Call to defer power tariff hike at discom’s virtual public hearing over DVC proposal

Ranchi: A virtual public hearing called by Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC)’s on Monday to discuss the tariff proposal and annual revenue requirement submitted by Damodar Valley Corporation was marred by frequent disruptions due to poor inter connectivity marred.
Amid the pandemic, JSERC has suspended all physical public hearings as per directions issued by the state government and taken the digital route to gather public opinion on the tariff hike proposal submitted by the power generating, transmission and distribution companies. The virtual public hearing will continue on Tuesday and JSERC will announce power rates once the discussions are over and the statement of accounts submitted are vetted.
JSERC has been without a chairperson for two months after Arbind Prasad resigned from his post June. Of the 24 districts in Jharkhand, DVC supplies power to consumers in seven districts -- Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Bokaro, Giridih and Chatra.
In a tariff-change proposal submitted to JSERC, DVC has asked for a modest hike in energy rates for all categories of consumers. For domestic consumers, both urban and rural, DVC has proposed a rate of Rs 4.35 per unit with a fixed monthly charge of Rs 80, vis a vis the current tariff of Rs 4.25 per unit and Rs 75 as fixed monthly charge.
For commercial establishments, tariff has been proposed at Rs 4.3 per unit with a fixed component of Rs 160 per month, compared to the existing Rs 4.2 per unit and Rs 150 as fixed charge. For industries, the tariff has been proposed at Rs.3 65 per kilo volt ampere hour (KVAh) with a monthly demand charge of Rs 833, up from the present Rs 2.95 peer KVAh and Rs 600 as monthly charge.
Responding to the DVC proposals, Bhushan Rastogi, a fucntionary with Association of DVC High Tension Consumers, said the hike in energy rates, particularly during the pandemic, was unrealistic. “This is not the time to increase the tariff. The prices should in fact be reduced to revive the economy,” he said. Her also demanded that a uniform methodology of treatment of various heads of expenses and incomes be adopted by JSERC for all power companies while determining tariff.
Pramod Agarwal, joint secretary of Association of Jharkhand Consumers, also said that DVC’s energy rates, particularly for industries, should be reduced suitably. R N Singh, JSERC member (technical) and Pravas Kumar Singh, member (legal), were also present during the hearing.
Speaking at the hearing, DVC executive director (commercial) Anjan Dey said the power major has been successful in bringing down transmission and distribution losses from 3.62% in 2015-16 to 3.29% in the last fiscal due to continuous improvements in plant performance and augmentation of infrastructure facilities.