The Cut in Electricity Bills for March 2025
Staff Report :
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has slashed the power tariff up to Rs 3 per unit for consumers of ex-Wapda distribution companies (XWDISCOs) and K-Electric.
The power regulator has slashed the power tariff up to Rs2.124 per unit for Discos and Rs3 per unit for KE consumers in electricity bills for March 2025.
The power regulator issued decisions based on the monthly fuel charges adjustments (FCA) for December 2024 in respect of K-electric and January 2025 for XWDISCOs.
Consumers to Pay Rs 2.9 Per Unit Extra in Electricity Bills
It is to be noted that in their petitions, the K-Electric had suggested that it is ready to repay Rs4.95/unit while the XWDISCOs was willing to pay Rs2.0/unit back to their clients.
These decisions shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic protected consumers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and prepaid electricity consumers of all categories who opted for pre-paid tariff.
The regulator also clarified that in case any bills of March 2025 are issued before the notification of this decision, the same may be applied in subsequent month.
Rafique Shaikh member of the authority handwritten a note on the decision saying, “I am of the considered opinion that impact of again violation of EMO [Economic Merit Order] should not be passed on to consumers (i.e. around Rs1.5 billion).”
During the hearing on K-E petition, KATI President Junaid Naqi, KCCI representative Rehan Javed, commentator Arif Bilvani, and Tanveer Barry argued that KE’s costs for partial load, open cycle, degradation, and startups should be included in quarterly tariff adjustments and covered through subsidies. Barry noted that while these costs remain unresolved, KE has withheld negative fuel cost adjustments (FCA) for them. Meanwhile, KE has yet to pass on Rs33 billion in benefits from the industrial support package and claw-back to consumers.
The Authority ruled that KE’s partial load, open cycle, degradation, and startup costs should be handled in fuel cost adjustments (FCA), not quarterly indexations.
