Regulatory commission proposes Kerala power tariff hike 

In a first-of-its-kind move, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission has, of its own accord, issued recommendations for hiking power tariffs in the state for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial year
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a first-of-its-kind move, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission has, of its own accord, issued recommendations for hiking power tariffs in the state for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial years.  

The commission, headed by T M Manoharan, has proposed a hike for the domestic category in the range of 10 paise and 50 paise per unit. No hike is proposed for BPL consumers with connected load of upto 1000 watts provided the monthly consumption stays within 40 units. In view of the crisis in agriculture, the sector has been exempted. 


Seven public hearings will be held across the State on the recommendations in order to finalise the tariffs, the commission said. The power regulator had suo motu launched measures to determine power tariff some months ago after the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) failed to submit proposals on time.

Normally, the KSEB submits proposals, and the commission finalises a decision based on its assessments and public hearings.The commission also proposes a hike for the following categories: LT (Industrial); LT VI (E) which is applicable to political parties, sports clubs, public lighting and traffic signals; HT 1 (A) industrial; HT 1 (B) IT industry; HT II (a) general and HT (V) domestic. In the Extra High Tension categories, a hike is proposed for the 66 KV, 110 KV and railway traction in addition to licensees of the KSEB.


Why the hike?
The present tariffs were fixed in 2014. By hiking tariff, the commission proposes to recover Rs 163 crore in the remaining months of  2016-17 and Rs 633 crore during 2017-18 for partially filling revenue deficit faced by the KSEB. Further, there is disparity between cost of supply and tariffs, the commission argues.  “The average domestic tariff is Rs 2.36 per unit. The average agricultural tariff is Rs 2.39 per unit. It can be seen that the present tariffs of the domestic and agriculture categories are highly subsidised and therefore the tariffs applicable to them have to be progressively increased,” the commission noted. There is also scope for slightly increasing industrial tariffs as they are below 120 pc of the average supply cost.

Telescopic, non-telescopic tariffs 

Non-telescopic’ tariff - which means the consumer pays the same rate for every unit consumed - above 250 units is as follows: the rates for consumption up to 300 units is to be hiked from Rs 5 to Rs 5.50 per unit. For consumption up to 350 units, the rate is to be increased from Rs 5.70 to Rs 6.20, and from Rs 6.10 to Rs 6.50 for up to 400 units. For consumption upto 500 units (Rs 6.70) and for that above 500 units (Rs 7.10), the commission has not proposed any change. For the domestic consumers, the commission also proposes to hike the monthly fixed charges on single phase connections from  Rs 20 to Rs 30 and for three phase connections, from Rs 60 to Rs 80.
 

‘Telescopic’ tariffs - where the rate goes up in stages or slabs - are to be hiked from present Rs 2.80 per unit to Rs 2.90 for the first 50 units. The commission has proposed a hike from Rs 3.20 to Rs 3.50 per unit for 51 to 100 units; from Rs 4.20 to Rs 4.50 for 101 to 150 units; from Rs 5.80 to Rs 6.10 for 151 to 200 units and from Rs 7 to Rs 7.30 for 201 to 250 units. 

Exemptions 
No hike proposed for 15 LT, HT and EHT categories. They include categories covering government institutions including hospitals and colleges, private hospitals and self-financing institutions and cinemas and the LT VII (A) commercial category. EHT 220 KV, EHT general and EHT commercial also have been exempted on the grounds that their existing tariffs are above 120 per cent of the cost of power supply.

Public hearings
Seven public hearings will be held across the state on the recommendations in order to finalise the tariffs, the commission said. 

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