ISLAMABAD: Pakistani electricity consumers could see higher power bills as early as May after utilities asked the country’s energy regulator Friday to approve an additional charge of Rs0.266 per unit to recover fuel costs as the consumers were billed less in March 2026.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G), acting on behalf of ex-Wapda distribution companies, filed the request with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), citing a gap between the reference fuel cost of Rs7.995 per unit built into March bills and the actual cost of Rs8.261 per unit, a shortfall of Rs0.266/unit. If it was approved, it would apply to K-Electric consumers as well.
Total power generation in March reached 8,939 gigawatt-hours (GWh) at a cost of Rs72.214 billion, or roughly Rs8.078 per unit. After accounting for transmission losses and prior adjustments, net electricity delivered to distributors cost Rs8.261 per unit on 8,664 GWh supplied, according to data submitted to Nepra. The demand in March increased by 6.3 percent year on year, reflecting cyclical rebound in economic activities. And over previous month, it increased by 16 percent driven by seasonal uptick. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, cumulative generation reached 93,134 GWh, a 3.3 percent increase over the same period last year.
In March, the hydropower’s share climbed to 23.55 percent. Nuclear generation contributed 21.95 percent to 1,962 GWh, local coal generation was 16.76 percent (1,498 GWh), while imported coal output share was 13.8 percent (1,234 GWh). Whereas, RLNG-based output was only 5.64 percent or 504GWh.
