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ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 (APP):Energy experts and industrialists have urged the need for “constructive engagement” with the relevant authorities to address the issues arising from the revised Multi-Year Tariff (MYT).
At a webinar organized by the Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) titled ‘Karachi’s Energy Security: Challenges and Opportunities’ on Saturday, the speakers expressed their views regarding National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (NEPRA) revised MYT and its possible impact on the consumers and industries.
K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi said, “We believe these issues can be addressed through constructive engagement with NEPRA and the government,” clarifying that in “an apple-to-apple comparison with the national grid and XWDISCOS, the KE’s cost of generation was lower and the company was more efficient”.
Since privatization, he said, the K-Electric had significantly reduced aggregate technical and commercial losses from around 45 percent to below 20 percent, according to a press release issued here.
He noted that changes in the fuel reference mechanism could lead to additional financial obligations for Karachi consumers, including retrospective adjustments. However, he expressed commitment to remain serving Karachi despite the challenges with regard to new tariff structure.
Former Chairman of Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi expressed concern that the decision could raise challenges to the financial stability of K-Electric.
He pointed out that a privatised DISCO could face problems in the high-loss areas or adjust prices, adding that the Karachi’s consumer composition was not comparable to other regions.
Haroon Shamsi, an industrialist at Karachi and Member steering committee at Better Work Pakistan, suggested that while regulation was necessary, pricing should be deregulated, similar to the telecom sector, to encourage competition and efficiency.
He added that accounts for FY2024 had already been filed and it was difficult to retrospectively adjust costs.
Rehan Javed, prominent industrialist and energy expert, said K-Electric draws 2,000 MW from the national grid but pays for 2,600 MW in capacity charges, effectively reducing the national grid’s burden.
Zeeshan Ali, Member of the Advisory Committee on Energy, FPCCI, while representing Karachi’s business community, called the need for bridging the communication gap among the technical community, regulator, and the public to sort a feasible solution to address the related issues.