Hyderabad: Sparing all categories of power consumers from a hike in energy charges, the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TGERC) allowed a nominal 30 crore burden on consumers, specifically towards fixed charges for those who consume more than 800 units a month. The commission also approved the enhancement of incentives to industries that consume power between 10 pm and 6 am (non-peak hours) by offering 1 to 1.5 per unit.
The Telangana discoms, Southern Power Distribution Company and Northern Power Distribution Companies, submitted proposals for aggregate revenue requirements (ARR) to the commission last month, seeking approval for 57,728 crore for the year 2024-2025. However, the TGERC approved 54,183 crore, considering all aspects of power consumption and revenue requirements. Earlier this month, the commission held public hearings at various locations and gathered opinions from various stakeholders. The new fixed charges will come into effect from November 1.
“The discoms claimed the revenue gap is about 13,022 crore, but the commission approved only 11,156 crore. The state govt communicated to the commission that it would provide a subsidy of 11,499 crore for the year 2024-25, which is an increase of 2,374 crore (26%) compared to the previous year 2023-24,” T Sriranga Rao, Chairman of TGERC, told TOI.
Both Southern and Northern discoms sought an increase in fixed charges from 10 to 50 a month for consumers using more than 300 units a month. However, the TGERC allowed this for consumers using above 800 units a month. Fixed charges for lift irrigation were increased from 275 to 300 a month.
Similarly, townships and residential colonies saw an increase in fixed charges from the existing 260 to 285. The discoms had requested 300 a month. The commission rejected increases in fixed charges and energy charges for high-tension consumers, airports, and bus stations.
“For non-domestic and commercial users in low-tension, there was a reduction in fixed charges from 60 per KW to 30 per KW for consumption up to 50 units, and the monthly minimum energy charge was reduced from 65 to 50 per month for single-phase supply and from 200 to 100 per month for three-phase supply. For certain industrial consumers, there was an increase in the upper limit of connected load for mushroom production units and rabbit farms from 10 HP to 25 HP,” the chairman said. Similarly, the upper limit of connected load for sheep farming, goat farming, and dairy farming activities increased from 15 HP to 25 HP.
TGERC reduced the fixed charges from 50 per KW to zero for EV charging stations to promote EV vehicles. “Since the power utilities have not been submitting the ARRs in time, the commission reduced the return on equity by 582 crore and asked them to adhere to timelines,” Sriranga Rao said.
