BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) on Monday urged Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to approve its proposal for an average power generation tariff of 95.8 paise per unit for the ensuing financial year.
Estimating its annual revenue requirement (ARR) at Rs 536.73 crore, the State-run corporation requested for a hike of 8.07 paise per unit against the existing tariff of 87.73 paise per unit to recover the cost.
“The proposed tariff is based on capital expenditure to be made on three hydropower stations in the coming financial year,” OHPC Director (Finance) Pravakar Mohanty told mediapersons after the public hearing by OERC.
The OHPC demand was strongly opposed by retired chief engineers of erstwhile Orissa State Electricity Board RP Mohapatra and secretary of Upabhokta Mahasangha RC Satpathy.
Objecting to the tariff proposal of OHPC, Satpathy said the PSU has recently paid Rs 31.57 crore dividend to the State Government for 2018-19 fiscal.
“Why should a profit-making company ask for a hike in tariff when it has a fixed deposit of Rs 660 crore? Let OHPC utilise its fixed deposit in capital expenditure to lessen the burden on the consumers,” Satpathy argued.
Mohanty said the capital expenditure will add value to OHPC’s assets. Since the proposed expenditure will be made over a period of time, the company should not pass on the burden to the consumers.
Estimating its project cost of six units for tariff consideration at Rs 2,460.91 crore for the coming financial year, OHPC has proposed to add a new cost of Rs 804.86 crore.
The company has also proposed the Commission to approve Rs 346.17 crore towards operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses for 2020-21 for different power stations.
OHPC has projected to generate 5,602.6 million units of power during 2020-21 from its six power stations.
The commission, which started public hearing for determination of power tariff for bulk and retail supply, will take up the ARR and tariff application of Odisha Power Generation Corporation on Tuesday.