Day: February 22, 2021

ISLAMABAD: In an unexpected development, the PTI government, which itself earlier applauded the decision on wheeling charges Nepra took on January 11, 2021 to pave way for the country’s industrial sector to thrive with lower cost of electricity, has now emerged as a stumbling block in the way of the decision’s implementation. The Power Division, instead of notifying the decision on wheeling charges of 1 MW for Bulk Power Consumers at Rs1.50-2 per unit, has emerged as a hurdle against the decision, putting aside the clapping of federal cabinet which…

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Distributed generation through net-metering is one of the most effective tools to enable renewable power generation at the grass-root level and is one of the key focus areas of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) for meeting increased electricity demands sustainably, said Nepra Chairman Tauseef Farooqi. Addressing the launch of a research report on ‘Barriers and Drivers of Solar Prosumage: A Case Study of Pakistan’, he said that being a power regulator, Nepra was paving the way for clean energy and establishing a liberalised power market for its consumers.…

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The federal government’s refusal to raise the price of POL products on the recommendation of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for the period 15 to 28 February was made possible not through raising subsidies (which would have been opposed by multilaterals, including the International Monetary Fund, on the legitimate economic grounds that it would be an untargeted subsidy) but through a downward adjustment in petroleum levy collection. This gives rise to three rather disturbing observations. First, Ogra recommends increase or decrease in the prices of POL products by…

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Doha: Oil prices fell for a second day on Friday, retreating further from recent highs, as Texas energy companies began preparations to restart oil and gas fields shuttered by freezing weather and power outages. Brent crude futures ended the session down $1.02, or 1.6 percent, at $62.91 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.28, or 2.1 percent, to settle at $59.24. For the week, Brent gained about 0.5 percent while WTI fell about 0.7 percent.  Last week, both benchmarks had climbed to the highest in more…

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The federal government is all set to reduce gas tariff up to 35 per cent for the independent power producers (IPPs) operating on low quality gas in a bid to rank these plants in high merit order. This plan will result in putting burden on the consumers to cross-subsidize the gas for power plants and the rate of federal excise duty may also go up. According to the current formula, the government prioritizes the operation of those power plants which operate on cheaper fuel – dedicated gas which is low…

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