SHILLONG: The KSU has urged the State Government to keep in abeyance the proposed power tariff hike in order to ease the burden on the poor consumers.
“The proposed hike of the MeECL by 500 per cent is unacceptable. This clearly reflects the lack of innovative policy decisions on the part of the MeECL. The Corporation is trying to recover its revenue by raising the electricity bills but without providing adequate services to the consumer,” KSU general secretary Auguster Jyrwa said in a letter submitted to Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma here on Tuesday.
He pointed out that according to the MeECL Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Tariff proposal for the year 2014-15, the proposed tariff for the year is quite high and ranges between 135 per cent and 500 per cent.
“The MeECL generation is mostly Hydro based and having an installation capacity of about 300 MW including the newly commission Myntdu-Leshka Hydel project. As per the DPR, the generation cost per Kilo Watt Hour of the newly commissioned project is between Rs.1.50 to Rs.2.50. Hydro power is the cheapest source of energy compared to other sources of power generation,” the KSU leader said.
Referring to the Centre’s policy, he said the Central shares of MeECL from other power project in the North Eastern region is about 200 MW which adds up to a total energy availability of about 500 MW.
“It can be summarized that the energy requirement for MeECL is still sufficient,” Jyrwa said, adding, “With our own generation and the Central share the average per KWH generation cost of energy if worked out will be only about Rs.2.50 per KWH.”
To address this ongoing crisis, Jyrwa said that there should be an independent agency to carry out energy audit of power consumed inside the State to ascertain the actual Aggregate Technical and Commercial Loss.
“It is suggested that the increasing block tariff (IBTs) be implemented for six blocks starting from Rs.2 per KWH for the first 100 units,” Jyrwa said even as he suggested that the State Government should consider subsidizing energy for its consumer by about 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
He urged the Government to provide people of the State with relief from any additional economic burden owing to the proposed tariff hike by MeECL.