PROVIDING RELIEF: Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission Chairman K.P. Pandey (centre) announcing the new power tariff in Bangalore on Monday. H.S. Subramanya (left) and S.D. Ukkali, members of the commission, are seen — Photo: K. Gopina than

BANGALORE: There is good news for electricity consumers in the State. The average price of a unit of power has come down to Rs. 3.20 from Rs. 3.56. The new tariff will come into effect from November 1, 2006 and will remain unchanged until the next revision, K.P. Pandey, Chairman of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), said here on Monday.

The electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) in the State had urged the KERC to accord permission to increase the power tariff by 40 paise a unit for all consumers, except for those under Bhagya Jyothi and Kutira Jyothi schemes, a 7.89 per cent increase. Had KERC approved the hike, consumers would have had to pay Rs. 3.64 per unit. The approved average cost per unit in 2005-06 was Rs. 3.56.

Mr. Pandey said further tariff relief had been extended to consumers in urban and rural areas except in Bangalore metropolitan area. He also said that agricultural tariff had been reduced for metered irrigation pump sets so as to encourage metering.

The five ESCOMs had surplus money, which had to be passed on to the consumers, Mr. Pandey said. In view of the good inflow into the hydro reservoirs this year, the KERC has requested the ESCOMs to revise the power purchase estimates taking into account the actual inflow up to the end of August 2006. The ESCOMs have revised their Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) to Rs. 10,171 crore, a reduction of Rs. 416 crore.

In the initial filings, the five ESCOMs together had sought an ARR of Rs. 10,591 crore for 2006-07 and had indicated a revenue gap of Rs. 796 crores after considering the government subsidy of Rs. 1,780 crore.

However, the KERC had arrived at an ARR of Rs. 8,275 crore. It has allowed power purchase based on sales and allowable losses as per the Tariff Policy of the Centre.

The transmission and distribution (T and D) loss allowed by KERC for 2006-07 is 25 per cent as against 26 per cent for 2005-06.

"The current year (2006-07) is one of the best years with high-energy availability from hydro stations. It is considered that such an exceptional year is not benchmarked to consider any major changes in tariff structure.

Hence, a moderate reduction in tariff is considered for consumers in urban areas and a slightly higher reduction for those in rural areas," Mr. Pandey said.

The KERC had invited the public to participate and submit their objections with regard to increase in power tariff. As many as 11,748 objections were received during the public hearings.

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