THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government on Thursday hiked power tariff by an average 20 paise per unit with retrospective effect from November 1. The revised tariff will be applicable until June 30 next year.
The KSEB had sought an average increase of 40 paise in this financial year and the next and go for another 20 paise and 5 paise hikes in the two years after that, increasing it by a total of Rs 1.05 over four years.
However, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) decided to approve a 20-paise hike. The KSEB had informed the commission that they were incurring a loss of Rs 720 crore in this fiscal year. The board would have hoped for a hike of at least 28 paise per unit.
The raised power tariff will not apply to consumers in BPL (Below Poverty Line) category who are using below 40 units of power a month and commercial connections in the IT sector. Geriatric homes, families of endosulfan victims and religious institutions have also been exempted.
KSEB is expecting Rs 531 crore as additional expense from the tariff hike. Currently there are 139.10 lakh power consumers in the state, including 105.5 lakh domestic consumers. Out of these, 99.1 lakh are single phase. The board has also allowed green tariff to consumers who voluntarily intend to purchase renewable energy power from KSEBL and other licensees.
EV Charging station fix rate raised by L10
The KSEB has raised fixed charge for electric vehicle charging stations by I10, taking it to I100. The charge earlier was I90 for either one kilowatt or for one month. The energy charge was not hiked due to the prominence of the charging stations. At present, the energy charge per unit is I5.50.