Electricity consumers across Pakistan are likely to see an increase of around Rs1.74 per unit in next month’s bills after the Central Power Purchasing Agency sought approval for more than Rs16 billion in additional fuel cost recoveries.

The proposed increase came up during a public hearing held by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority on CPPA’s petition for a fuel cost adjustment of Rs1.73 per unit for electricity consumed in April 2026.

If approved, the adjustment would place an extra burden of over Rs16 billion on consumers nationwide.

During the hearing, CPPA Chief Executive Officer Rehan Akhtar said the reference fuel cost for April had been set at Rs8.25 per unit, but the actual cost rose to Rs9.975 per unit.

He said the increase was mainly driven by disruptions in LNG supplies linked to the US-Iran conflict, which forced the power sector to depend on more expensive sources of electricity generation.

Officials told the hearing that technical limitations in transmitting cheaper electricity from Sindh to major demand centres in other parts of the country also pushed up fuel costs.

They added that the government restricted the use of furnace oil- and diesel-based power generation in an effort to reduce the financial impact on consumers, which helped keep the proposed adjustment at Rs1.73 per unit.

The hearing was further informed that lower availability of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2, including outages and earlier claims worth Rs3.4 billion, also contributed to the higher cost.

Officials said special LNG import arrangements were made during the period to cushion the impact of rising international energy prices.

Nepra will issue its decision on the proposed fuel cost adjustment after reviewing the submissions made during the hearing