BHUBANESWAR: All stakeholders except the State government opposed the proposal for a 30 per cent hike in bulk supply tariff for 2022-23, from the current average of 296.29 per unit to 385.21 paise per unit, during the hearing of the annual revenue requirement (ARR) and bulk supply rice (BSP) of Gridco here on Saturday.
The State government which has been doing a vanishing act during public hearing for determination of power tariff till last year urged the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to ensure that the commercial viability of Gridco is not compromised while passing the bulk supply tariff order.
“OERC was requested not to pass any orders that affect the commercial viability of @GridcoOdisha as the State’s long term energy security and development is dependent on the operational viability of Gridco,” the department tweeted after its submission.
The Energy department requested the Commission during the hearing not to increase retail tariff as proposed by Tata Power managed distribution companies (Discoms) for 2022-23. It urged the Commission to take into account the surplus revenue of Discoms during the current year.
The department further requested OERC to direct the Discoms to bring down the aggregated technical and commercial (AT&C) losses faster so that consumers get the benefit of low tariff. The government urged to do away with the rebate on intra-State transmission and wheeling charges on renewable energy energy that does not benefit industries at large.
In his submission, BJD MLA from Khandapara Soumya Ranjan Patnaik strongly opposed the Gridco applications saying the Electricity Act, 2003 does not provide scope to the State utility to file ARR for determination of tariff nor OERC is conferred with any powers/functions under provisions of the Act to admit the ARR.
Objecting to OERC’s approval for purchase of excess power than the actual requirement of Discoms in past years, Patnaik said excess approval of 3,180 MUs and 3,463 MUs in FY20 and FY21 respectively increased the retail supply tariff by 60 P/U and 65 P/U.
Citing a report published in The New Indian Express on October 14, 2021, the BJD lawmaker said Gridco incurred huge losses in the sale deal with Vedanta for trading the surplus power without taking into consideration the high market clearing price (MCP) of Power Exchange. This needs immediate attention of the Commission and the State government in the proceedings.
Gridco submitted that the State government has taken up de-allocation of the power purchase agreements with Central thermal power plants, where the cost of power is high, to ensure that consumers in Odisha get uninterrupted supply at affordable power tariff, with the Centre.