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Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Nepra allows partial claims in response to KE write-off petition
ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has issued its decision on K-Electric's write-off petition, allowing partial claims of PKR 50 billion against the company's claims worth PKR 76 billion pertaining to the Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) control period spanning FY17-23. The power utility company had revised claims of unrecoverable amount of Rs 76.034 billion in receivables spanning seven years (2017–23) from Rs 67.902 billion pertains to the period prior to 2022 by including Rs 8.131 billion additional write-off claims for 2023. According to KE, it is important to highlight that the consumers were not paving overdue balances despite efforts and the settlement scheme/conversion of hook connection to metered connection given to incentive consumers, which was necessary for recovery of long outstanding dues from the defaulted consumers and/or to make them regular payers. If the Company had not offered settlement scheme/conversion of hook connection to metered connection to the defaulted consumers, these consumers would have continued to consume electricity without payment of dues hence, resulting in further accumulation of dues. In that case the amount claimed or write-off would have been higher than the amount of write-off currently being c aimed by the Company. Moreover, in case of correction of bills/detection billing, the amounts and units billed to consumers are reversed in system and are recorded as reversal of revenue. KE claimed Rs. 15.211 billion including GST for metered connections on account of settlement schemes out of the current MYT billing. According to KE, initially these connections were disconnected but reconnected after settlement schemes/consumer agreeing to convert to metered connections as per the categories of write off claims verified by the Auditors. This includes consumers in Payment Loyalty Reward (PLR) Schemes, overdue debts on account of consumption through single bulk connection and settlement schemes and consumers agreeing to convert hook connections to metered connections. According to K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi, 'with this decision, majority of items pending to the previous control period have come to a close. KE looks forward to the MYT for the control period spanning FY 24 to FY 30, committed to meeting its serviced territory's energy needs.' The decision was released after public hearings and extensive deliberations that allowed all stakeholders to voice their concerns that were addressed by KE management. The submissions to Nepra underwent strict internal scrutiny as well as external verification by well-accredited and renowned audit firms as required by the Nepra in line with KE MYT 2017-2023. 'These costs were part of the Multi-Year Tariff awarded to the utility for the period 2017-2023, and have been approved after stringent benchmarks, audits and fulfillment of conditions laid down by Nepra in its tariff determination,' said Muhammad Aamir Ghaziani, Chief Financial Officer at KE. Arif Bilwani, Munem Zafar, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami ,Rehan Javed and some other consumers had challenged the write-off claims of KE. Majority of the stakeholders objected to the additional and pending write off claims. The representative of JI raised the issue of bogus bills which are subsequently claimed as write off and referred his letters of May27, 2024 and January 3, 2025. Arif Bilwani also raised similar concerns regarding bogus billing. Bilwani also highlighted that there is a substantial increase in the write off claims in later years of the MYT as compared to the initial years. KE clarified that the reason for such increase is the increase in sales revenue. For example, sales revenues of private consumers increase from Rs. 169 billion in FY 2017 to Rs. 411 billion in FY 2023, thereby more write offs in FY 2023 as compared to FY 2017. On the other hand Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, ex-Prime Minister and former head of Task Force on KE issues, Omar, Junaid Ameen, Areeba Shahid and Bilal Asghar supported the claim of KE. NERPA further stated that it is 'conscious of the fact that all possible efforts have already been made by K-Electric, as confirmed by the auditors. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
KE highlights future outlook
KARACHI: K-Electric (KE), Pakistan's only vertically integrated power utility, held its Corporate Briefing Session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, reaffirming its commitment to reliable, affordable, and sustainable power supply to Karachi and its adjoining areas. The session provided stakeholders, analysts, investors and members of the media with a comprehensive update on KE's operational progress, recently announced tariff decisions by the regulator, and strategic direction. During the briefing, KE presented its recently approved Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) for FY24–FY30, which enables its proposed execution of the USD 2 billion investment plan to modernise and expand Karachi's power infrastructure. The utility also discussed its progress in renewable energy development, having successfully completed competitive bidding for 640 MW of renewable projects. These include landmark bids such as the 220 MW hybrid solar-wind project at Dhabeji, awarded at a record-low tariff of PKR 8.92/kWh, which stands approved along with the 150 MW Winder-Bela solar Projects. In line with its ambition to diversify the energy mix and reduce reliance on expensive fuels, KE aims to integrate 30% renewable energy share into its generation mix by 2030. 'NEPRA's approval of our MYT enables us to unlock critical investments in infrastructure for safe and reliable supply of power. The approved tariff will allow us to build on our commitment to operational efficiency, sustainability, and community outreach,' said Muhammad Aamir Ghaziani, Chief Financial Officer at K-Electric. 'With a lot of misgivings around the approved tariff, I want to stress that this approval will not impact consumer-end tariff which is governed under the Government of Pakistan's uniform tariff policy.' Since privatization in 2005, KE has invested over USD 4.6 billion in its infrastructure – reinvesting all profits. These investments have led to major improvements across the power value chain, including a 104% increase in transmission capacity, a 2.3x growth in distribution capacity, 18.2 percentage points reduction in T&D losses, and a 16 percentage point improvement in generation efficiency. KE's grid infrastructure has expanded from 52 to 74 grid stations, and load-shed exempt network has increased from 6.6% in 2005 to 70% today. Most notably, KE's AT&C losses have dropped from 43% in 2009 to 23.1% in 2024. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
