On Tuesday, the public hearing organised by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) for the traffic petition filed by Tangedco witnessed social activists speaking out angrily against the “poor management” of the utility’s finances and inadequate distribution infrastructure affecting power supply.
S. Gandhi, representing the Power Engineers’ Society of Tamilnadu (PESOT), came down heavily on power purchase agreements signed by Tangedco with private power producers. He said more than ₹7,000 crore has been paid to power producers as fixed charges for no power purchased.
Similarly, he said that when the power purchase agreement has been terminated, the ARR document shows fixed charges to be paid for financial years from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
Mr. Gandhi asked why an amount of ₹2,907 crore has been allotted when the Ennore thermal power station (TPS) had been ‘closed’.
The same argument could be cited for the ₹2,284 crore allotted for the Basin Bridge gas thermal power station, the ₹2,291 crore for North Chennai TPS, and an amount of ₹ 1,142 crore for NCTPS Stage 2.
V. Rama Rao, secretary, People Awareness Association, said the use of air-conditioners could not be termed a luxury and was a necessity. He wanted the commissioner to increase the highest slab rate to 750 units from 501 units for the bi-monthly billing cycle.
Mr. Rama Rao noted that with the coal price set to decrease after the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the benefits should be passed on to the consumers.
K. Kalyanasundaram, treasurer, TNEB Engineers Union, requested the TNERC to insert a new tariff clause called Low Tension (LT) Part Tariff for LTCT service consumers who have been sanctioned 112 KW tariff but use more than the sanctioned load.
By bringing the new tariff rate, Tangedco could earn more demand and energy charges, which would bring in more than ₹ 1,000 crore.
Mr. Kalyanasundaram wanted the commission to advise the electricity corporation to withdraw the free 100 units for those consuming more than 500 units, which would earn Tangedco more than ₹1,000 crore.
