PALAKKAD/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hinting at a hike in power tariff, Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty said on Tuesday that the state is currently depending on power purchased from outside as the water level in reservoirs has dipped alarmingly following a weak monsoon.
“Only 30 per cent of water remains in the dams in the state. Electricity consumption has increased due to the rise in temperature. Currently, KSEB is purchasing power from outside spending Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore daily,” the minister told reporters in Palakkad.
“The tariff hike depends on how much power we will be purchasing. The tariff will be finalised by the regulatory commission,” he said.
A meeting of the State Electricity Board on Wednesday is expected to discuss new power purchases.
Meanwhile, Congress-affiliated Kerala Electricity Officers’ Confederation alleged that a recent decision by the power regulatory commission to cancel a power-purchase agreement (PPA) with a multi-national power company has led to the current situation. As per the agreement, the state would have got 456-megawatt power at Rs 3.96 - Rs 4.26 per unit. The cancellation of the agreement has forced the board to give a compensation of Rs 2 per unit to the power company.
With the cancellation of the PPA, the state will have to buy power at a rate between Rs 5.42 - Rs 5.46 per unit from the same MNC. This way the board will face a loss of Rs 2. 50 crore to Rs 3 crore per day. The consumers will have to face this liability for a year at least.
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Sources said the state was able to survive without load shedding since 2016, due to this particular PPA. Now the board has submitted a proposal for a short-term power purchase contract of 250 megawatts before the regulatory commission. The KSEB has already called for tenders and the deadline is September 4.
However, the board is unlikely to get power at less than Rs 5.50 per unit, they said.
“With the PPA cancelled, the KSEB had to pay compensation. Now we need to purchase additional power because the demand is very high. Currently, only this same MNC has surplus power. They are in an advantageous position,” Congress state general secretary Tomy Kallani told TNIE.
The HC recently temporarily stayed the power tariff hike in the state after high-tension consumers approached it with a plea. The case will come up before the HC on Wednesday. If the stay is vacated, the regulatory commission can come out with a new tariff hike.
