Andhra Pradesh: Get ready for power shock

Tirupati: Domestic power consumers in the State will have to bear a huge additional burden from the next month with an increase in power tariffs.

Giving a big shock to the consumers of all slabs, the AP Electricity Regulatory Authority (APERC) has announced a hike in power tariff by a minimum of Rs 0.45 to a maximum of Rs 1.57 in different slabs. The new tariff will be effective from April 1.

Speaking to the media, APERC chairman Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy on Wednesday said the present power tariff for a consumption of 0-30 units per month is Rs 1.45 per unit which will go up to Rs 1.90 per unit. Those who consume between 31 and 75 units were paying Rs 2.09 per unit which will become Rs 3.00 per unit after a hike of Rs 0.91.

Consumers in 76-125 units slab have been paying Rs 3.10 per unit now and they will have to pay Rs 4.50 per unit with a hike of Rs 1.40 and the tariff of Rs 4.43 per unit in 126-225 units slab will be increased by Rs 1.57 per unit and consumers have to pay Rs 6 per unit from April 1. Consumers in the 226-400 units' slab will have to pay Rs 8.75 per unit as against Rs 7.59 after a hike of Rs 1.16 per unit. The tariff for those who consume above 400 units per month has been increased by Rs 0.55 per unit and fixed at Rs 9.75 per unit which was Rs 9.20 before the hike.

APERC announce the hike in tariffs after taking into consideration the proposals submitted by the three distribution licensees -- APSPDCL, APEPDCL and APCPDCL. This hike may fetch additional revenue of Rs 1,400 crore to DISCOMs while the State government committed to extend a subsidy of Rs 11,123 crore to the subsidised consumers. 

The APERC chairman said even after the rationalisation of tariffs, though it appears that there is some hike to some sections, the tariffs are relatively at a reasonable level compared to many neighbouring States.

The commission has directed the APSPDCL and APCPDCL to recover the true-up costs in 36 monthly instalments commencing from August 1, 2022, while APEPDCL shall recover true-up costs in 18 monthly instalments. It was estimated that an amount of about Rs 2,910 crore has to be collected from the consumers in the three DISCOMs other than agricultural consumers who get subsidy from the government. The instalment payments shall not carry any interest. The chairman said the commission has not accepted the proposal of the DISCOMS to impose a voltage surcharge on a certain class of industrial consumers. The commission has also fixed separate tariffs for the consumers connected at 132 kv and 220 kv voltages for the first time in the State. While rejecting the requests for tariff reduction by aqua hatcheries, feed mixing plants and poultry hatcheries, the commission has decided to continue the concessional tariff to captive poultry feed mixing plants not covered by the GST which was announced last year. The commission also fixed the tariff payable by them at Rs 3.85 per unit.