Guwahati, March 31: The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) has revised the tariffs of Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL), Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited (AEGCL), State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) and Assam Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (APDCL) with effect from April 1, 2023.
It may be noted that in November 30 last year, APDCL, APGCL, AEGCL and SLDC had filed petitions for approval of true-up for financial year 2021-22, annual performance review (APR) for financial year 2022-23 and determination of revised aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) and tariff for financial 2023-24.
“APDCL had, in their petition, proposed a hike in fixed charges in the range of Rs 15 to Rs 75 per KW/ KVA per month. The company also proposed an increase in energy charges, including existing FPPPA charges (Fuel and Power Purchase Price Adjustment charges) by Re 1 to Rs 3 per unit for different categories of consumers,” a statement issued by the secretary, AERC said.
“The Commission, after taking into consideration the submissions made by the petitioner, objections and suggestions received from respondents/stakeholders and all other relevant materials on record, decided that the prayer for the proposed hike is not acceptable,” the statement said.
“The Commission instead accorded approval to an overall decrease of around 1.2 percent in the tariff for financial year 2023-24 over the tariff for financial year 2022-23, including existing FPPPA charges,” it said.
The Commission further reduced the energy charge rates for all categories ranging from 10 to 20 paise/unit. “However, for tariff rationalisation and to meet the overall revenue requirement, the Commission has marginally increased the fixed charges by Rs 10 per kW/ KVA per month for all categories,” the statement said.
“The Average Cost of Supply (ACoS) for financial year 2023-24 works out to Rs 8.02 per kWh, as against APDCL’s proposal of Rs 9.52 per kWh. The ACoS for FY 2022-23 was Rs 8.14 per kWh,’ it said.
The Commission, while finalising the tariff, regard the natural gas price as US $ 2.90 per MMBTU (Metric Million British Thermal Unit), based on the declining gas prices in the global market and the average gas price in the previous three months of US $ 2.91 per MMBTU.
“The Commission has taken utmost care to protect the interest of the consumers as well as the utilities in arriving at its decision,” the statement said.
During the tariff determination process, objections/suggestions from stakeholders were invited from the stakeholders on the petitions and a public hearing in this regard was held on February 28, 2023. Altogether, 17 respondents submitted their views and comments on the tariff petitions.
“The Commission has approved an overall generation tariff of Rs 3.58 per kWh for financial year 2023-24, based on the latest fuel costs. Transmission tariff of Rs. 0.57 per kWh and SLDC charges of Rs 106.84/MW/day has been approved for FY 2023-24,” the statement said.