BHUBANESWAR: Electricity consumers in the State are paying 39.35 paise more per unit of power they consume, thanks to the ‘generosity’ shown by Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to the four Tata Power-owned distribution companies. The Commission has facilitated the largesse to the distribution companies (discoms) by not taking into account a whopping Rs 914.21 crore - non-tariff income of Rs 564.21 crore and provisional surplus of Rs 350 crore - during determination of tariff for 2022-23.
The Commission has kept the Rs 914.21 crore outside the purview of the tariff while determining the average cost of supply per unit (587.77 paise) and average tariff per unit for EHT (654.61 paise), HT (640.36 paise) and LT category (487.44 paise) for the current fiscal. “Had this amount been taken into consideration while approving the aggregate revenue requirement and tariff determination, the benefit could have been transferred to the consumers through lower tariff,” said power analyst Ananda Mohapatra.
Earlier, The New Indian Express had reported how erroneous methods applied by OERC for determination of average tariff for different categories of consumers has cost the industrial consumers an additional Rs 1,090 crore in 2020-21 and about Rs 1,200 crore in 2021-22. The discoms have been billing higher tariff to the EHT and HT consumers than the average tariff determined and approved by OERC in the past few years.
OERC is mandated under the provisions of the Electricity Act to determine the cost-based tariff on a realistic and prudent basis in which the net annual cost of discoms estimated for the ensuing year determines the average tariff based on which the retail supply tariff is notified for the individual consumers.
Tariff orders issued by the OERC for the current financial year clearly reveal that it does not want to make tariff competitive.As a result, there is no growth in the energy consumption in the State and power intensive industries are sourcing cheaper power from captive generation or from outside.
As the Commission is passing higher costs in the proceeding to approve the ARR and determine tariff for the utilities, the distribution licensees have nothing to complain as they are getting the benefits without asking, Mohapatra added.For example, the four discoms had proposed Rs 9,291 crore towards power purchase cost but the Commission approved Rs 10,045 crore for 2022-23.