VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has disposed of the petitions filed by power distribution companies (Discoms) seeking approval for true-up charges and allowed APSPDCL and APEPDCL to claim only `3,013 crore as true-up charges as against the proposal to collect `19,603 crore between 2014-15 and 2018-19.
True-up claim is the expenditure incurred by the Discoms over and above the approved annual revenue requirement by the electricity regulatory commission due to variations in actual costs, and would be collected from consumers concerned.
“Total net true up claims allowed for both the Discoms are `3,013 crore only. Accordingly, the petitions (filed by the Discoms for years between 2014-15 and 2018-19) stand disposed of,” chairman of the commission Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy and members Thakur Rama Singh and P Raja Gopala Reddy said in their order dated November 26. The Discoms have only one way to claim the true-up charges and that is, from the consumers, sources added.
Though the commission arrived at the final true-up for all the years to be `4,939 crore, it deducted the additional agriculture subsidy already paid and the renewable energy certificate (REC) income of `1,926 crore and finalised the net true-up as `3,103 crore.
According to the petitions filed by the Discoms, true-up charges claims for the years 2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 stood at `861 crore, `11,144 crore, `3,257 crore and `4,342 crore, respectively. The Discoms, in the last few years, cited the deviations in cost of actual power procurement, fixed costs and variable costs, and carrying costs as reasons for the drastic change in actual costs as against the approved costs by the commission.
The commission held public hearings on the same and received several objections opposing the true-up charges, stating that the consumers can’t be burdened. A few objectors even alleged that the true-up claims were “suspicious” and urged the commission not to approve them. However, after thoroughly taking into all the factors as per the laid down rules, the commission approved `3,103 crore as true-up claims as against the Discoms’ claims of `19,603 crore. In the approved true-up claims, the commission rejected Discoms’ filings of 2014-15. For the remaining three years, the net claims were approved.