ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has asked the federal government to file an application for the uniformisation of determined grid charges across all power distribution companies (DISCOs), so that these charges may be imposed uniformly on all Bulk Power Consumers (BPCs) and other open-access users, as envisaged under the National Electricity (NE) Plan and the Eligibility Criteria (Electric Power Supplier Licences) Rules, 2023. According to a Nepra decision, the Authority had issued its wheeling charges determination order on January 11, 2021. The determination was subsequently challenged by DISCOs before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which, through its order dated March 3, 2023, directed Nepra to decide the matter within ten weeks of receipt of the order. Nepra later specified the NEPRA Open Access (Interconnection and Wheeling of Electric Power) Regulations, 2022, which were notified on November 2, 2022. Under Clause 7 of these regulations, DISCOs are required to file petitions before the Authority for the determination of their Use of System Charges (UoSC). Only a ‘miracle’ could bring capacity charges down: Nepra In compliance, Distribution Companies (DISCOs) filed petitions for determination of their UoSC/wheeling charges based on tariffs determined for FY 2022-23, which were admitted by the Authority. However, the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) informed Nepra that since the rebasing of consumer-end tariffs for FY 2023-24 was at an advanced stage, the petitions required revision to incorporate updated tariff figures. Subsequently, the uniform tariff along with individual tariffs of all DISCOs for FY 2023-24 were determined by NEPRA and notified by the federal government on July 26, 2023, effective from July 1, 2023. As a result, petitions based on FY 2022-23 tariff figures were returned with directions to submit revised petitions. All DISCOs, except SEPCO, filed revised petitions, which were admitted. SEPCO later filed its petition, which was also admitted. A joint hearing of all DISCOs was conducted on November 28, 2023. Meanwhile, during a sectoral briefing on the power sector, the Prime Minister constituted a committee to propose an optimal wheeling charge structure for Cabinet approval. The committee, notified on June 3, 2024, was led by the Power Division and comprised representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industries & Production, Nepra, CPPA-G, NTDC, and K-Electric, with Dr Fayyaz Chaudhry and Abid Lodhi as co-opted members. Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE), through its decision dated November 22, 2023, constituted another committee to deliberate on wheeling charges and recommend a way forward. In parallel, the Minister for Power also established a working group to conduct stakeholder consultations. The Power Division subsequently submitted a summary to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) titled “Approval of Amendments in the National Electricity Plan – Strategic Directive 87.” The ECC approved the summary on July 17, 2025, which was later ratified by the Cabinet on February 5, 2025. DISCOs submitted that since petitions for FY 2025-26 were now being filed for determination of UoSC (to the extent of grid charges) based on tariff figures for FY 2025-26, all earlier petitions for FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24, along with their addendums, should be treated as withdrawn. Nepra noted that all petitions were similar in nature and based on the Cost of Service Study (CoSS) for FY 2025-26. DISCOs submitted that most relevant costs are fixed in nature and should therefore be recovered through fixed charges (Rs/kW/month). The Authority admitted the petitions filed by GEPCO, IESCO, LESCO, MEPCO, HESCO, FESCO, SEPCO, QESCO, PESCO, TESCO and HAZECO, subject to submission of Board resolutions, which were subsequently provided. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025