Punjab: New power tariff gives slight relief to low-consumption domestic consumers

PATIALA: Amidst the financial crisis being faced by state residents, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) on Monday passed the tariff orders for the year 2020-21 with a slight relief for the low consumption domestic consumers (below 100 and 300 units a month) but increasing the state’s power subsidy bill and hiking the cost of power for high consumption domestic consumers by 10 paisa per unit.
While those consuming less than 100 units a month will be paying 50p a unit less from June 1 as compared to the tariff that was in force till Sunday, those consuming between 100 to 300 units have been given a relief of 25p a unit. This will result in financial relief to the tune of Rs. 354.82 crore to these consumers.
However, the cost of power for those consuming more than 300 units a month has been increased by 10p a unit.
In the new tariff order the cost of power being supplied to the general industry and the Power Intensive (industrial) Units (PIU) has also been increased ranging between 15 to 22 p based on total power load. The PSERC has, after many years, also increased the cost of power supplied to the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple by 5 p a unit.
The PSERC jacked up the cost of power supplied to the agricultural connections by 29 paisa a unit or Rs 22 per BHP per month which is all set to increase the power subsidy bill of the state government. Other than these, the regulator has kept the tariffs of all other categories of the consumers more or less unchanged.
The commission has determined the annual revenue requirement (AAR) of PSPCL power corporation as Rs 31100.62 crore against a demand for Rs 41720.97 crore. This includes the ARR of Rs 1345.28 crore determined for Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) against a demand for Rs 1500.24 crore and also the financial gap of previous years of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).
As per the regulator, with expected revenue at the existing tariff being Rs 30875.79 crore, the consolidated gap (deficit) works out to Rs 224.83 crore, which is required to be recovered through tariff in remaining 10 months of FY 2020-21 as the new tariffs will be enforced from June 1.
In the orders, the PSERC has maintained that the main reason for the revenue gap is the reduction in projected sales due to the lockdown imposed by the central and state governments to prevent the spread of COVID pandemic, resulting in a disproportional decrease in revenue as compared to the cost of power purchase while all fixed cost components of the Discoms such as fixed cost and capacity charges payable to power generators, transmission charges, operation and maintenance expenses, depreciation, interest on loans, return on equity and other such features have remained unchanged.