MEPCO Peak Hours — Timings, TOU Rates & Saving Tips
Peak hours are a four-hour evening window when electricity costs more — but only for homes on time-of-use (TOU) meters. Here are the current seasonal timings, the 2026 peak and off-peak rates, and how to tell whether peak pricing affects your bill at all.
What are peak hours?
Demand for electricity is not flat through the day. It surges in the evening, when families come home, lights and fans go on, cooking starts and air conditioners run together. To reflect that pressure on the system, NEPRA's tariff includes time-of-use (TOU) pricing for larger connections: the day is split into a short peak period — just four hours in the evening — and the remaining twenty off-peak hours. Units consumed in the peak window are charged at a higher rate; everything outside it is cheaper.
The idea is simple: if heavy work such as pumping water, ironing or running the washing machine can be moved out of those four hours, the grid breathes easier in the evening, and the consumer who shifts is rewarded with a lower per-unit price.
Current peak-hour timings
The peak window is always four hours, but it slides through the year because sunset and evening demand come earlier in winter and later in summer:
| Months | Peak hours | Off-peak hours |
|---|---|---|
| December – February | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM | All other 20 hours |
| March – May | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | All other 20 hours |
| June – August | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM | All other 20 hours |
| September – November | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | All other 20 hours |
The window applies seven days a week — there is no separate weekend or holiday timing. So right now, in November, the peak window is 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM; from December it moves an hour earlier, to 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
These are the windows notified in NEPRA's tariff terms & conditions for MEPCO and the other ex-WAPDA companies; NEPRA can revise them, so treat this page as a guide and check nepra.org.pk for the latest determination.
Do peak hours apply to you?
Peak pricing is tied to the meter, not to the clock on your wall. You are on time-of-use billing if:
- Your sanctioned load is 5 kW or more — larger homes with three-phase supply are put on TOU metering.
- Your meter is a three-phase TOU meter that records consumption in two separate registers instead of one.
- The tariff code printed on your bill ends with the letter T — for example A-1b(03)T. If you are unsure where to look, our guide on how to read your MEPCO bill shows exactly where the tariff code, sanctioned load and readings appear.
On a TOU meter, the two registers — often labelled T1 and T2 on the meter display — are simply two counters. One counts the units you use during the peak window and the other counts the units you use outside it. Your bill takes the readings from both counters and charges each at its own rate, so the bill shows a peak-units line and an off-peak-units line instead of a single slab line.
If none of the above matches your connection — a typical single-phase home below 5 kW — you are on the normal slab tariff. Your rate depends only on how many units you use in the month, never on the hour, and the timings table on this page does not change your bill by a single rupee.
What peak units cost
Under the current notified tariff (S.R.O. 279(I)/2026), the TOU rates are:
| Period | Rate (Rs / unit) |
|---|---|
| Peak hours (4 hours each evening) | 46.85 |
| Off-peak hours (the other 20 hours) | 34.53 |
| Difference per unit | 12.32 |
Base energy rates from S.R.O. 279(I)/2026. FPA, GST and other government charges come on top — see the full schedule on the tariff page.
A small worked example
Suppose a TOU home moves 50 units a month — the water motor, ironing and laundry — out of the evening window. Each shifted unit saves Rs 46.85 − Rs 34.53 = Rs 12.32, so 50 units save about Rs 616 a month before taxes. That is roughly Rs 7,400 over a year, earned by changing nothing except when the same work is done. Heavier users who can shift 100 units a month save about double that.
How to shift your usage
You do not need new appliances — just move the heavy, flexible jobs out of the four-hour window:
- Water motor: fill the overhead tank before the window starts or after it ends. A simple timer switch on the motor makes this automatic.
- Iron and washing machine: batch them for the morning or late night instead of early evening, when they usually clash with everything else switching on.
- Pre-cool in summer: run the AC harder in the late afternoon, then raise the setpoint a degree or two during the window — a well-sealed room holds its cool for a long time, and a ceiling fan covers the difference.
- AC discipline during the 4 hours: if the AC must run, keep it at 26–27°C rather than 22°C, and avoid starting a second AC inside the window.
- Charge and heat outside the window: geysers on timers, and any battery charging, belong in off-peak hours too.
For habits that cut your total units at every hour — not just the expensive ones — see our electricity saving tips.
If you are on a normal slab meter
Then you can relax about the clock. Peak and off-peak timings do not apply to your bill at all; what decides your total is how many units you use in the whole month and which slab that total lands in. Your saving lever is reducing monthly units — especially keeping an unprotected home from crossing into a higher slab. Put your expected units into the bill calculator to see what your month looks like at different usage levels.
Official sources
The timings and rates on this page follow NEPRA's tariff terms & conditions for the ex-WAPDA distribution companies and the tariff notified in S.R.O. 279(I)/2026. For the latest determination, visit the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (nepra.org.pk).