Power tariff likely to drop

Islamabad: The price of electricity per unit is likely to decrease, which will provide relief of Rs4.89 billion to consumers.

According to the details, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) held a hearing on the request of National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) to reduce the price of electricity per unit by Rs0.63 under the chairmanship of Chairman Waseem Mukhtar, in which officials said that the fuel price of last November was -0.63.

Officials said that consumers could get relief of Rs4.89 billion from the negative FCA. The old adjustments are negative by Rs2.5 billion. During the last month, local coal production remained in surplus and 7.22 billion units of electricity were generated in November. The production cost in November came close to the reference cost.

NTDC officials stated that there was a decrease in electricity sales in November this year compared to November last year. November 2024 was the hottest month compared to the same period last year. The main reason for the decrease in electricity sales is solarization.

Chairman NEPRA asked NTDC to inform about the completion of the Lahore North Line, to which the officials said that the transmission line has not been completed yet. Chairman NEPRA inquired that this transmission line was to be completed in December, to which the officials said that the Lahore North Transmission Line would be completed by April.

Later, NEPRA sought a report on the delay in the Lahore North Transmission Line.

The hearing on the application regarding the reduction in electricity prices by Rs0.63 has been completed. NEPRA will issue a decision on FCA after reviewing the statistics.

During the hearing, it was also revealed that the load pattern on NTDC’s transmission system has changed. Officials said that the load pattern that was there compared to previous years is no longer there. An investigation should be conducted into the reasons for the change in the load pattern.

Chairman NEPRA expressed strong anger over the shortcomings in NTDC planning and said that if there is any deficiency or flaw in planning, it is not the authority’s job. You cannot bring policy-level issues here and call it an investigation.

Briefing on Winter Package

NTDC officials said that as of December 26, 828,023 consumers have benefited from the winter package. Under the winter package, 28,000 industrial consumers benefited. Similarly, 342,000 were domestic consumers, while more than 400,000 were commercial consumers. Officials said that 45 million additional units were provided to these consumers under the winter package.