The Andhra Pradesh power distribution companies’ (Discoms) combined Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for the financial year 2023-24, as per their filings with the A.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC), stand at nearly ₹52,591 crore, but a sum of approximately ₹49,268 crore has been determined by the regulator.
The ARRs filed are as follows: southern Discom ₹20,871 crore, central Discom ₹12,141 crore, and eastern Discom ₹19,579.
The APERC-determined figures are ₹19,458 crore, ₹11,425 crore and ₹18,385 respectively.
An official release said that the difference of ₹3,323 crore was due to the APERC’s determination of sales, transmission and distribution losses, power purchase requirements and power purchase costs falling short of what has been estimated by the Discoms.
It was further stated that the APERC had, for the first time, made a Time-of-Day (ToD)-wise assessment of the demand and availabilities of generation to arrive at a realistic scenario of shortages and surplus, as consideration of the availability of generation at normative value had not been giving a proper picture with regard to the need for Discoms to purchase power from the markets.
The release said the APERC was strictly implementing Regulation No.1 of 2022 in regulating the short-term power purchases by the Discoms, which pegged their total revenue gap for the FY 2023-24 at ₹14,028 crore against ₹10,135 crore determined by the APERC.
The State government agreed to bridge the total revenue gap (which was determined by APERC) in the form of subsidy under Section 65 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
The above subsidy covers nine hours of free power supply to eligible farmers, concessions extended to various classes of consumers like SCs, STs, most backward classes and aqua farmers, and maintenance of uniform tariffs for the domestic consumers.
Since the revenue gap determined by the APERC was committed to be bridged by the government, there had been no tariff hike for any category / class of consumers, except for the energy-intensive industries.
The APERC, after duly taking the relevant objections and suggestions into account from various stakeholders, including representatives of a few political parties, allowed the introduction of demand charges of ₹475 per kVA per month for energy-intensive industries at par with HT industries (general).
Power loom consumers and flour mills up to 10 HP had been exempted from kVAH billing, and the option to exercise off-season was changed to two times from once a year.
The Discoms were directed to submit compliance reports related to improper alignment of items in the electricity bills within 30 days of the release of the present tariff order.
