ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved a negative Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) of Rs3.021 per unit for K-Electric (KE) consumers for *January 2025, allowing a refund of *Rs2.93 billion in April’s electricity bills. However, Nepra has withheld Rs2 billion from the total negative adjustment.
During a public hearing on *March 20, Karachi-based consumers opposed the adjustment of past dues under various accounts. Nepra stated that the *negative FCA will be applied provisionally and adjusted later based on KE’s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) for 2024-30.
The refund excludes lifeline consumers, protected domestic consumers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS), and prepaid electricity users. Any bills issued before the notification of this decision will be adjusted in subsequent months.
Nepra clarified that to *prevent a future burden on consumers, it had already **retained Rs7.453 billion from the FCAs of November and December 2024, but around **Rs6 billion in pending costs remains unresolved. To manage this, an *additional Rs2 billion was withheld from the Rs4.93 billion negative FCA for January 2025.
KE has also requested an FCA reduction of Rs6.62 per unit (Rs6.662 billion) for February 2025, which Nepra may use to adjust further pending claims.
Meanwhile, KE’s electricity sales in *January 2025 declined by 8% compared to January 2024, with **industrial sales dropping by 8.3%. Nepra urged stakeholders to investigate this decline and address concerns over the *delayed interconnection between NTDC and KE, which continues to impact fuel costs.
In January 2025, KE sourced *89% of its power from NTDC, which generated electricity at **Rs11.15 per unit, significantly lower than KE’s *own generation cost of Rs23.83 per unit.
Story by Mushtaq Ghumman
