Power Tariff Proposals Have Little Whammies Too

Hyderabad: A hefty hike in tariff and a non-telescopic rate card are not the only whammies contained in the power discoms' tariff proposals, which are very likely to be given the green signal with effect from April 1. Several other hard-hitting decisions have been included in the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) submitted by the discoms to the AP Electricity Regulation Commission (APERC).  The commission placed the ARR in the public domain on Wednesday.
For instance, the penalty for late payment of bills will be hiked from Rs 25 to 45 from April onwards.
Similarly, the cost to serve (CoS) is likely to be increased considerably. In the tariff order for 2012-13, the average CoS approved by APERC was Rs 4.44 per unit. For the ensuing year, it has been estimated to spurt to Rs 5.61 per unit. The discoms' ARR states that "there has been a significant increase in the average CoS during the year and the licensee expects the trend to continue in the ensuing year. The licensee estimates the state-level CoS for 2013-14 to be at Rs 5.61 per unit."
In increasing the tariff burden on the consumer, the discoms cited the usual suspects: power purchase costs and network costs. The ARR says,  "he increase in CoS is due to an increase in both the power purchase cost and the network cost. The power purchase cost approved by APERC for 2012-13 was 3.10 per unit, whereas the licensee estimates the power purchase cost for 2013-14 will be Rs 4.07 per unit."
Interestingly, the discoms kept a door open to appease farmers in the runup to the next general election. In reference to the promise of nine hourse of free power supply to farmers, the discoms said, "The licensee would like to continue with the existing seven hours of power supply to agricultural consumers in 2013-14. The deficit situation is expected to continue in 2013-14 as per current estimates. However, the licensee may submit a supplementary filing to increase the number of hours of supply to agricultural consumers to nine hours during the course of 2013-14 as and when the power situation in the state improves."
The ARR packages the decision to introduce a non-telescopic system of billing as a device to encourage consumers to save power. The discoms said that "a non-telescopic tariff structure will encourage the consumer to consume less to avoid higher tariffs. In addition, the non-telescopic tariff structure would encourage consumers to adopt energy conservation."

GRAPHIC: Customer Charges
The discoms propose to hike the customer charges too

Slab (units)                       Customer Charge (Rs per month)
0-50                                    25
0-100                                  30
0-200                                  35
0-300                                  40
0-500                                  45
0- >500                              45

ends