Sep 22, 2019: The overall receivables of all the power distribution companies (DISCOs) have increased by Rs. 166.26 billion which are considerably higher than the receivables of Rs. 45.82 billion during FY 2016-17.

According to State of the Industry Report 2018 released by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), on June 30, 2018, the overall distribution sector receivables stood at Rs. 896.15 billion whereas, the receivables at the start of this financial year were Rs. 729.89 billion.

During FY 2017-18, receivables from the Federal Government have increased by Rs. 2.32 billion over those of FY 2016-17.

The receivables of DISCOs from the provincial governments of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan have increased in this financial year, whereas the receivables from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have slightly decreased.

In addition, FATA receivables from domestic consumers have increased from Rs. 22.18 billion in FY 2016-17 to Rs. 26.85 billion in FY 2017-18.

The receivables from K-Electric in FY 2017-18 have also increased by Rs. 18.33 billion.

Regarding import of power from Central Asian States through CASA-Project), the report said that the Federal Government had plans to import power from Central Asian States (CASA Project), which would provide hydel based energy from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Pakistan.

The project required NTDC to construct 100 km Transmission Line from the Pak-Afghan Boarder to Peshawar and a 1,300 MW convertor station at Peshawar. Roughly, the present tariff would be Rupees 15/kWh, which will increase after the addition of transmission and distribution losses for the end-consumer.

Therefore, the Regulator observed that this would not be a cheap solution, as it would not help lower the overall energy mix cost of the country. Further, it was further noted that the energy would not be available during the winter. In view of the above, the Federal Government might consider revisiting the agreements, the report said.

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