THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Power consumers have started coming to the forefront against yearly power tariff hikes. At a recent hearing by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission held at Kozhikode, 1500 power consumers expressed their displeasure against the authority’s action. The KSEB has to bring in more hydel projects if the power tariff has to be maintained.
The KSEB had given a 100-plus page proposal to the KSERC to increase power tariff for the next five years, until 2027. Apart from Kozhikode, the KSERC had already held public hearings in Palakkad and Ernakulam. The regulatory commission officials were caught unawares when scores of power consumers gathered at the hearing held at Kozhikode.
A social media campaign has also been there against power tariff hike which saw them gathering at the Nalanda Tourist Home hearing at Kozhikode. A KSEB official told TNIE that the authorities had to shift the venue at the last moment due to the large number of people who gathered there to raise their displeasure against the power tariff being hiked. They have also decided to hold a public hearing in Thiruvananthapuram at Priyadarshini Planetarium Conference Hall on Wednesday at 11am.
A KSEB official said the main proposals submitted by the power entity include having a special summer tariff at 10 paise per unit for consumption from January to May 2025. This has been envisaged so as to meet the rise in demand for power during the peak summer season. “The proposal by KSEB also includes having different power rates for selected categories for peak hours and non-peak hours. The KSEB is keen to get a 30 paise hike in power tariff all-round the year for 2024-25 fiscal year,” said a KSEB official.
Currently, the KSEB is generating only 30% power through hydel projects where the rates are comparatively less at 30-35 paise per unit. With hydel energy being seen as green energy, the demand to produce it has been going on for the last several years. A senior KSEB official said neither the hydel production is going up nor allowing them to procure power from outside. “The drawback of purchasing power from power exchanges is that it costs over Rs 10 per unit of power. We need to increase the internal generation of hydel power,” the official said.