Debt-free discoms may not resort to tariff hike

Their efficiencies have been improved to global standards: APERC chief

Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) Chairman Justice G. Bhavani Prasad has expressed the confidence that the eastern and southern power distribution companies will not resort to tariff hike next year. It is because both the discoms are debt-free and their efficiencies have improved to global standards.

Mr. Justice Bhavani Prasad told the media here on Friday that the APERC approved only a four per cent tariff hike for just eight per cent of the consumers in the first year after bifurcation. In the subsequent year, the hike affected only 3.6 per cent of the consumers, leaving the remaining 96.4 per cent untouched.

While saying that he cannot predict whether the discoms would come up with proposals for tariff hike in 2017-18, which depended on their operational performance, Mr. Justice Prasad said that the commission was able to balance the burgeoning costs of the public sector power utilities with consumer aspirations.

EPDCL distinction

The distribution losses of Visakhapatnam-based APEPDCL, for instance, stood at 4.79 per cent last year, which was the lowest in the country and matched the global average of five per cent (approximate). Gujarat stood second with a loss of nine per cent.

SPDCL was also fast catching up with the best Discoms in the country.

The loss incurred by the two discoms (Rs.13,000 crore) was covered by the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana, he said.

The distribution companies are mandated to recover the investments made by them in Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (DELP) and other such schemes in the form of energy savings. The remaining portion of the subsidy burden is borne by the Central and the State governments.

Mr. Justice Bhavani Prasad further said that the Discoms were encouraged to comply with the norms laid under the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, whose aim was to reduce specific energy consumption in energy-intensive industries. There would be rewards in it for any exemplary work done by the discoms and disincentives for falling short of the targets, he observed.

He said that the commission’s State Advisory Committee meeting held in the city on Friday discussed the PAT-II cycle and the mechanism of Renewable Energy Certificates.

APERC members P. Raghu and P. Ram Mohan, State government’s Energy Advisor K. Ranganatham, APGenco MD and Transco Chairman K. Vijayanand, SPDCL CMD H.Y. Dora and Milind Deora, Energy Economist at the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, were among those present.