No, Rs 27.31 is not going to be the rate printed on your bill. It is the average price that the government power buyer, CPPA-G, expects distribution companies to pay for electricity in 2027, and it is still only a proposal. Whether your own unit rate rises in January 2027 depends on NEPRA's decision, your slab, your protected or non-protected status, taxes and any subsidy, and none of the 2027 household rates has been notified as of 21 October 2026.
What the Rs 27.31 figure actually is
Every year the power purchase price is reset. This is the projected cost of buying electricity from power plants and moving it across the national grid to the distribution companies, before those companies add their own costs and before taxes are added to your bill.
On 17 October 2026 NEPRA listed a hearing notice on its website for CPPA-G's "Projected Power Purchase Price for the Period from January to December 2027". The filing is for the consumer-end tariff of the ex-WAPDA distribution companies, known as XWDISCOs. According to press reports of the filing, the rebased tariffs are scheduled to take effect from 1 January 2027.
CPPA-G's base case, as reported by Geo News citing The News, is Rs 27.309 per unit (kWh), with total power procurement costs of about Rs 3.55 trillion for the year.
The filing covers the ex-WAPDA companies such as LESCO, IESCO, MEPCO and the others. It does not name K-Electric, and nothing reported so far explains how it affects Karachi, AJK or Gilgit-Baltistan consumers. If you are with one of those, check with your own company rather than assuming this filing applies to you.
Why it is not the rate on your bill
The Rs 27.31 figure is a wholesale average across all electricity sold to the distribution companies. Your bill is built differently. The per-unit rate you pay depends on:
- which slab your monthly units fall into
- whether you are a protected or non-protected consumer
- the distribution company's own costs, which NEPRA adds on top
- taxes and duties, which are charged on top of the energy cost
- any government subsidy, which reduces what some households pay
ProPakistani's report of the filing puts it plainly: the forecast should not be read as the final retail tariff, which will depend on NEPRA's determinations and on applicable taxes, duties, subsidies and other tariff components.
So a household using few units may pay well under Rs 27 a unit, and a high-use household may pay more. If you want to see how the energy charge, slabs and taxes stack up on a real bill, the guide to unit slabs, fuel price adjustment and taxes walks through each line.
The table below shows the current NEPRA domestic rates. These are the rates in force now, not 2027 rates.
Domestic rates run from Rs 10.54/unit (protected, first 100 units) to Rs 47.20/unit (unprotected, above 700), plus a fixed charge per kilowatt of sanctioned load. The band most households sit in, 101–200 units unprotected, is Rs 28.91/unit.
Crucially, billing is not telescopic: an unprotected consumer pays the rate of the band their month reaches on every unit. See the full schedule, fixed charges and the adjustment in force →
S.R.O. 279(I)/2026 — NEPRA decision of 11 February 2026, effective 2026-02-12. S.R.O. 46(I)/2026 (Schedule of Tariff), as modified by S.R.O. 279(I)/2026 of 12 February 2026
The slab rates on our electricity tariff page will be updated once NEPRA notifies new rates. Be wary of any website already publishing "new 2027 slab rates": none has been notified.
How the 2027 figure compares with 2026
The Nation reports that the national average power purchase price for the current year, 2026, works out at Rs 25.32 a unit. Comparing that with the 2027 scenarios gives a sense of the direction of travel. The percentages below are our own calculation, and they compare wholesale purchase cost only, not consumer bills.
| Scenario | Projected price per unit | Change against Rs 25.32 (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 average (current year) | Rs 25.32 | — |
| Ideal case for 2027 | Rs 25.883 | about 2.2% higher |
| Base case for 2027 | Rs 27.309 | Rs 1.99 higher, about 7.9% |
| Worst Case II for 2027 | Rs 29.255 | about 15.5% higher |
CPPA-G modelled six scenarios in total, running from Rs 25.883 in the ideal case to Rs 29.255 in the second worst case.
A rise in the wholesale price does not translate rupee for rupee into your bill, because subsidies, taxes and the government's tariff decisions sit between the two. There is no notified figure for how much household bills will change, and no source has confirmed that bills will definitely rise in January.
What the assumptions are
The base case rests on several forecasts, as reported by The Nation and Geo News:
- demand growth of 2.60%
- an exchange rate of Rs 279 to the US dollar
- 130,081 million units sold to distribution companies
- KIBOR of 11.70%
- a US SOFR rate of 3.98%
- US inflation of 2.10% and domestic inflation of 8.20%
- National Grid Company losses of 2.50%
The exchange rate matters a great deal because much of what Pakistan pays power plants is linked to the dollar. Pakistan Times reports that both worst-case scenarios assume the rupee weakens to Rs 290 to the dollar, compared with Rs 279 in the other scenarios. That is why the worst case should not be read as a forecast of what will happen. It is what CPPA-G thinks the price would be if conditions turn against it.
Where the money goes: capacity payments
The largest part of the cost is not fuel. It is capacity payments, the fixed sums owed to power plants for being available, whether or not their electricity is used.
As reported by ProPakistani and The Nation, the base case breaks down like this:
| Cost component | Total for 2027 | Per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity charges | Rs 1,914,445 million (about Rs 1.91 trillion) | Rs 14.717 |
| Fuel costs | about Rs 1.32 trillion | Rs 10.141 |
| Variable operations and maintenance | Rs 70.58 billion | Rs 0.543 |
| Transmission and Ministry of Finance charges | Rs 248.30 billion | Rs 1.909 |
| Total | about Rs 3.55 trillion | about Rs 27.31 |
Capacity charges make up more than half of the per-unit price. Because these are largely fixed, they are spread over however many units are sold. If demand grows less than the 2.60% assumed, the same fixed cost is divided over fewer units and the per-unit figure goes up.
These figures come from press reports of CPPA-G's filing. The filing itself is on nepra.org.pk, and it is the place to check any figure before relying on it.
How the yearly reset differs from the monthly fuel charge
Three mechanisms move your bill, and it is easy to confuse them:
- The yearly reset sets the base tariff, including a reference fuel cost, for the year ahead. This is what the 3 November hearing is about.
- The monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA) corrects for the gap between the reference fuel cost and what fuel actually cost in a given month.
- The quarterly adjustment (QTA) corrects other costs against the base every three months.
The current reference fuel cost shows how the base and the monthly adjustment interact. For August 2026, the actual fuel cost was Rs 8.21 per kWh against a reference of Rs 7.10, which is why October bills carried a fuel adjustment of Rs 1.11 a unit, according to The Express Tribune. A separate proposal of Rs 2.56 a unit for September usage is also on NEPRA's 17 October list; our November 2026 fuel charge guide covers that one. Current and past adjustments are on this month's FCA and QTA page.
The yearly reset changes the reference point. Monthly and quarterly adjustments are then measured against whatever new base NEPRA sets for 2027.
What happens between now and 1 January 2027
- 17 October 2026: NEPRA listed the hearing notice and CPPA-G's application on its website under News & Events.
- Tuesday 3 November 2026, 2:00 pm: NEPRA holds the public hearing at NEPRA Tower, Islamabad, with participation also available online through Zoom, according to Geo News.
- After the hearing: NEPRA decides the 2027 power purchase price. The date of that decision has not been announced.
- Before the reset: the final consumer tariff also depends on other tariff components, taxes and subsidies. The government's decisions on these are still open.
- 1 January 2027: the rebased tariffs for ex-WAPDA companies are scheduled to take effect.
How to follow or take part in the hearing
NEPRA hearings are public, and consumers and organisations can raise objections or comments.
Find the documents
- Go to nepra.org.pk and open News & Events.
- Look for the notice of hearing and CPPA-G's application, both dated 17-10-2026.
- Open the notice PDF and read the participation section.
Check the participation details yourself
We have not been able to confirm how to register, the deadline for written comments, or the Zoom link. These are set out in the NEPRA notice, so copy them from there exactly rather than from a news report or social media post. If you plan to attend in person or online, check the notice well before 3 November.
Prepare a useful comment
Comments carry more weight when they address a specific assumption. The filing gives you several to question: the 2.60% demand growth, the Rs 279 exchange rate, the size of capacity charges, and the 2.50% grid loss figure.
What to do next
- Treat any headline saying "electricity at Rs 27.3" as a wholesale cost proposal, not your new rate.
- If you want to follow the hearing, open the notice on nepra.org.pk and check the registration and Zoom details for 3 November.
- Estimate your current bill from your units with the bill calculator, so you have a baseline when 2027 rates are notified.
- Check your latest bill on the bill checker and note your slab and protected status.
- Ignore sites already listing 2027 household slab rates until NEPRA notifies them.
Sources
- NEPRA homepage, News & Events (hearing notice and CPPA-G application, 17-10-2026)
- NEPRA News & Updates 2026 (September FCA hearing, 17-10-2026)
- Geo News (citing The News): Power purchase price may rise to Rs27.3 per unit in 2027
- The Nation: Power purchase price projected at Rs25.883–29.255 per unit for CY2027
- ProPakistani: Power Purchase Price to Hit Rs. 27.31 Per Unit in 2027
- Pakistan Times: Power purchase price projected at Rs 27.309 per unit for 2027
- The Express Tribune: NEPRA allows Rs1.11 per unit fuel adjustment in October billing