# Govt Seeks Rs34bn Electricity Recovery from Discos, KE Consumers
**ISLAMABAD:** The government has sought recovery of around **Rs34 billion, or Rs1.34 per unit**, from consumers of power distribution companies (Discos) and K-Electric for the second quarter of FY2026, citing lower electricity consumption and a resulting increase in capacity charges.
The proposed adjustment for April-June 2026 was presented before the **National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA)** under the Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) mechanism. Discos had initially sought an adjustment of **Rs23.031 billion**, which was later revised upward to **Rs33.778 billion**.
According to the details presented before NEPRA, **Rs46.280 billion** relates to capacity charges, while **Rs4.936 billion** is attributed to variable operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. These were partly offset by a negative adjustment of **Rs13.517 billion** on account of Use of System Charges (UoSC) and Market Operator Fee (MOF).
The adjustment also includes **Rs3.040 billion** related to the impact of transmission and distribution losses on monthly Fuel Charges Adjustments (FCA), while **Rs21.175 billion** has been shown as a negative adjustment under the incremental consumption package.
In addition, **Rs14.211 billion** has been claimed for unrecovered costs of Small Power Producers (SPPs) and Captive Power Producers (CPPs).
### Industry Opposes Proposed Increase
During a public hearing, industrial sector representatives strongly opposed the proposed QTA increase, arguing that the industry was already struggling with high electricity costs and could not absorb another substantial burden.
Representatives including **Rehan Javed, Aamir Sheikh and Tanveer Barry** conveyed their concerns to NEPRA in the presence of officials from the Ministry and Discos.
Officials of **Peshawar Electric Power Company (Pesco)** informed the Authority that electricity consumption had declined by around **5%**, primarily due to reduced demand from domestic and commercial consumers.
They attributed part of the decline in residential consumption to increasing solarisation, which has reduced reliance on grid electricity during daylight hours.
NEPRA Member **Maqsood Anwar Khan** questioned Pesco officials about whether load-shedding was also being carried out in areas with consumers who regularly paid their electricity bills.
“Yes, load-shedding is taking place,” Pesco officials responded.
The NEPRA member observed that load-shedding itself was one of the factors contributing to lower electricity sales.
### Solarisation Comes Under Discussion
The growing adoption of solar power also featured prominently during the hearing.
Maqsood Anwar Khan observed that without solar power, the country’s load-shedding situation could have been significantly worse. He noted that solarisation was helping meet daytime electricity demand, with load-shedding increasingly shifting towards night-time hours.
He also rejected the argument that solarisation alone was responsible for the decline in electricity sales, maintaining that it had not caused any significant adverse impact on overall electricity consumption.
### Industry Questions Capacity Payments
Tanveer Barry, representing the **Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)**, raised serious concerns over the rising capacity charges.
He said capacity charges had increased from around **Rs36 billion in the first quarter to more than Rs50 billion**, creating an additional burden of over **Rs86 billion** on consumers. According to Barry, the cumulative impact could translate into an additional burden of around **Rs3.50 per unit** for consumers.
Barry pointed out that eight Discos had reported positive capacity charges, while three had reported negative charges, and urged NEPRA to scrutinise the figures before approving the proposed adjustment.
He questioned the rationale for imposing heavy capacity payments on consumers while Discos and K-Electric continued to resort to load-shedding.
The industrial representative further argued that consumers were being charged capacity payments for old and inefficient power plants. He maintained that the increase was largely linked to the low or non-utilisation of generation plants, which he claimed was contrary to the **Economic Merit Order (EMO)** and was contributing to higher electricity costs.
Industrial representatives urged NEPRA to conduct a detailed review of the proposed QTA and **defer the increase**, warning that any further rise in electricity prices would increase production costs and further weaken the competitiveness of Pakistan’s industrial sector.
Story by Mushtaq Ghumman
