Pakistan's Nepra raises industrial power rate 10% amid split vote

Pakistan's National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has raised the discounted electricity rate for extra consumption by industrial and agricultural users from PKR22.98 ($0.08) to PKR25.30 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The PKR2.32 increase works out to about 10.1%. Two of the authority's members dissented and said the government had not supplied enough data to justify the new figure.

The rate is interim and provisional. According to The Express Tribune on November 8, it applies from the November 2026 billing month and will stay in place until Nepra completes a fuller review. It covers industrial and agricultural customers of the state distribution companies (DISCOs) and K-Electric (PSX). Business Recorder reported that the decision was issued on November 6. Chairman Waseem Mukhtar cast the deciding vote, according to Pakistan Times. Bills for November that went out before the decision was notified will be corrected in later months.

Nepra kept the scheme alive but said it could still act on it. "The industrial consumption package shall not be suspended at this stage and shall continue at the provisional rate determined in the clause without prejudice to the lawful exercise of relevant statutory powers to make a further decision regarding revision, modification or termination in accordance with the applicable law and the original decision," the regulator said.

Nepra also said the new figure was not a final ruling on past costs. "The provisional rate determined herein shall not constitute a final determination of the historical marginal cost or of any claim concerning the allocation or recovery of the difference arising before the effective date of the revised rate." It warned that the scheme must still end if two reviews in a row call for a higher rate: "Nothing in this decision shall be construed as waiving, suspending or deferring the requirement concerning termination where upward tariff adjustments are required for two consecutive reviews."

Two members dissented: Amina Ahmed, who serves as Member Tariff, and Maqsood Anwar, the Member Development. In their view, the energy ministry had failed to respond adequately when they repeatedly asked for consultation and dependable figures, "which is unfortunate". The marginal-price figures from the Power Planning and Monitoring Company and the Independent System and Market Operator were also not usable, they noted. "Since the ICP is a flagship project of the ministry, it should give due consideration to the observations of Nepra and the lack of interagency coordination among the entities working under the ministry," they said. Energy Update reported that the pair, drawing on Nepra's own institutional calculations, put the true marginal cost of each additional unit of electricity at PKR31.83.

According to Pakistan Times, the Power Division has until November 25, 2026, to file a complete review spanning June to November 2026 as well as the months up to May, and the outstanding data for the November 16 to 30 window must follow by December 3. "If the information is not provided within these timelines, the outcome of the review would be adverse, and we may have to either suspend or terminate the ICP," Nepra said.

A Power Division spokesperson said reports that industrial tariffs had gone up were misleading. "PKR25.30 per unit is the revised marginal rate under the incremental consumption package for industrial and agricultural consumers. It is not the industrial tariff," the spokesperson said, adding: "The package is being revised because marginal generation costs have risen due to the prevailing war situation." Dawn identified this as the US-Iran war. According to the spokesperson, the package covered 6,940 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of extra consumption between December 2025 and September 2026 and passed on about PKR43.5bn in savings. So far, 209,335 of the 518,316 eligible consumers have used it, roughly 40%.

Over three years, as users increasingly moved to rooftop solar, consumption dropped 47% among agricultural consumers and 14% among industrial ones.