Keeping lights on gets pricier by the day

Pakistan generated 12.76 billion units of electricity in September, 4.4 percent more than a year earlier, but the fuel bill rose much faster. Business Recorder reported that reduced RLNG availability shifted more production to imported coal and high-speed diesel (HSD), while RLNG output fell by more than half to 800 million units.

Imported coal supplied 2.15 billion units at around Rs17.2 per unit, compared with about Rs40 for RLNG and Rs62 for HSD. Overall fuel costs were up nearly 44 percent year on year, prompting a September fuel cost adjustment request of Rs2.56 per unit, the highest such request since June 2024. The article says the regulator’s final allowance is expected to be lower, though the adjustment could approach Rs2 per unit.