Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
ISLAMABAD: Consumer representatives on Wednesday protested against a proposed additional quarterly tariff burden of Rs34 billion by power companies, driven by higher capacity charges arising from loadshedding, lower sales and solar penetration, resulting in an estimated tariff impact of around Rs1.35 per unit for three months.
This led industrial consumers at a public hearing called by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to demand an immediate review of the incremental tariff package, which they claimed imposed an additional financial burden of about Rs2 per unit on all consumers.
As most of the major distribution companies (Discos) reported around a 5pc reduction in sales, Nepra member Maqsood Anwar Khan suspected that one of the major reasons was excessive loadshedding, particularly affecting “good consumers”. During his questioning, at least the team representing Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) confirmed that loadshedding was also happening in low-loss areas with high-paying consumers.
Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) reported that higher capacity charges required its quarterly tariff for the September-November period to increase by about Rs1.83 per unit, while Hazara Electric sought an additional quarterly tariff adjustment (QTA) of about Rs1.65 per unit.
