The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has raised the special electricity rate for industrial consumers from Rs22.98 to Rs25.30 per unit, despite dissent from two of its own members, and approved an extra Rs2.37 per unit on all consumers’ November bills. The revised rate applies to the incremental consumption package, an incentive introduced in December last year to encourage factories and private farms to use more grid electricity. It covers only consumption above a consumer’s past use, from the November 2026 billing month, on a provisional basis. The package was due for review after its first six months in June, but the review came late after a belated request from the Power Division. The decision was strongly opposed by the authority’s two most relevant members, Member Tariff Amina Ahmed and Member Development Maqsood Anwar, who said in a joint dissenting note that even the revised rate of Rs25.30 was a ‘random number’ unsupported by evidence. They said Nepra’s own calculations put the marginal cost of supplying incremental electricity at Rs31.83 per unit. Chairman Waseem Mukhtar fully endorsed their written arguments but then used his casting vote to approve the revised rate instead of retaining Rs22.98. Separately, Nepra allowed power distribution companies to charge an additional Rs2.37 per unit in November bills under the monthly fuel cost adjustment mechanism, to recover about Rs25 billion. Unlike the industrial package rate, this charge reaches all consumers, including those served by K-Electric and other distribution companies. The decision, opposed by the industrial sector, is likely to add to costs for businesses and households alike, even as the government has been cutting fuel prices daily — petrol was cut by a further Rs6.59 a litre on Friday, to Rs346, in the fifth straight reduction.
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