Already overburdened by inflation due to increased oil and food prices, Pakistanis were in for a shock when the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Thursday decided to increase the power tariff by Rs4.30 under monthly fuel adjustment. According to an order the increase in electricity prices will not apply to K-Electric customers and lifeline consumers. The additional amount will be received in January bills, the notification of the NEPRA read. The hike will burden the power consumers with additional billions of rupees. As per NEPRA notification, the Actual Fuel Charge Component for Nov’21 was Rs8.0401/kWh, whereas the Corresponding Reference Fuel Charge Component was Rs3 .7381/kWh. The adjustment of Rs4.3020/kWh shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers of all the XWDISCOs, said NEPRA. The notification read that the adjustment shall be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers in the month of November 2021 by the XWDISCOs. XWDISCOs shall reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of November 2021 in the billing month of January 2022. NEPRA in its hearing observed that the Central Power Purchasing Authority (CPPA-G) has purchased energy of 36.692 GWh from Tavanir Iran in November 2021 at a cost of Rs483.4 million. The authority also observed that CPPA-G has filed its request with the Authority for approval of extension of contract between CPPA-G and Tavanir Iran for import of Power up to 104 MW for the period from 01-01-2020 to 31-12-2021, which is under consideration of the Authority. In view thereof, the cost of electricity purchased from Tavanir Iran is being allowed strictly on a provisional basis, subject to its adjustment once the Authority decides the extension in the contract between CPPA-G and Tavanir Iran. The cost being allowed on a provisional basis is to avoid piling up of the cost and one time burdening of the consumers in future. CPPA-G also claimed an amount of Rs13,585 million on account of previous adjustments in the FCA of November 2021. The same has been verified as Rs13,367 million and accordingly, has been included in the monthly FCAs of November 2021. As per the data submitted by CPPA-G, XWDISCOs purchased 11.83 GWh from Captive Power Plants (CPPs) during November 2021, for which CPPA-G provided actual details of energy purchased from these plants. According to the details provided by CPPA-G, actual fuel cost of this energy is Rs52.795 million The same being as per the NEPRA approved mechanism, has been considered while working out the FCA of November 2021.