Power bills will see a rise for the next six months — July to December — as the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) recently approved the request of various ESCOMS to recover Fuel Adjustment Costs (FAC). The recovery will be made on a per unit basis for the last two quarters of 2021–22 and will be reflected in the bills of the customers of the five ESCOMS in the coming quarter.
The energy bills of Bescom will see an increase of 31 paise per unit, while Hescom customers will have to pay an extra 27 paise per unit. An additional 26 paise per unit will be added to Gescom bills and 19 to CESC customers. Along with these, the temporary hike of Mescom bills will fall on to the consumers of Mangalore SEZ and the FAC of Hescom will also be applicable to Hukeri RECS and AEQUS SEZ.
The KERC, in an order has said, “There is an increase in the variable cost of thermal stations, ranging between 37 paise per unit to 49 paise per unit in respect of all the ESCOMS. The overall actual per unit power purchase cost incurred by the ESCOMS is also increased/decreased than the approved per unit power purchase cost, ranging between (-) 14 paise per unit to 29 paise per unit..”
These additional charges come on top of the annual tariff hike which was announced earlier this year in April. However, Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar on Tuesday issued a clarification that the FAC should not be linked with annual tariff revision. “There are 13 thermal power stations in the State and coal and petroleum products are needed for their functioning. Based on the market price fluctuations of these products, quarterly cost adjustment is a routine process in all electricity supply companies. The KERC has revised this FAC based on the proposals of ESCOMS. This revision is done at the discretion of KERC and it can either increase or decrease”, he explained.
Earlier in the day, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister had taken to Twitter to condemn the electricity charge hike.
