Consumers may face Rs36.5 billion fuel cost burden in September bills as NEPRA weighs Rs2.52/unit hike

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that electricity consumers could be charged an extra Rs36.54 billion in their September bills. The increase depends on NEPRA approving a fuel cost adjustment of Rs2.518 per unit for July 2026, a decision the regulator has reserved for now. CPPA-G, acting for the distribution companies, sought the adjustment after generation costs rose on the back of expensive imported fuel.

According to CPPA-G, the actual fuel cost of power generation came to Rs9.6112 per unit in July, against a reference cost of Rs7.0929, and the gap should be recovered from consumers through the monthly mechanism. A year earlier, July 2025 had instead returned Rs1.79 per unit to power users. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry opposed the hike at the hearing, asking the government to consider locally available furnace oil in place of costlier imported LNG where feasible, and to scrap the levy on furnace oil.

The chamber also flagged a quarterly rise of Rs1.52 per unit, linked to the third quarter of 2026, which is expected to go to the regulator, while the Rs1.98 per unit relief from the April-June period is about to lapse. Together, the chamber said, these items could lift the total to roughly Rs6 per unit from 1 September. NEPRA will publish its detailed ruling on the July adjustment separately.