Pakistan, Oct. 5 -- Capacity payments in Pakistan surpassed the actual cost of power generation during the last fiscal year. Official figures show consumers paid Rs1,565 billion in capacity payments, compared with Rs1,167 billion for electricity generation. The difference highlights the growing weight of fixed power-sector charges on electricity bills.

Consumers paid a total of Rs2,935 billion through electricity bills during the period. Capacity payments accounted for Rs1,565 billion, while consumers also paid Rs205 billion in General Sales Tax. These figures show that electricity bills include several costs beyond the expense of producing power.

Imported coal plants received the largest share of capacity payments during the fiscal yea...