Electricity Prices Increased Again After Petrol And Grocery Prices Rise
Islamabad: NEPRA has approved an increase in the price of electricity by Rs 2.51 per unit. CPPA had requested to increase the price of electricity by Rs 2.66 per unit. NEPRA has approved the monthly fuel adjustment for September, consumers will have to pay the bills next month. The increase will not apply to Lifeline and K Electric customers.
A hearing was held under the chairmanship of NEPRA on the request of the Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA) to increase the monthly fuel adjustment for September by Rs 2.66 per unit. During the hearing, NEPRA officials said that the violation of the merit order in September resulted in an additional burden of more than Rs 2.7 billion. In September, the demand for LNG was 950 and the supply was 660 MMCFD. The burden was more than Rs 1.10 billion.
During the hearing, the Chairman NEPRA asked why furnace oil was used more than gas? Why does CPPAL not predict LNG buyers in a timely manner, determine what is the cheapest fuel and demand it?
Vice-Chairman NEPRA said that RLN problems have been coming up for the last 8, 10 months, why no timely planning has been done regarding fuel, your demand is 950 and Sui Gas gets 800 MMCFD. This means that demand is not met, which means consumers will have to keep paying capacity payments.
In response to a query from NEPRA officials, the Additional Secretary Power Division said that the demand for electricity has increased by 7% in September. There are obstacles in the supply of LNG. It has demanded LNG for the next four months till January 2022 and also demanded furnace oil for power generation till February 2022.
NEPRA officials said that according to the data, an increase in one unit of electricity should be Rs 2.51 paise. In August, Rs 1.95 per unit was charged in the case of Fuel Charge Adjustments (FCA), in September it will be 56 paise more in the case of FCA as compared to August.
The authority will issue its decision later about increasing electricity prices, after examining the data.
On the other hand, the opposition has protested against inflation. PML-N organized a protest rally outside the Punjab Assembly against the rise in prices of petroleum, electricity and gas. A large number of members of the Provincial Assembly and workers participated in the protest. They carried placards and chanted slogans against the government and inflation. Due to rallies and protests, the traffic system on duty-free shops and adjacent highways remained suspended.
