Islamabad – Power companies filed a request on Friday to raise fuel cost charges by Rs1.20 per unit for consumers nationwide in August, citing higher reliance on costly imported fuels.
This request comes even though approximately 75 percent of electricity generated in June came from inexpensive domestic sources, largely with zero fuel costs.
If approved, the fuel cost hike would result in an extra Rs15.7 billion for consumers of all power utilities—including former WAPDA Distribution Companies (Discos) and K‑Electric—through the August bills. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPA) has scheduled a public hearing for July 29 to assess the request.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), which petitioned for a higher June FCA, noted that electricity consumption in June 2026—13,066 million units—was slightly lower than the 13,310 million units recorded in June 2025.
The rise in fuel costs was largely driven by the near doubling of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) prices, pushing the fuel cost to Rs35 per unit versus Rs16 in June 2025.
For June 2026, the CPPA set a reference fuel cost of Rs7.昂 per unit, yet the actual cost reached Rs8.90 per unit, prompting a proposed surcharge of Rs1.20 per unit to be levied on upcoming bills.
Additional fuel cost escalation stemmed from the use of furnace oil-based plants costing Rs52 per unit and diesel at roughly Rs57 per unit. Together, these two fuels contributed less than 1 percent to the overall grid supply.
Nonetheless, 39 percent of power was generated from hydropower, with 10 percent from local coal, 6.5 percent from local gas, 13.5 percent from运营核电, 5 percent from wind projects, 0.82 percent from solar, and 0.35 percent from bagasse-based generation.
Fuel costs for local coal‑based’essands were Rs11.5 per unit, versus Rs16.65 per unit for imported coal. Local gas generation cost Rs13.7 per unit versus Rs35.5 per unit for imported RLNG, while nuclear power’s fuel cost was reported at Rs2.85 per unit.
Earlier this month, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) announced roughly a 15 percentAthacth in the distribution‑stage price of RLNG supplied by the two Sui gas companies for the current month. The increase was largely driven by urgent purchases from the international spot market amid supply disruptions caused by the US‑Iran conflict.
