K-Electric (K-E) has sought a national policy from the regulator to sell power at a comparatively higher price to the people residing in areas where line losses and theft through illegal connections (Kundas) are high and recoveries through monthly billing stand low.
The company demanded the policy from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) ahead of the scheduled end to the exclusive rights of K-Electric for power supply to end-consumers in the city of ports – Karachi – and potential entry of other companies for the provision of electricity at competitive prices in 2023.
“None of them (power transmission and distribution companies) would have the capacity to take the cost on their own pockets of power supply in high loss-carrying areas,” K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi said at an online press conference held on Wednesday to share the company’s additional investment plans worth Rs140 billion till 2023.
There is an additional cost of supplying power to such high loss-carrying areas and “all the companies (including newcomers) should be allowed to recover losses through tariff … K-E has the right to demand a level playing field,” he said.
