Nepra member flags power sector inefficiencies

A member of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has raised serious concerns about inefficiencies in the power system and called for urgent action to address transmission bottlenecks. In his additional note on quarterly adjustments for the period May to July 2025 applicable across all consumer categories, excluding lifeline and prepaid consumers, Nepra Member (technical) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh highlighted critical shortcomings in the transmission system, which resulted in Rs69 billion in capacity payments to three coal-fired plants despite extremely low utilisation rates. He made these observations in the context of the third-quarter adjustment for FY25, under which a reduction of Rs1.55 per unit has been approved, leading to a total refund of Rs52.6bn to consumers of Discos and K-Electric in their bills for May, June and July 2025.