ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s electricity regulator has fined two key power sector entities a combined Rs60 million for planning failures, faulty data and lack of transparency that cost consumers billions of rupees in inflated electricity charges in January 2024.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) slapped a Rs50 million fine on the National Grid Company (NGC) and a separate Rs10 million penalty on the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G), ruling both committed serious violations of the NEPRA Act in findings that lay bare structural dysfunction at the heart of Pakistan’s power sector.
Nepra found NGC failed to fully utilise the 4,000 MW Matiari-Lahore HVDC transmission line, operating it at roughly 2,800 MW due to delays at Lahore North Grid Station, yet consumers were billed full capacity charges. The regulator cited the shortfall as emblematic of “systemic and aggravated” violations rooted in poor coordination and flawed planning.
Wind forecasting errors at NGC reached 15pc, five times the permissible limit, triggering avoidable curtailment, Rs4.4 billion in compensation claims and unnecessary reliance on expensive thermal power.
Approximately 852 GWh was generated from expensive RFO and HSD-based plants out of merit during January 2024, incurring a substantial financial impact amounting to billions of rupees. Cheaper local coal and nuclear units remained idle due to transmission constraints and inadequate dispatch capability of the network.
NGC failed to submit the Annual System Reliability Assessment and Improvement Report (ASRAIR) for the years 2022 and 2023 by the mandated deadline of 15 February each year, in breach of Grid Code Clause PC 2.1(h). This omission deprived the authority of essential oversight data precisely during the period when south-north transmission constraints were materialising
CPPA-G, meanwhile, was found to have submitted inaccurate fuel cost data, ignored binding RLNG supply commitments and failed to provide key dispatch and outage information, creating what Nepra called a “structurally unrealistic” cost reference that inflated fuel charges across the board.
Both entities have been ordered to pay their fines within 15 days and submit corrective action plans. The rulings come as consumers already reel under some of the highest electricity tariffs in the country’s history.
