Domestic users to pay more for power in Chandigarh
Dushyant Singh Pundir
Chandigarh, July 13
Domestic power consumers in the UT will have to shell out more as the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has approved an increase of 25 paisa in retail tariff up to 150 kWh (kilowatt-hour) per month. The revised tariff will be applicable retrospectively from April 1.
The commission has also approved a hike of Rs 5 in fixed charges per month for all categories of domestic consumers and low-tension (LT) commercial consumers up to 400 units. There is no change in tariff for the industry.
On a petition filed by the UT Electricity Department, the JERC, in an order, observed: “The petitioner had a standalone revenue surplus in each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20. Further, the projected standalone surplus for 2022-23 and cumulative revenue surplus till 2022-23 at existing tariff is expected to be Rs 2.63 crore and Rs 275.26 crore, respectively.” Accordingly, the commission rationalised the tariff for 2022-23.
In view of the standalone revenue surplus, the commission approved rationalisation in the retail tariff for existing categories. Even after the changes, the projected standalone revenue surplus at the end of 2022-23 is expected to be Rs 1.53 crore and net reduction of tariff will be around 1 per cent, stated the commission.
On account of cumulative revenue surplus in 2022-23, the commission directed the Electricity Department not to recover the fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) from all consumer categories April 1, 2022, onwards till further directions of the commission.
However, the department has been directed to submit the quarterly FPPCA calculation to the commission for a review. The commission has also approved the average billing rate (ABR) of Rs 5.18/kWh against the approved average cost of supply (ACoS) of Rs 5.17/kWh.
In the domestic category, the new rate will be Rs 2.75 in the slab of 0-150 units, whereas the rates in other slabs will remain the same at Rs 4.25 in the 151-400 units slab; and Rs 4.65 per unit in the above 400 units slab.
In the commercial category, there are no changes in the rates. The exiting rate is Rs 4.50 per unit for 0-150 units; Rs 4.70 for 151-400 units and Rs 5 in the above 400 units slab.
However, the commission provided some relief to the high-tension (HT) commercial consumers, as the retail rate has been reduced from Rs 4.70 per unit to Rs 4.50 per unit.
Providing further relief to bulk supply consumers, the commission has approved reduction in fixed charges from Rs 200 per month to Rs 150 per month and also reduced the rate per unit from Rs 4.40 per unit to Rs 4.20 per unit.
To promote the use of electric vehicles (EV), the tariff for EV charging stations will remain the same at Rs 3.60 per kWh.
The last increase in the domestic and commercial electricity tariff was effected in 2018-2019. The UT has projected nearly 2.38 lakh consumers, including 2.04 lakh domestic and 28,521 non-domestic for 2022-23.
