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Govt hints at new power tariff package as demand falls
Govt hints at new power tariff package as demand falls
• Consumers may face Rs1.20 per unit additional fuel cost in August bills• Nepra questions performance of power sector entities• Regulator criticises excessive, revenue-based loadshedding• Concerns raised over outages at three nuclear power plants
ISLAMABAD: With electricity demand declining by over three per cent, the government on Wednesday indicated that it was working on another power tariff package as it sought about Rs1.20 per unit additional fuel cost from consumers to collect Rs15.7 billion in August for electricity consumed in June.
At a public hearing, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority questioned the performance of power sector entities and the policy of excessive loadshedding.
Continuous system constraints limiting the utilisation of cheaper available capacity also came under criticism, while some commentators expressed concern over outages at three nuclear power plants.
The government team, comprising representatives of the power division and its entities, reported that electricity consumption in June was around 5pc lower than estimates for the month and about 3.3pc lower than the same month last year.
Total units sold in June this year stood at 9.995bn units compared to 10.337bn units in the same month last year.
They said that, barring 2.8pc growth in industry, the reduction in consumption was across the board, ranging from 3.5pc to 5pc in the domestic and commercial sectors and 12pc to 29pc in agriculture and bulk consumers.
It was reported that non-availability of Qatar’s contracted LNG led to expensive purchases from the spot market and minor use of furnace oil, resulting in higher fuel cost.
Nepra’s Member Development Maqsood Anwar Khan expressed concern over reports of protests in various parts of the country against excessive loadshedding while government companies were reporting a decline in demand. He also criticised commercial loadshedding.
Power companies confirmed that loadshedding was carried........
© Dawn Business
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