Vijayawada: In a big relief, AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has accepted the tariff proposals without any revision for the 2025-26 financial year. There will be no power tariff increase in the next fiscal for any category as the state govt has agreed to take Rs 12,632 crore burden to fill the revenue gap.
APERC in-charge chairman Thakur Rama Singh released the retail tariff order on Thursday. Speaking to the media, Singh said that they have released the tariff order much before the schedule in March. “The commission cleared aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) of three discoms to the tune of ₹57,544.17 crore, which is ₹1,324.35 crore less than the Discoms’ filings. We have also approved total revenue at ₹44,323.30 crore, slightly higher than the discoms’ filings,” said Singh. He said that the state govt has come forward to take the revenue gap of ₹12,632.40 crore preventing tariff hikes for all consumer categories.
He said that subsidies providing concessions/free power to specific consumer categories, including agricultural consumers, horticultural nurseries, washermen, aquaculture farmers, Scheduled Caste/Tribe households would continue without any change. He said that APERC, for the first-time, determined energy dispatches hourly for a more realistic assessment of short-term power requirements. The commission had also permitted the state-owned GENCOs to procure imported coal and obtain coal through RSR mode to ensure full generation capacity and reduce discoms dependence on open markets.
The commission has also decided to fixed ToD tariffs for LT Industrial and commercial consumers (previously, they were only for HT consumers) to enhance demand-side management. “Individuals constructing or reconstructing their homes will be billed at the domestic tariff instead of the commercial tariff from April 1. Standby Tariffs now apply to all open-access users, not just green energy open access users,” said the APERC chairman. He said that EV charging stations with a connected load of up to 150 KW will be supplied power at the LT voltage level. The tariff for EVs remains unchanged at ₹6.70 per unit without demand charges.
