The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) the other day submitted its budget proposals for 2013-2014 to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission(SERC), recommending tariff revision for all categories of consumers including the 86.85-lakh strong domestic category.
In its Aggregate Revenue Requirement and Expected Revenue from Charges (ARR&ERC) petition for 2013-14, the KSEB has pegged the revenue gap at Rs 2,758.67 crore and has requested the Commission to allow it to recover part of the projected gap - Rs 1,573.54 crore - through tariff hike. Tariffs were fixed anew only last July after a 10-year gap. As per the Commission order then, it would be in effect until March 31. It is in this context that the KSEB has submitted fresh proposals.
The Commission will decide on the KSEB proposals after public hearings.
The power utility has proposed that the telescopic system of tariff for domestic consumers should be scrapped since it does not provide ‘any incentive for reducing energy usage.’
Instead, a non-telescopic system has been proposed which, if allowed, could see the domestic tariff shoot up.
A non-telescopic tariff means consumers will have to pay the higher rate for the entire consumption if consumption goes into the higher slab bracket. “However in order to avoid tariff shock, slab rate proposed is much less than the existing slab rate at telescopic tariff system,” the KSEB has stated in its petition.
Another recommendation is to hike the fixed charge collected from domestic consumers from Rs 20 to Rs 25 for single phase connections and from Rs 60 to Rs 75 for three-phase connections.
If the Commission approves the KSEB proposals per se, the average tariff for domestic category will rise from Rs 2.60 to Rs 3.41. The KSEB proposes to provide 3.5 lakh new service connections during 2013-14 and plans to extend Time-of-Day (ToD) billing to consumers with consumption of over 300 units a month during the fiscal.
According to the proposals, energy charges for colonies should be hiked from Rs 6.5 to Rs 7.15; for agriculture from Rs 1.50 to Rs 2; for LT VI(A) and LT VI (B) to Rs 6 (up to 500 units) and to Rs 7 (above 500 units).
The new energy charge proposed for EHT-66 kV, 110 KV and 220 KV is Rs 4.75.
It was Rs 4 earlier.
Through a tariff revision, the KSEB hopes to raise an additional revenue of Rs 736.83 crore.