Several micro industries in Coimbatore, especially those with less than 12 KW connected load, received higher electricity bill this month.
For industries that are demanding tariff change from tariff category LT IIIB to LT III A (1) and reduction in fixed charges, the hike now was a shock.
A unit that was paying ₹8,000 as bimonthly charges received a bill for ₹14,000 this month, pointed out one of the micro unit owners. The reason: the power factor was not at the prescribed level of 0.85 and hence, the units need to pay a penalty.
Maintaining power factor at the prescribed level was not mandatory for micro units with 12 KW or lesser connected load, say J. James, president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) and A. Sivakumar, president of Coimbatore and Tiruppur District Micro and Cottage Entrepreneurs Association.
However, when tariff revision order was issued last month, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) removed the connected load limit for the power factor maintenance. Hence, the higher electricity bill came as a shock, says the micro unit owner.
“The Tangedco should have created awareness among the micro units that they should instal capacitors to maintain the power factor. The problem is especially for industries in rental buildings because they will have sub meters and the connected load for the building, that will have multiple micro units operating in it, may be higher than 12 KW,” says Mr. Sivakumar.
According to Mr. James, the industries are burdened with high power costs and this is not the right time to levy penalty on micro units. The Tangedco had not revised the tariff classification for most of the units and was now levying penalty for power factor. It should reimburse the penalty collected, he demanded.
Industry sources say that the micro units need to be made aware of monitoring power factor and installing capacitors before the Tangedco collects penalty. Further, the units should have been informed of the mandatory power factor limit. The Tangedco should suspend collection of penalty till the awareness improves among these units, they say.
Published - September 05, 2024 07:26 pm IST
