Assam: AERC increases Power Tariff by 59 paise per unit; effecting from April 1

The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) has raised the power tariff by 59 paise per unit and will come into effect from April 1. AERC chairperson Kumar Sanjay Krishna stated at a press conference on March 21 that the new electricity tariff will be Rs 7.20 per unit, up from Rs 6.61 per unit.

The hike was approved following a shortfall in revenue in the current financial year due to continuous lockdown induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and a dip in demand for a considerable period of time during the year.

"The APDCL filing a petition before the AERC had sought a hike by around Rs 2.41, an increase of around 34 per cent, but the regulatory commission has allowed an average tariff hike of 8 per cent across categories for 2022-23," Sanjay Krishna said.

During the financial year 2020-21 and onwards, the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the economy as a whole.

"While the impact of Covid-19 on generation and transmission was minimal, it had a significant impact on the distribution sector, specifically APDCL," he said.

The APDCL petitioned the AERC for approval of truing up a gap of Rs 1,168 crore, including the carrying cost of Rs 195 crore, for 2020-21, taking into account the impact of Covid-19 as well as other issues.

The APDCL also claimed a Rs 710 crore APR (annual percentage rate) gap for 2021-22 and a Rs 1,157 crore ARR (average revenue realisation) gap for 2022-23, for a total of Rs 3,035 crore.

"However, to give some tariff relief to the consumers, the APDCL restricted their claim to Rs 2,189 crore, which translates to a hike of 34 percent over the existing tariff," Sanjay Krishna said.

He stated that the AERC has approved a cumulative revenue gap of Rs 946 crore against the APDCL's claim of Rs 2,189 crore for 2022-23.

"To alleviate the burden on consumers, the Government of Assam has approved an amount of Rs 400 crore as a power purchase subsidy to the APDCL, with the net gap required to be recovered through tariff for 2022-23 working out to Rs 546 crore," he said.

"So the commission has decided an overall increase of around 8 per cent in the electricity tariff which is an average increase of Rs 0.59per unit," Sanjay Krishna added.