ISLAMABAD: The National Elec­tric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday notified a Rs4.12 per unit reduction in fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for K-Electric consumers for power consumed in July.

According to the notification, the FCA for KE would be lowered by Rs4.12 per unit in July against KE’s petition for Rs3.48 due to a fall in global fuel prices over the preceding month. This will reduce KE’s revenue collection by Rs7.4bn in September.

The price of power purchased from the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) in July dropped by 31pc when compared to June while the price of RLNG decreased by 16pc. In the same period, furnace oil prices increased by 4pc.

The Nepra said the reduction in FCA would be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic consumers consuming up to 300 units, agriculture consumers and EVCS (Electric Vehicle Charging Station). It said the negative adjustment on account of monthly FCA is also applicable to the domestic consumers having Time of Use (ToU) meters irrespective of their consumption level.

The regulator, however, made it clear that “the impact of monthly FCA, which is not passed on to certain categories of consumers, would be accounted for in the quarterly adjustments” for other consumers.

Karachi-based utility still gets 1,100MW from national grid without any agreement

Nepra also put on record that the power purchase agreement (PPA) for 650MW was signed between NTDCL and K-Electric on Jan 26, 2010 for five years on basket (national uniform) rates.

Subsequently, a decision was made by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) on Nov 8, 2012 to reduce the supply of energy by 300MW from NTDCL to K-Electric. However, the CCI decision had been impugned by way of suits/petitions by K-Electric in Sindh High Court.

No new agreement has since been signed between KE and NTDCL to date, and KE is continuing to draw energy from the National Grid, which at present is around 1,100MW.

It also pointed out that KE had claimed the cost of energy purchased from CPPA for the said month at the rate of Rs10.9833 per unit even though Nepra’s “approved fuel cost component, in the matter of ex-Wapda Discos for the current month is Rs10.6314 per unit. Therefore, it deducted the overall cost by Rs272 million on this account.

The regulator lamented that KE operated Unit 1 of BQPS-I at minimum loading due to a forced outage of its high-pressure heater. KE was supposed to repair the damaged heater when it got damaged in 2019. However, KE did not make any efforts for the replacement of the part after 2019, which should have been carried out within the O&M cost allowed to KE under the multiyear tariff.

LNG price raised

Meanwhile, the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Friday notified a paltry increase of 0.19pc to 0.01pc in the price of regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) for September when compared with August.

According to a notification, the sale price for SSGCL was notified at $17.476 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) instead of $17.478 per unit. The sale price for SNGPL was set at $16.9779 per mmBtu compared to $16.9496 per mmBtu in September.

The notification showed that a total of eight cargoes were bought from Qatar. Six of them were brought in at 13.37pc of Brent or $14.25 per mmBtu while two cargoes came in at the rate of 10.2pc of Brent or $10.87 per mmBtu. Another cargo from a separate long-term contract with Pakistan LNG Ltd was imported at 12.14pc of Brent or $12.594 per mmBtu.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2022