TIRUPATI: Giving a huge relief to power consumers, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has released the retail supply tariff order for the financial year 2025-26 without any hikes. The State government has also agreed to fill the revenue gap of Rs 12,632 crore without burdening power consumers further.
APERC Incharge Chairman Thakur Rama Singh and member P Venkata Ramana Reddy and APSPDCL CMD K Santhosha Rao, APCPDCL CMD AKV Bhaskar, APEPDCL CMD I Prudhvi Tej and APERC Secretary P Krishna released the retail power tariff order at the SPDCL corporate office in the temple town on Thursday.
APERC has approved the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) as Rs 57,544.17 crore for the three Discoms, which is Rs 1,324.35 crore less than the Discoms’ filings. The approved total revenue is Rs 44,323.30 crore, slightly higher than the Discoms’ filings of Rs 44,185.27 crore. APERC has approved a revenue gap of Rs 12,632.40 crore, which is Rs 2,050.86 crore less than the Discoms’ filings of Rs 14,683.26 crore. As the subsidy, the State government has given its consent to fill the entire revenue gap of Rs 12,632.40 crore avoiding any tariff hike for all consumers.
50% subsidy scheme on additional load regularisation for domestic users
The subsidy covers provision of concession/free power to specific consumer categories, including agricultural consumers, horticultural nurseries, washermen, aquaculture farmers and Scheduled Caste/Tribe households. APERC has given its nod to APGENCO to procure imported coal to ensure its full generation capacity, and reduce Discoms’ dependence on market purchases.
APERC has approved the new policy to implement Time of Day (ToD) Tariff to LT industrial and commercial consumers on par with HT consumers to enhance demand-side management. This type of tariff was available only to HT consumers earlier. Middle class and lower middle class people, who are constructing or repairing their houses, will be charged domestic tariff instead of commercial tariff henceforth.
The new tariff for domestic house construction will apply from April 1, 2025. Moreover, standby tariff is now applicable to all open-access users, not just green energy open access users. In addition, EV charging stations with a connected load of up to 150 KW will be supplied power at the LT voltage level, and tariff will be charged at Rs 6.70 per unit without demand charges. APERC has approved a scheme to regularise additional loads for domestic consumers by paying only 50% of development charges. The scheme runs from March 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025. And consumers can voluntarily declare additional load via an online window. Discoms will regularise additional load, and collect 50% of development charges. In this regard, APERC directed that Discoms collect security deposit for additional load. It clearly mentioned that the scheme is a one-time opportunity, and will not be extended. Discoms must widely publicise the scheme.
