The Hindu Business Line : APERC cuts power tariffs for industries

THE Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC), which finalised the electricity tariffs for 2004-05, has reduced energy charges for industries in HT-I category from Rs 3.60 per unit to Rs 3.50 per unit and for industries in LT-III category from Rs 3.85 per unit to Rs 3.75 per unit "keeping in mind the need to spur industrial growth" in the State.

Similarly, to rationalise tariffs in line with cost to serve, the commission had reduced the tariff of HT-II non-industrial category and that of railway traction from Rs 4.50 to Rs 4.40 per unit. In the case of the second slab of above 50 units pertaining to non-domestic LT category II consumers, the tariff had been fixed at Rs 6.25 per unit against the current tariff of Rs 6.60 per unit.

There is no change in the tariffs for domestic, agriculture, cottage industries, local bodies, general purpose, temporary LT & HT connections and HT private lift irrigation schemes.

The commission had included the units of blacksmiths, carpentry, goldsmiths and pottery having a load of 5 HP and below under the category of cottage industries.

The wheeling charges by the power distribution companies (Discoms) would be 51 paise per unit plus losses in kind up to the respective voltage level at which the wheeled energy was consumed.

Persons operating captive power plants (CPPs) in parallel with A.P. grid have to pay "grid support charges" on the difference between the capacity of CPP and the contracted maximum demand with licensee and all other sources of supply at a rate equal to 50 per cent of the prevailing demand charge for HT consumers.

Announcing this at a press conference here, the APERC Secretary, Mr Suryaprakasa Rao, said that the revenue of the Transmission Corporation of AP (APTransco) would decline by Rs 120 crore on account of the reduction in the energy charges for the HT and LT industrial consumers.

He said that the net revenue requirement (NRR) of APTransco and the four distribution companies (Discoms) in the State next fiscal was estimated at Rs 9,653.45 crore. However, APERC had directed the Discoms to achieve efficiency gains of Rs 300 crore. After efficiency gains, the NRR was confined to Rs 9,353.45 crore.

As against this, APTransco's tariff inflows would be Rs 8,051 crore. The revenue gap would be filled by the State Government, which would give a subsidy amount of Rs 1,303 crore to the power utility.

As per the original estimates, APTransco's NRR was put at Rs 10,289 crore. But the APERC had accepted an NRR of only Rs 9,653 crore taking into consideration various factors including reduction in the power purchase cost to the tune of Rs 483 crore.

Mr. Rao said that transmission losses have been limited to 6.25 per cent next fiscal as against 7 per cent in the current year.

The distribution losses also have been limited to 18.5 per cent for 2004-05 from 18.96 per cent in 2003-04. Hence, the overall system losses during next year would decline to 23.6 per cent from 24.63 per cent in the current year.

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