ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has reduced electricity tariffs by up to 75 paisa per unit for consumers of ex-Wapda power distribution companies (DISCOs) and K-Electric, based on the fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for November 2024 and October 2024, respectively. For DISCOs, Nepra announced a reduction of up to Rs0.7556 per unit, which will be reflected in consumers' bills for January 2025.

The tariff cut follows variations in fuel charges observed in November 2024. Similarly, K-Electric consumers will see a decrease of Rs0.4919 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in their electricity prices, effective for October 2024, with adjustments also appearing in their January 2025 bills.The tariff adjustments come after the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) reported provisional transmission and transformation (T&T) losses of 244.158 gigawatt hours (GWh), equating to 2.946% for the NTDC system in November 2024. Additionally, the Pak Matiari-Lahore Transmission Company's (PMLTC) high-voltage direct-current line showed T&T losses of 19.528 GWh, or 3.391%. These losses were included in the FCA calculation for the relevant month.   Nepra verified that the losses were within permissible limits of 2.639% for NTDC and 4.3% for PMLTC. The Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G) provided data for net metering units, showing that DISCOs purchased 80.78 GWh under net metering during November. It also reported 18.22 GWh supplied by power producers with bilateral contracts. However, the CPPA-G did not include fuel cost claims from independent power producers (IPPs) or captive power plants in the FCA submission. The tariff reduction will apply to all consumer categories, excluding lifeline consumers, domestic consumers using up to 300 units, electric vehicle charging stations, prepaid consumers, and agricultural consumers of DISCOs. Domestic consumers with time-of-use (ToU) meters will also receive the adjustment, regardless of their consumption levels. Nepra has allowed the provisional FCA, subject to future adjustments once the new multi-year tariff (MYT) for the period 2024-2030 is approved.

Any cost differences will be addressed in future tariff adjustments once the MYT is notified. The total impact of the FCA reduction for K-Electric is estimated at Rs843 million. Both DISCOs and K-Electric will reflect the FCA adjustments in their January 2025 electricity bills.