Consumers pay Rs.150 billion monthly to underutilized IPPs: Dr. Gohar Ejaz

ISLAMABAD: Customers paid Rs. 150 billion monthly capacity charges to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) during January-March 2024, and many of these plants operate at less than 10 percent of their full capacity.

Former Commerce Minister Dr. Gohar Ejaz shared data on July 20 showing how IPPs were easily duping citizens to reduce electricity during the first quarter of calendar year 2024.

“I am sharing the data from NEPRA from January 24 to March 24 showing monthly capacity payments of Rs 150 billion. Please note how this amount is distributed among various IPPs, including 1000 crore per month with four power plants receiving less than 10% capacity. This amount, our legitimate income, is being given to 40 families under the guise of capacity compensation,” he said tweeted.

The former minister urged the federal government to reclassify IPPs so that payments are made only for electricity generated. “These plants should be declared as merchant plants, where only the electricity generated is paid for, and we should buy from the cheapest suppliers. The government should not do business at the cost of the people of Pakistan,” he said.

NEPRA should include representation of all major users in its distribution and management. He further said that this exploitation should end.

Here is the complete list of 106 IPPs and how they were paid in Q1 2024: