Punjab raises power tariff, will hold rate for industry at Rs5/unit

CHANDIGARH: Power tariffs are set to rise in Punjab with the regulator Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission announcing a 9.33 percent hike in electricity rates for the financial year 2017-18. The hike will be implemented with effect from 1 April this year. [caption id=“attachment_4127933” align=“alignleft” width=“300”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] However, the increase in electricity charges will be recovered from consumers in installments over a period of nine months, said PSERC Chairperson Kusumjit Sidhu. Sidhu said the consolidated gap of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. has worked out at Rs 2,522.62 crore, as against power utility’s proposal of Rs 11,575.53 crore. “To cover this revenue gap for the financial year 2017-18, an overall increase of 9.33 percent is required over the existing tariff,” said Sidhu while announcing the multi-year tariff for the year FY18 to FY20. Under the multi-year tariff regime, which has been announced for the first time, the controllable and normative components of annual revenue requirement have been determined and fixed for the control period, she said. Only uncontrollable costs, specified in MYT regulations will be reviewed during annual performance review exercise. The hike in power tariff was announced after a gap of three years, Sindhu added. The Commission decided to introduce a two-part tariff structure in the new tariff order for all categories except for agriculture sector this year. The tariff structure envisages a fixed charge and a variable charge which has been adopted by almost all the states in line with national tariff policy. As per new tariff, the tariff for domestic consumers has been increased between 7 percent and 12 percent, she said. For the industrial sector, power tariff has been increased by 8.50 percent to 12 percent, while for the commercial category, electricity rates have been jacked up by 8 percent to 11 percent, the PSERC Chairperson said. The power regulator has also abolished the surcharge of 10 paise for the continuous process industry and the time of day tariff rebate for the industry has been increased from Rs 1 per kVAh to Rs 1.25 per kVAh. Time of day tariff has also been extended to NRS/bulk supply consumers. The power incentive will be effective from November, added Sindhu. The power subsidy burden for the year 2017-18 has been estimated at Rs 10,970 crore including free power to farmers and arrears of Rs 2,800 crore. But the subsidy burden does not include the subsidized power at the rate of Rs 5 per unit to industrial category, which has been announced by the Congress-led government in Punjab. The benefit of subsidised power at Rs 5 per unit to the industry was yet to be worked out, Sidhu said. Within two-part tariff structure, the Commission has decided to have a reduced variable energy charges for incremental consumption above the highest limit achieved in last two years. The total income from the new tariff for PSPCL has been worked out at Rs 28,910 crore, Rs 30,241 crore and Rs 31,739 crore for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively.