KARACHI: The KESC has demanded a further hike in electricity tariff as gas curtailment continue to cause problems. NEPRA had recently augmented the electricity tariff as the KESC incurred additional expenses due to greater utilisation of furnace oil.
Sources have said that the KESC was not given priority in gas supply throughout the current year as supply fell to one fourth of the approved quota. They maintained that the company’s demand for a further hike in tariff was justified as purchase of additional furnace oil was necessary for KESC in order to maintain its normal power generation level.
A shortfall of 100MMCFD of gas means that approximately 2,250 additional tonnes of furnace oil need to be burnt every day. Sources claimed that this added expenditure raises the consumer end tariff. Consequently, citisens had to bear the brunt of a shortage in gas supply.
The KESC was allocated around 150 to 180MMCFD during the first 10 months of this year which at times fell to as low as 70MMCFD. This year, gas supplied to KESC was around 25 percent less than the previous year.
The KESC had to buy over 200,000 tonnes of additional furnace oil to keep up the normal load-shedding schedule.
