Lower power tariff package for industrial sector approved by govt

ISLAMABAD: A flat rate package for electricity supply that is aimed at boosting production mainly to the industrial sector said Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan.

The tariff will be lowered than the normal tariff by the government to reduce capacity payments worth billions of rupees to the power producers, accommodating various sectors, especially the private sector.

“This initiative will ease the burden of circular debt as idle capacity will be utilised in the winter season, and it can be expanded to other months also once we achieve the desired results,” he further said.

Presently, the package has been approved for four months (November-February) only.

To curtail the average power tariff, 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy are aimed to be added to the national grid by 2025 by the government.

Khan added that the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), working under

Prior to this, the Power Division had given approval for the issuance of letters of support to 11 wind power projects having a cumulative generation capacity of 500MW, costing 4.3 cents or around Rs6.5 per unit.

A flat rate of Rs11.97 per unit will be charged to residential and commercial ‘time of use (TOU)’under the package, as consumers will be charged at the new rate on their additional power consumption, as compared to the same month of the previous year.

Giving an example, he said if a consumer had utilised 100 units in the corresponding month of last year and he consumed 110 units this year, then the 100 units would be charged as per the normal rate, whereas the additional 10 units would be charged at Rs11.97 per unit.

This package has also been designed to tackle the ongoing economic slowdown.

By increasing the rate of production, Pakistan will have a chance to compete in the international market and boost exports.

The flat tariff will cover almost 31% of total power consumers. Around 22% of the total will be from the industrial sector, 4.22% will be residential consumers (three-phase TOU) and 4.6% will be commercial consumers (three-phase).

An extra of 1,800-2,000MW of electricity will be provided to these consumers, as electricity will be available to them round the clock through this package.

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