November Electricity Bills in Pakistan May Carry a Rs 2.56 a Unit Fuel Charge, NEPRA Hears It on 29 October

Short answer: CPPA-G has asked NEPRA for a fuel charge of Rs 2.5624 a unit for September 2026. If NEPRA allows all of it, November electricity bills would carry it, against Rs 1.1086 on October bills. NEPRA hears the request on Thursday, 29 October 2026, at 2:00 pm. K-Electric customers would pay the same rate.

This is a request, not a decision. The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) buys power for the ex-WAPDA distribution companies, and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) decides what consumers pay. We read NEPRA's hearing notice, which went up on nepra.org.pk on 19 October 2026, and checked it against NEPRA's last four fuel decisions.

CPPA-G wants Rs 2.5624 a unit for September fuel costs

CPPA-G says fuel for power delivered to the distribution companies cost Rs 10.0220 a unit in September 2026. The tariff assumed Rs 7.4596. The gap of Rs 2.5624 a unit is the fuel charges adjustment (FCA) it wants added to bills.

That is more than July's request of Rs 2.5182, the highest of the four months before it. The notice also says, under federal policy guidelines for a uniform FCA, the same figure will apply to K-Electric consumers in Karachi.

NEPRA's hearing is on Thursday, 29 October 2026, at 2:00 pm, at NEPRA Tower in Islamabad and online on Zoom. Anyone affected can file a written or spoken objection. How to do that is set out in the steps to take part in a NEPRA public hearing.

Nearly half the request is an old cost carried forward

About Rs 1.24 of the Rs 2.5624 is a previous adjustment, not September fuel. The notice lists Rs 16,376 million of past costs, or Rs 1.2390 a unit. September's own generation cost Rs 9.3532 a unit, before the add-ons.

The RLNG line is a cut of Rs 10,617 million, because the price of imported liquefied gas for power plants was revised down. The same Rs 10,617 million cut appeared in August's request. In August, NEPRA replaced it with a bigger cut of Rs 17,279 million. Whether it does so again is one of the things to watch on 29 October.

Transmission losses took 431 GWh, or 3.26 per cent, of what was generated. Where the power came from, and what each fuel cost, is broken down in our list of electricity cost by fuel for September 2026.

NEPRA has cut every request since May

NEPRA has allowed less than CPPA-G asked in each of the last four months. It allowed between 41 and 82 per cent of the request. So the final September charge may well be lower than Rs 2.5624, though nothing is decided until NEPRA rules.

The August cut came mostly from plant fuel costs that NEPRA trimmed to its own approved rates, set out in how NEPRA cut Rs 17.3 billion. The step by step process is in how NEPRA sets the fuel charge.

Rs 2.5624 would add Rs 768.72 to a 300 unit bill

At the full requested rate, a home using 300 units would pay Rs 768.72 as fuel charge on its November bill. That is Rs 436.14 more than the Rs 332.58 fuel charge on 300 units in October. Taxes on the bill come on top.

Work out your own figure in four steps.

1. Find the units billed for September on your November bill.
2. Multiply them by the rate NEPRA finally approves, or by 2.5624 for the worst case.
3. Add the quarterly adjustment of Rs 0.5194 a unit, which NEPRA set to run from September to November 2026.
4. Expect sales tax and other bill taxes to be charged on top.

The October method, with worked examples, is in the October fuel charge calculator.

Lifeline, prepaid and EV charging users have been left out before

The hearing notice does not list exemptions. In its August decision, NEPRA applied the charge to every consumer category of K-Electric and the distribution companies except lifeline consumers, electric vehicle charging stations and prepaid consumers. It also applied it to units under the incremental consumption package.

If NEPRA keeps the same order, those three groups will again be left out. We will confirm when the decision is published. Each recent decision has also said that a bill issued before the notification can carry the charge in the next month instead.

Common questions about the September 2026 fuel charge

Is the Rs 2.5624 increase final?

No. It is CPPA-G's request. NEPRA hears it on 29 October 2026 and decides after that. In each of the last four months, NEPRA allowed less than requested.

Which bill will carry the September fuel charge?

The November 2026 bill, if NEPRA keeps its pattern. August's charge was billed in October and July's in September, two months after the fuel month.

Does it apply to K-Electric customers?

Yes. NEPRA's notice says the charge it sets for the distribution companies will also apply to K-Electric consumers under the federal policy for a uniform charge.

Why is the request so high when September demand was lower?

Rs 1.2390 a unit is a carried-forward previous adjustment. Generation was also 11.6 per cent lower than August's, so fixed parts weigh more on each unit.

Can I object to the request?

Yes. NEPRA invites written or spoken objections from anyone affected, in person at NEPRA Tower or on Zoom, at the 29 October hearing.

Will protected consumers pay it?

NEPRA's past decisions exempted only lifeline consumers, prepaid users and EV charging stations, not protected consumers. The September order is not out yet.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 20 October 2026. The request, the generation table, the hearing date and the K-Electric line come from NEPRA's notice "Hearing regarding Fuel Charges Adjustment for the month of September 2026 for Ex-WAPDA Distribution Companies", read as an image on NEPRA's website and posted there on 19 October 2026. The approved figures for May to August, the billing months, the exemptions and the Rs 0.5194 quarterly charge come from NEPRA's own decisions dated 8 July, 7 August, 4 September and 7 October 2026, listed on NEPRA's distribution tariff page. The November billing month and the bill examples are our inference and arithmetic, not NEPRA's. We have not seen CPPA-G's full data file for September.