ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Laghari on Friday said that the unit cost of electricity is Rs 35 excluding taxes, adding that this includes charges per capacity unit of Rs 18.
Talking to the media, Minister Laghari said that the cost of electricity generation was between Rs 8-10 per unit, with Rs 1.5-2 per unit being the electricity transmission system cost, while the cost of Discos was Rs 5 per unit.
“Charges of Rs 18 per unit of capacity are the biggest contributors to expensive electricity. People use less electricity due to rising electricity prices. Rising electricity prices have also added to the suffering of the people during this ongoing wave of inflation,” he added.
Highlighting the problem of mounting debts, he said the biggest challenge for the government was to repay loans to the power sector.
Citing the example of the Sahiwal coal-fired power plant, the minister said the capacity charges were Rs 3 per unit when the plant was first commissioned in 2015, adding that now the capacity charges cost us Rs 11.75 per unit due to the rise in the dollar price and inflation rate of 22%, with consumers actually repaying loans.
He said using local coal can minimize electricity cost by Rs 2-2.5 per unit.
