Nepra raises electricity costs by Rs2.58 per unit

Nepra raises electricity costs by Rs2.58 per unit.

Key points

• Khaleeq Kiani Published September 5, 2026 Updated September 5, 2026 07: 21am.
• Discos and KE are required to reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of July 2026 in the billing month of September 2026.
• Follow Dawn Business on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and throughout the world.
• In a late night notification, the Nepra remarked it has decided that positive FCA for July 2026 I.e.
• September, October and November 2026, the Nepra order remarked.

Khaleeq Kiani Published September 5, 2026 Updated September 5, 2026 07: 21am. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Fuel adjustment adds Rs2.06 per unit to Sept bills 52 paisa per unit quarterly charge to continue through Nov; Rs45.6bn extra burden imposed on users Some relief for lifeline consumers, EV charging stations, prepaid users.

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday notified regarding Rs46bn further burden to electricity consumers by allowing Rs2.06 per unit higher fuel costs in July and regarding 52 paise per unit further quarterly adjustment for other charges for next three months.

Consumers will bear the extra burden of concerning Rs3 per unit higher tariffs in September and then 52 paisa per unit for subsequent two months of October and November.

Meanwhile, the impact of Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) alone in July works out at regarding Rs33bn and has mainly emanated from expensive LNG purchases from the spot market. Another Rs12.7bn Quarterly Tariff Adjustments (QTA) would be charged to consumers in three months.

In a late night notification, the Nepra remarked it "has decided that positive FCA for July 2026 I.e. Rs2.0581/kWh.shall be applicable to all the consumer categories of KE and XWDISCOs except lifeline consumers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and prepaid electricity consumers, of all categories who opted for pre-paid tariff".

For context, the regulator, which has off late began issuing its decisions and notifications late in the night stated the higher FCA would additionally be applicable to incremental consumption package consumers. Discos and KE are required to reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of July 2026 in the billing month of September 2026.

Concurrently, Nepra allowed a 52-paisa per unit higher quarterly tariff adjustment to be recovered over a period of three months.

"The positive quarterly adjustment of Rs0.5194/kWh shall additionally be billed to all the consumers (of Discos as well as KE) except lifeline, incremental consumption package billed units and prepaid consumers, to be passed in a period of 03 months I.e. September, October and November 2026", the Nepra order remarked. This will be applicable at the uniform rate to all.

Meanwhile, the decision to approve 52 paise will result in an overall positive adjustment of Rs12.67bn on account of variation in capacity charges, variable O&M, employ of system charges, market operator fee, FCA impact on T&D losses and recovery of PPP on incremental units for year's 2nd quarter.

Notably, the FCA is reviewed every month as per the tariff regime applicable nationwide and is usually applicable to the consumer's bills for one month only.

Under the tariff mechanism, changes in fuel cost are passed on to consumers only on monthly basis through automatic mechanism while quarterly tariff adjustments on account of variation in power purchase cost, capacity cha­rges, variable operation and maintenance costs, apply of system charges and including impact of transmission and distribution losses are built in the base tariff by the federal administration. Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2026.

Khaleeq Kiani is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn, specializing in political economy, governance, business, finance, macroeconomics and energy. He can be discovered on X at @khaleeqkiani.

Taken together, the developments around nepra raises electricity costs by Rs2.58 per unit point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.