Electricity costs in the country may rise as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) considers a request for an Rs6.10 per unit increase in power tariff on February 8.
Details indicate that the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has requested an increase in power tariffs for the month of January as a result of an increase in fuel adjustment charges. The National Energy Policy Act will be considered by the NEPRA during its hearing on February 28.
Power generated from wind energy was priced at Rs2.22 per unit, while electricity generated from hydropower was priced at Rs5.83 per unit, diesel was priced at Rs6.73 per unit, LNG at Rs7.12 per unit, furnace oil at Rs14.07 per unit, local gas at Rs14.37 per unit, nuclear power at Rs14.37 and coal at Rs33.15 per unit, according to the Central Power Purchasing Agency
The energy ministry of Pakistan recently increased electricity costs by Rs1.95 per unit, claiming that the increase was necessary due to a large circular debt owed to the country by past governments.
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In a joint press conference today with federal planning minister Asad Umer and Prime Minister’s aide on energy Tabish Gauhar, the federal minister for energy, Omar Ayub, said that while we had the option of increasing electricity prices by Rs2.18 per unit, we did not want to “burden the masses.” As a result, we only increased the tariff by 23 percent, he added.
Moreover, Ayub stated that the existing administration has inherited the circular debt dilemma, which makes it legally obligated to raise tariffs and pass the cost of doing so on to the general public. ‘We had no choice but to speed the clearing out of the payables,’ he explained, citing the high levels of debt in the energy sector, which has been described as a “minefield.”
Regarding the recent nationwide power outage, the minister stated that such things occur all over the world and that everyone was impressed with how quickly we recovered from the situation.
He asserted that our energy output is 43 percent more expensive than it should be as a result of the detrimental energy sector agreements signed during the period of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).