Updated: August 2026
Electricity peak hours in Pakistan right now, in August 2026, are 7 PM to 11 PM for every ex-WAPDA DISCO (LESCO, MEPCO, FESCO, IESCO, GEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, SEPCO, QESCO, TESCO) and 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM for K-Electric in Karachi. If you have a time-of-use (TOU) meter, each unit in that window costs you Rs 46.85 instead of the Rs 34.53 off-peak rate — Rs 12.32 extra per unit on a residential connection. The window is always four hours long; it just moves earlier as the days shorten, dropping to 5–9 PM in December–February.
Everything on this page comes from NEPRA’s own tariff documents, not from guesswork. The full seasonal table is below, followed by the current rates, who actually pays them, and worked examples of what shifting your laundry, water pump and AC hours really saves in rupees.
Peak Hours Timetable: Summer vs Winter
NEPRA writes the peak windows directly into each DISCO’s schedule of tariff. The current definition, taken from the LESCO tariff determination issued 7 January 2026 (page 21), applies identically across all ex-WAPDA DISCOs:
| Season | Ex-WAPDA DISCOs (LESCO, MEPCO, FESCO, IESCO, etc.) | K-Electric (Karachi) | Off-peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| December – February | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM | November – March: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM |
Remaining 20 hours of the day |
| March – May | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | ||
| June – August | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM | April – October: 6:30 PM – 10:30 PM |
|
| September – November | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM |
Four things the schedule itself makes clear:
- The peak block is four hours in every season. Only its position changes, tracking sunset and the evening demand spike.
- Off-peak is everything else — all 20 remaining hours, including the entire day. There is no “second peak” at noon, whatever WhatsApp forwards claim.
- The windows apply seven days a week. No Sunday or holiday exemption is written into the tariff.
- K-Electric uses a simpler two-season split, published on KE’s official tariff structure page: 6:30–10:30 PM from April to October, 6:00–10:00 PM from November to March.
The schedule adds one footnote: timings are “to be duly adjusted” if daylight-saving time is ever imposed. Pakistan doesn’t currently observe it, so the table above is what your meter follows.
Peak vs Off-Peak Rates in 2026
Rates were reset when the federal government moved tariff rebasing to a calendar-year cycle. NEPRA’s uniform-tariff decision of 12 January 2026 set the national average base rate at Rs 33.38 per unit for CY 2026, 62 paisa below the Rs 34.00 fixed for FY 2025-26. Its annexes carry the TOU rates you actually get billed:
| Category | Peak (Rs/unit) | Off-peak (Rs/unit) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential TOU – ex-WAPDA DISCOs | 46.85 | 34.53 | Rs 12.32 |
| Commercial (A-2) TOU – ex-WAPDA DISCOs | 43.62 | 33.10 | Rs 10.52 |
| Residential TOU – K-Electric | 46.85 | 40.53 | Rs 6.32 |
| Commercial TOU – K-Electric | 43.82 | 35.15 | Rs 8.67 |
These are the applicable variable charges as of August 2026, as revised by SRO 279(I)/2026 (effective 12 February 2026) — which trimmed the upper slab rates and, for the first time, layered per-kilowatt fixed charges on top of the energy rate. A NEPRA review petition challenging those fixed charges has been pending since March 2026, and a further government tariff package was under discussion in late July 2026, so treat the figures below as current-but-moving. Three caveats before you reconcile them against your bill:
- They are base energy charges only. Fuel price adjustment and quarterly adjustments ride on top, then taxes and duties are added after those. The first CY 2026 quarterly adjustment, approved by NEPRA in June, is actually a relief of Rs 1.99 per unit on June–August bills.
- Residential TOU connections (5 kW and above) also carry a fixed charge, and since the February 2026 SRO that charge is levied per kilowatt: Rs 675 per kW per month, applied to the greater of 50% of your sanctioned load or your recorded maximum demand (MDI). For a 5 kW home that works out to roughly Rs 1,688 a month before GST — payable even in a month you burn almost nothing.
- TOU rates are flat — no slabs, no protected/unprotected split. Heavy users on TOU escape the Above-700-units slab rate; light users can actually pay more than they would on slabs. Compare against the current per-unit slab prices before celebrating.
Notice how much the residential gap widened. Before the February 2026 revision the peak-to-off-peak spread for a home was only Rs 6.58; the SRO cut the off-peak rate by about Rs 5.5 per unit while nudging the peak rate up, so the gap is now Rs 12.32 — actually the widest of any category in the table, ahead of even the Rs 10.52 commercial (A-2) spread. Households now have more to gain per shifted unit than shops do, which flips the old assumption that load-shifting mainly pays off for businesses.
Who Actually Pays Peak Rates?
Peak pricing only touches you if your meter records time of use. The rule in the schedule of tariff is sanctioned load:
- 5 kW and above — TOU billing is compulsory. These are almost always three-phase connections: houses with multiple ACs, commercial premises, tube wells, small industry.
- Under 5 kW — you stay on ordinary slab billing, one rate for all 24 hours. The schedule lets you opt in to a TOU meter voluntarily, but nobody puts you on it by default.
Not sure which you are? Look at your bill’s units row. A TOU bill shows two separate lines — peak units and off-peak units — each with its own rate. A slab bill shows a single figure. On the meter itself, digital TOU meters cycle through separate registers (commonly labelled T1 for peak and T2 for off-peak) along with the cumulative reading.
This is the part most “peak hours” pages get wrong, so it bears repeating: if you’re on a single-phase slab meter, running your AC at 8 PM costs exactly the same as running it at 8 AM. Avoiding peak hours still helps the grid — evening demand is what triggers load-shedding — but it does not change your rate. If your bill is climbing anyway, the culprit is usually slab jumps or adjustments, not the clock; see why bills spike.
What Shifting Load Actually Saves: Worked Examples
Take a Lahore household on a TOU meter using 600 units a month, with 180 of them (30%) landing in the 7–11 PM window — a normal pattern when both ACs run through the evening.
Before shifting:
- Peak: 180 × Rs 46.85 = Rs 8,433.00
- Off-peak: 420 × Rs 34.53 = Rs 14,502.60
- Energy charges: Rs 22,935.60
Now move 100 of those peak units out of the window — run the water pump in the afternoon, start laundry after 11 PM, pre-cool bedrooms before 7 PM:
- Peak: 80 × Rs 46.85 = Rs 3,748.00
- Off-peak: 520 × Rs 34.53 = Rs 17,955.60
- Energy charges: Rs 21,703.60
Same 600 units, Rs 1,232 less every month — roughly Rs 14,800 a year, before the percentage-based taxes that would have been charged on the higher amount. Every unit you move is worth exactly Rs 12.32, nearly double what the same shift saved before the February 2026 off-peak cut.
Appliance by appliance:
- Water pump (1 hp ≈ 0.75 kW), 2 hours daily. Run in peak, that’s about 45 units a month. Shifting it to daytime saves 45 × 12.32 = Rs 554 per month for zero sacrifice — the tank doesn’t care when it fills.
- 1.5-ton inverter AC averaging 1.2 kW. Four peak hours daily is about 144 units a month, costing Rs 6,746 at peak rate. Push half that usage past 11 PM (sleep hours anyway) and you keep Rs 887 per month.
- Washing machine, iron, oven. Individually small, but they stack — and they’re the easiest to reschedule.
- A commercial connection shifting 200 units out of peak saves 200 × Rs 10.52 = Rs 2,104 per month. For workshops with motors and compressors, rescheduling a single shift can be worth thousands.
Shifting is one lever among several — insulation, inverter appliances and solar are the others. The full list is in our guide to reducing your electricity bill.
Electricity Peak Hours in Pakistan by DISCO
Every ex-WAPDA DISCO follows the national seasonal table above (NEPRA’s January 2026 schedule even applies it to the newly carved-out HAZECO in Hazara). Only K-Electric differs. Current rates for your own company:
| DISCO | Region | Peak window (Aug 2026) | Your rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| LESCO | Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Okara | 7–11 PM | LESCO per-unit price |
| MEPCO | Multan, South Punjab | 7–11 PM | MEPCO per-unit price |
| FESCO | Faisalabad, Jhang, Sargodha | 7–11 PM | FESCO per-unit price |
| IESCO | Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock | 7–11 PM | IESCO per-unit price |
| GEPCO | Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot | 7–11 PM | GEPCO per-unit price |
| PESCO | Peshawar, most of KP | 7–11 PM | PESCO per-unit price |
| HESCO | Hyderabad, southern Sindh | 7–11 PM | HESCO per-unit price |
| SEPCO | Sukkur, northern Sindh | 7–11 PM | SEPCO per-unit price |
| QESCO | Quetta, Balochistan | 7–11 PM | QESCO per-unit price |
| TESCO | Ex-FATA districts | 7–11 PM | TESCO per-unit price |
| K-Electric | Karachi | 6:30–10:30 PM | K-Electric per-unit price |
People often search “WAPDA peak hours” — technically WAPDA hasn’t billed consumers for years; the DISCOs above do. The habit survives, the answer is the same table.
Peak Hours and Solar Net Metering
If you have net metering, the TOU meter cuts both ways. Your solar exports happen in daylight — off-peak by definition — so they build off-peak credits. Meanwhile the units you import at 8 PM, after the panels stop, are billed at the Rs 46.85 peak rate. Peak imports and off-peak exports don’t cancel rupee-for-rupee.
Practical consequences:
- Without batteries, your evening peak consumption is fully exposed to peak pricing. Shifting load into your solar generation window (running the pump and washing machine at noon) is worth more to you than to a non-solar household.
- With batteries, discharging between 7 and 11 PM offsets your most expensive units first — that four-hour window is where storage pays back fastest.
Settlement rules, buyback rates and the 2026 policy changes are covered in detail in our net metering guide.
Why Peak Hours Made Headlines This Year
In 2026 the evening peak became a policy problem as well as a billing one. In April, the Power Division announced a “peak relief” plan: roughly 2.25 hours of scheduled supply suspension during the evening peak, to avert a tariff increase of around Rs 3 per unit after imported fuel prices spiked. Evening demand (roughly 5 PM to 1 AM) is met by the most expensive generation on the grid, as Arab News reported on 14 April 2026. Whatever you think of the policy, the logic is the same one behind TOU pricing: the 7–11 PM window is when electricity costs the system the most, so that’s when your usage is priced — or curtailed — hardest.
FAQs
How do I know if my connection is on a TOU meter?
Check the units section of your bill. A TOU bill splits consumption into two rows — peak units and off-peak units — each multiplied by its own rate. If you see a single consumption figure billed on slabs, you’re not on TOU. Connections with sanctioned load of 5 kW or more are billed on TOU compulsorily.
Do peak hours apply on Sundays and public holidays?
Yes. The NEPRA schedule of tariff defines peak timing by season only — there is no weekend, Eid or public-holiday exemption. Your meter charges the peak rate from 7 to 11 PM in summer regardless of the day.
My meter is single-phase. Do peak hours change my bill?
No. Single-phase connections under 5 kW are billed on consumption slabs at one rate for all hours, so running appliances at 9 PM costs the same as at 9 AM. Peak-hour discipline still helps reduce load-shedding, but it won’t change your rate unless you switch to a TOU meter.
Do peak-hour timings change during Ramadan?
No separate Ramadan schedule exists in the tariff. The seasonal windows apply as normal — the only adjustment the schedule mentions is for daylight-saving time, which Pakistan does not currently observe.
Can I get a TOU meter if my sanctioned load is under 5 kW?
Yes, the schedule of tariff allows smaller consumers to opt in voluntarily through their DISCO. Whether it pays off depends on your habits: TOU has no slab benefit, so it suits households that can genuinely push heavy usage into off-peak hours.
How are peak units recorded on a digital meter?
TOU meters keep separate internal registers for each rate period — commonly displayed as T1 (peak) and T2 (off-peak) as the meter’s screen cycles through readings. The meter’s clock assigns every unit to the correct register automatically; the DISCO reads both at billing time.
Does having solar panels protect me from peak rates?
Only partially. Panels generate in daylight, which is off-peak, so exports earn off-peak credits — but after sunset you draw from the grid at the peak rate like everyone else. Battery storage discharged between 7 and 11 PM is the only way to directly offset peak-priced units.
Check What Peak Hours Are Doing to Your Bill
The fastest way to see your own peak/off-peak split is your latest bill — both unit counts are printed on it. Pull a free copy in seconds: LESCO duplicate bill for Lahore, K-Electric duplicate bill for Karachi, or pick any company from the all-DISCOs hub. Check this month’s split, move two appliances out of the window, and compare next month’s bill — the Rs 12.32 per unit adds up faster than you’d think.