a public hearing on May 29, 2025 for Discos and on on May 22, 2025 for K-Electric which was attended by representatives of industry and media. March FCA: KE seeks Rs5.02 interim negative adjustment According to determinations of Discos, Amir Sheikh, a commentator, submitted that this positive FCA has lowered the previously announced benefit of around Rs.7.7/kWh adversely impacting cost projections for many industrial consumers. He also questioned the dispatch of RLNG-based power plants despite the purported availability of local natural gas and pointed out that alternative suppliers, such as Mari Petroleum, may offer more cost-effective solutions. KE during the hearing also claimed an amount ofRs.15.2 billion, on account of partial load, open cycle and degradation curves along with startup cost for the period from July 2023 to March 2025. KE also submitted that BQPS-III and KCCP heat rate adjustment for previous MYT amounting to Rs.0.6 billion and Rs.0.2 billion are also pending. KE had sought negative adjustment of Rs 5.02 per unit for April 2025 to refund Rs 6.792 billion to its consumers. However, regarding the amount of Rs.15.2 billion on account of partial load, open cycle and degradation curves along with startup cost for the period from July 2023 to March 2025, the Authority has already provisionally retained an amount of Rs. 12.45 billion, from monthly FCAs from Nov. 2024 to Feb. 2025, in order not to over burden the consumers at a later stage for such pending costs. Thus, as of March 2025, an amount of Rs.2.74 billion is pending on account of partial load, open cycle and degradation curves along with startup cost, as per the claims of K-Electric. On the same analogy of not to over burden the consumers at a later stage and also to ensure timely recovery of prudent costs, the Authority has decided to provisionally withhold an amount of Rs. 2.74 billion from the worked out negative FCA of Rs. 5.0200/kWh (negative Rs. 6.79 billion) for the month of March 2025. NEPRA has allowed negative adjustment of Rs 2.99 per unit which will provide a relief of Rs 4 billion to the consumers of Karachi. Member (Tech) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, has written additional notes on both the determinations in which he raised different issues. In his note on Discos FCA determination he said that the prolonged forced outage of Guddu's 747 MW Steam Turbine (Unit 16) has necessitated continued operation in open-cycle mode, resulting in additional costs of approximately Rs. 670 million (USD 2.38 million) for the month of April 2025 alone. Cumulatively, the financial losses attributed to this outage have reached approximately Rs. 113 billion (USD 402.14 million) since its outage from July 2022. Given the significance of the issue, the CEO of GENCO-II should be required to present a detailed update on the rehabilitation plan and the progress made on restoring Steam Turbine Unit 16 during each Monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment meeting. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
29-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Electricity prices may rise as hydropower output drops
Listen to article Consumers are likely to face higher electricity bills in May 2025 due to a drop in hydropower generation and increased reliance on expensive fuels to meet surging power demand. Electricity generation costs are expected to rise under the Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) for April, mainly due to a 20% increase in power demand and reduced hydropower output. To bridge the demand-supply gap, the government turned to costlier thermal power plants, pushing up generation expenses, said the General Manager of the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) during a public hearing held by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). The Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G) has submitted a request for a Rs0.0309/unit reduction in electricity tariff on account of FCA for April. However, NEPRA officials explained that, after adjusting for a larger negative FCA refund of Rs0.4641/unit paid in April, the net cost to consumers will effectively increase by Rs0.4332/unit in May. When asked about the continued absence of the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project from the national grid, NPCC officials confirmed it remains offline with no timeline for its return. They noted that if not for prior year adjustment claims by distribution companies (Discos), the March FCA would have been positive as well. If approved, the minor FCA relief of Rs0.0309/unit for April would provide only Rs250 million in savings for consumers, NEPRA officials said. Despite the rise in FCA, the NPCC General Manager assured that there will be no shortage in electricity generation in the coming months, citing adequate fuel arrangements. The increase in FCA, he said, is solely due to reliance on higher-cost fuel sources. Backing NPCC's assessment, CPPA-G CEO Rihan Akhtar confirmed that costly fuel use will drive up FCA in the near term. During the hearing, participants also raised concerns about the long-term power generation strategy and the structure of FCA adjustments. Amir Sheikh noted that captive power plants were forced to shift to the national grid, freeing up indigenous gas and RLNG supplies, especially in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. However, he criticised the lack of transparency in how this diverted gas was utilised and stressed that the industry should benefit from it through increased Fuel Price Adjustment (FPA) refunds. Quarterly adjustments In a separate development, NEPRA conducted another public hearing on the quarterly adjustment for the third quarter of FY202425. Consumers are set to receive a relief of Rs1.50/unit for three months, if the adjustment is approved. CPPA-G informed the hearing that power distribution companies (DISCOs) had submitted a relief request amounting to Rs51.493 billion for this period. NEPRA chairman chaired the session, which included participation from business leaders, journalists, and the general public. The authority expressed concern over the absence of senior officials from HESCO, MEPCO, and KESCO and decided to seek an explanation from the concerned Discos. The final decision, applicable to all distribution companies including K-Electric, will be issued after detailed scrutiny. KE noted in a statement that the request pertains to the JanuaryMarch 2025 period and includes charges related to system operations. XWDISCOS filed the request covering system operation charges. As per government rules, NEPRA's final decisiononce notifiedwill apply to all distribution company customers, including KE. The charges and billing period will be specified in the notification.
