Electricity consumers will face an additional financial burden of around Rs23 billion after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved higher fuel costs for March along with other charges to be recovered over the next three months.
The increase will translate into a rise of about Rs1.98 per unit in electricity tariffs during March. Of this amount, Rs1.63 per unit stems from the fuel cost adjustment (FCA), while approximately 35 paisa per unit relates to the quarterly tariff adjustment (QTA).
According to a late-night notification issued by the regulator, the FCA for January 2026 has been set at Rs1.6274 per unit. This adjustment alone will place an estimated burden of around Rs14 billion on consumers in March, while about Rs8.7 billion under the quarterly tariff adjustment will be recovered over the next three months.
Nepra stated that the higher FCA would apply to all consumer categories served by K-Electric and ex-Wapda distribution companies (XWDISCOs), except lifeline consumers, electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), and prepaid electricity users across all categories who have opted for prepaid tariffs.
Distribution companies and K-Electric have been directed to include the fuel charges adjustment for January 2026 in electricity bills issued for March 2026.
The regulator noted that additional electricity supply from the national grid to K-Electric had helped reduce the overall burden on consumers. It explained that if K-Electric had not received electricity from the national grid, consumers would have faced an increase of Rs1.50 per unit due to FCA and Rs2.38 per unit from the quarterly capacity purchase price, resulting in a total potential tariff rise of Rs3.88 per unit.
Nepra also highlighted that the additional withdrawal of more than 1,100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity under the incremental consumption package required the dispatch of marginal generation plants, which contributed to the higher fuel cost adjustments.
However, the regulator added that the rise in overall electricity sales could improve recovery of capacity costs, which may lead to favourable adjustments in future quarterly tariff reviews.
