Power tariff set to hike in Telangana
HYDERABAD: Power consumers in the state might have to face a tarrif hike in the coming months. The hike might come into force in April next year if the Discoms have their way with the government.
Thanks to bifurcation of the state, consumers did not get a tariff shock this year but a hike is likely next year.
The newly-constituted Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) has asked the two Telangana Discoms, TSNPDCL and TSSPDCL, to submit their aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) before December 15.
Though the Discoms wanted the ERC to give them time till December 24 to submit their reports, the ERC wanted the reports by December 15.
'We have not received any official communication from TSERC but are prepared to submit ARR before December 15,' said a top functionary in TSSPDCL.
Every year, Discoms file ARRs to fix retail power tariff. The ERC will conduct public hearing and decide the tariff.
However, in 2014 there was no tariff hike. The ARRs were filed in the combined AP by the four Discoms. The ERC could not conduct public hearing due to model code of conduct for elections to local bodies.
Recently, the Telangana government has constituted its own ERC which asked the Discoms to file the ARRs before December 15.
After a gap of one year, domestic and industrial consumers are going to face a steep power tariff hike. 'There will be hike in power charges,' confirmed an official in TSSPDCL.
'We are on the job of preparing the ARRs. There is a steep hike in fuel cost. Without increasing the power tariff for retail consumers, the Discoms would not get required revenue,' an official said.
The revised pay scale for employees and pensioners is also causing financial burden on Discoms. To meet the additional expenditure, especially the fuel cost, the increase in tariff for retail consumers is inevitable, sources said.
However, the increase in tariff would be decided by the ERC taking after the power subsidy to be borne by the state government into consideration.
Once the Discoms file ARRs, the ERC will conduct public hearing and the new tariff will come into force from April 2015.
News Posted: 29 November, 2014
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