BHUBANESWAR: The determination of bulk supply tariff for Grid Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Gridco) for 2021-22 without taking into account the revenue generated from sale of inadvertent power has increased the retail supply tariff (RST) by more than 20 paise per unit.
The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has been ignoring suggestions from stakeholders particularly consumer groups during a public hearing for tariff determination to account for the non-tariff income from sale of inadvertent power in the aggregated revenue requirement (ARR).
This is despite repeated disclosure of details of the year-wise injection of inadvertent power by the Captive Generating Plants (CGPs) into the State grid of OPTCL. Besides, Gridco has cited the injection of inadvertent power by the CGPs into the State grid in its annual report filed before OERC. The report admitted that the ‘no cost’ power has been sold to distribution companies. However, the revenue from the sale of inadvertent power to discoms is never reflected in the ARR and annual accounts of Gridco, said Ananda Mohapatra, who had moved OERC seeking revision of the tariff orders.
On the other hand, OPTCL has disclosed in the ARRs that CGPs have injected inadvertent power into the State grid for 1,769 mega unit (MU) in FY-2020, 1,338 MU in FY-2019, 1,530 MU in FY-2018, 1,705 MU in FY-2017 and 1,409 MU in FY-2016.
Taking the average inadvertent power per annum at 1,550 MU, the annual revenue from this non-tariff income is around Rs 446 crore. Had this income taken into consideration, there was absolutely no need to go for power tariff hike, Mohapatra said.
Inadvertent power is electricity injected into the State grid by the CGPs without consent, schedule and approval of OPTCL and the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC). The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity said, “It is ‘no cost’ power and the same is subject to imposition of regulated penalty for violation of the grid discipline.”
“The regulatory authority cannot restrict the CGPs to inject inadvertent power into the State grid due to two reasons. Firstly, denying CGPs to inject inadvertent power means to disconnect the CGPs from the State grid which is not possible because the CGPs cannot run in high risked standalone mode. Secondly, the robust State grid is operated in such a manner that it is able to absorb the jerks and shocks of CGPs’ inadvertent power,” Mohapatra added.