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Express Tribune
12-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
NEPRA approves relief for KE consumers
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved a relief of Rs3.64 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on account of K-Electric's (KE) Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for February 2025. The adjustment will be reflected in consumer electricity bills for May 2025. In its decision, NEPRA also provisionally withheld Rs3 billion from KE's claims related to partial load operations, open cycle usage, degradation curves and start-up costs. The step aligns with the authority's generation tariff determination for the control period beginning July 2023 and aims to settle pending claims without transferring the burden to consumers in future adjustments. Fuel charges adjustments are made to account for shifts in global fuel prices and changes in the power generation mix. The costs, once reviewed and approved by NEPRA, are passed on to consumers, often in the form of negative FCAs when international fuel prices decline. NEPRA determines these rates, which are then notified by the federal government. According to NEPRA's latest ruling, the negative FCA will apply to all consumer categories except lifeline users, domestic protected consumers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and prepaid users under all categories who have opted for prepaid tariffs. KE noted that a negative FCA of Rs3.6396/kWh has been provisionally approved, subject to a final adjustment once NEPRA determines its Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) for FY202430. Any cost difference under the final MYT will be adjusted in future billing cycles. NEPRA has instructed KE to apply this negative FCA to all eligible consumer categories. The adjustment will appear separately on consumer bills based on units consumed during the relevant month. For any May 2025 bills issued prior to this decision's notification, the relief will be applied in subsequent billing cycles. NEPRA's decision also stipulates that terms under the Winter Demand Initiative will apply where relevant. KE must incorporate the February 2025 FCA in the May 2025 billing cycle and ensure compliance with any applicable court orders. During the public hearing, KE stated that it followed the Economic Merit Order (EMO) in dispatching its own power generation and purchasing electricity from external sources. The company submitted hourly EMO data and monthly operational reports for NEPRA's verification. KE reiterated that Rs13.9 billion remains pending for adjustment for the period between July 2023 and February 2025. Of this, NEPRA has already accounted for Rs9.4 billion in its FCA decisions for November 2024 through January 2025. KE requested that the remaining Rs4.5 billion be adjusted against the current negative FCA to avoid future billing impact on consumers. It further pointed out that similar costs have been approved for XWDISCOs in their monthly FCAs. In reviewing KE's February 2025 FCA request, NEPRA found discrepancies in fuel cost components. For electricity purchased from CPPA-G, KE had applied a rate of Rs8.2292/kWh, slightly above the approved Rs8.2272/kWh, resulting in a downward adjustment of approximately Rs1.64 million. Similarly, for electricity procured from FPCL, KE used a fuel cost component of Rs18.3963/kWh, whereas NEPRA had revised the rate to Rs18.1969/kWh, effective from October 31, 2024. This led to an additional negative adjustment of Rs0.297 million, which has been incorporated into the February 2025 FCA. Taking these corrections into account, NEPRA has calculated a negative FCA of Rs6.6195/kWh for February 2025, amounting to an overall relief of Rs6.664 billion for consumers. NEPRA also acknowledged KE's separate claim of Rs13.9 billion on account of partial load operations, open cycle use, degradation and start-up costs. KE has requested that these amounts be offset against the current negative FCA to enable recovery without increasing future consumer tariffs.
Time of India
05-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Consumer court orders post office to pay Rs 10k for deficient service
Rourkela: A consumer court in Jharsuguda has directed the postmaster of a sub-post office to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to Sundargarh man for service deficiency that resulted in denial of information under RTI Act . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Paul Meher from Bhasma in Sundargarh district had filed an RTI application with the assistant engineer, RWSS division, Jharsuguda, on July 28, 2023. After being asked to pay a processing fee of Rs 52, Meher sent the amount through electronic money order (EMO) on Aug 24. However, due to delays at the OMP Line sub-post office, the payment reached the RWSS division only on Sept 4, beyond the stipulated 15-day period. This led to the assistant engineer's office refusing to accept the payment and subsequently denying the RTI information. The post office held onto the returned amount for 45 days before refunding it to Meher on Oct 20. During the hearing, the post master failed to appear before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jharsuguda, while the assistant engineer's office maintained they were correct in refusing the delayed payment as per RTI guidelines. The commission found the post office guilty of service deficiency, noting that they failed to promptly communicate the payment's refusal to the complainant. The order, issued on April 23 this year, requires the post master to pay the compensation within one month, failing which the amount will attract 12% annual interest until realisation. The commission absolved the assistant engineer's office of any wrongdoing, stating they were not liable for the post office's negligence.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Assemblyman lambasts charter school industry as for-profit real estate scheme
Academica is the largest for-profit education management organization in the country. Academica Nevada, whose building is pictured here, is the biggest EMO in the state. (Photo: Hugh Jackson/Nevada Current) Democratic Assemblymember Skip Daly is sponsoring legislation that would put an end to what he sees as a loophole that allows for-profit companies to use taxpayer dollars to build quasi-public schools while skirting Nevada's prevailing wage laws. But his Senate Bill 318 goes further and bans charter schools from contracting with for-profit education management organizations (EMOs) altogether. Charter school operators and advocates are vehemently opposed to the proposal, telling lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday that it would 'shut down the highest performing charter schools' in Nevada. But Daly said he has included provisions giving charters the length of their current contract or at least two years, whichever is longer, to figure out and execute a transition. Charter schools were able to operate before EMOs, he said, and 'they'll be able to do it again.' Daly made the case that prohibiting for-profit EMOs would realign Nevada with the original intent of charter schools as non-adversarial complements to the traditional public school system. 'For-profit public schools was a mistake, an experiment that hasn't worked out,' he added. EMOs were meant to be vendors providing certain services, like payroll and accounting, that would normally be handled by a school district's central office, he said, 'but they have evolved into 'much more than a vendor.' 'They essentially own what are supposed to be public schools,' he said. Most Nevada charter school students administered by one Florida company Daly noted EMOs own the 'brand' of the school. He singled out Pinecrest, Doral and Mater as examples of charter school chains. All three, which each have more than one location in Nevada, are affiliated with the nation's largest EMO, Florida-based Academica. In 2022, more than half of all charter school students in Nevada were enrolled at schools contracted with Academica, according to an analysis conducted by the Nevada Current. EMOs are often affiliated with the company that leases out the building their charter schools operate out of. Charter schools 'cannot make an independent decision under this scheme,' Daly said, because their involvement is too deeply entrenched. 'These are not arm's length transactions.' The education committee's Republicans were critical of the proposal. State Sen. Carrie Buck, who is the executive director of Pinecrest Academies of Nevada, told Daly he 'needs to be truthful' and implied he was either misinformed or lying about how charter schools are set up and run. Minority Leader Robin Titus questioned his characterization of EMOs as running a 'scheme.' 'I stick with that,' Daly responded. Daly said the founding of many charter schools is 'not grassroots' and the EMO is involved from the very beginning. 'Their motivation is to increase market share, increase their per pupil dollars, and increase their land portfolio,' he said. 'They are just land companies building their portfolios through public dollars.' Daly, a retired building trades union leader, was pulled into the charter school issue through what he and many in his former profession see as a skirting of Nevada prevailing wage laws. How public charter schools in Nevada can become private when building their facilities In Nevada, any public project with a contract price of $100,000 or greater that is wholly or partially funded by public dollars is subject to prevailing wage law. Rates for prevailing wage are set annually by the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner, which compares similar projects in the region. The Nevada State Public Charter School Authority, the authorizing body for the vast majority of charter schools in the state, as well as Academica Nevada, have taken the position that prevailing wage laws don't apply to construction projects included within lease agreements that charter schools enter into with private companies. Daly contends that prevailing wage laws do apply because the charter school's governing board is sponsoring the project, which is paid for by the charter school using public funds it receives from the state. He also believes it is irrelevant that, as Buck and others routinely point out, charter schools do not receive additional dedicated facility funding. 'That's part of the bargain they signed up for,' he said. 'They agreed to it.' Daly acknowledges the issue of whether prevailing wage laws should apply to charter schools has not been definitively settled. Nevada Labor Commissioner Brett Harris confirmed, while testifying in neutral on the bill, that her office has received inquiries and complaints related to whether charter schools are subject to prevailing wage laws. SB 318 attempts to settle the issue and clarify that such projects are indeed subject to prevailing wage laws. Daly's bill likely faces an uphill battle. Democrats, while generally more critical of charter schools than Republicans, in previous sessions have rejected proposals to institute moratoriums or caps, and the charter school industry argued this would shutter existing high-performing charters. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has veto power over any bills passed by the Legislature, is a staunch supporter of charter schools.
