Electricity consumers may face higher bills in Dec, Jan and Feb

Electricity consumers may face a difficult three months from December to February, as fuel price adjustments (FPAs) are feared to increase two to three times, media reports said on Friday, citing sources in the Power Division.

The reports said that prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal and other fuels are pushing up the cost of electricity generation. They added that securing local gas supplies for power plants would also be a major challenge during winter.

Local gas supplies are often insufficient even for domestic consumers during the winter months. With hydropower generation also expected to remain low, power plants may have to rely on more expensive fuels, the reports said.

They added that high fuel prices in the international market would further push up fuel price adjustments.

According to the reports, efforts had been made in recent months to keep the burden of fuel price adjustments under control, including through two-hour load management.

However, international fuel prices, particularly those of LNG, had risen considerably, they said.