Dept’s plea for 21% power tariff hike rejected

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has turned down the UT electricity department’s proposal to hike tariffs 21%, submitted on January 21.

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has turned down the UT electricity department’s proposal to hike tariffs 21%, submitted on January 21.

“Keeping in mind the approved aggregate revenue requirement for 2014-15 and the reviewed gap of 2013-14, the commission is of the view that there is Rs 74.89 crore surplus, so there is no need to revise tariff.”

UT superintending engineer MP Singh said: “The JERC has raised objections as the department failed to get a commercial audit done.”

In the domestic category, the electricity department had proposed a hike from Rs 2.30 to Rs 2.78 in the slab of 0-150 units, while in the slab of 151-400 units, increase from Rs 4.20 to Rs 4.60 was proposed. In the commercial category, Rs 4.30 to Rs 4.70 in the slab between 0-150, Rs 4.50 to Rs 5.30 in the slab of 151-400 and Rs 4.70 to Rs 5.70 in slab above 400 units was proposed.

JERC FIXES SOLAR POWER RATES FOR UT ELECTRICITY DEPT

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has determined the tariff on which the Chandigarh Renewal Energy Science and Technology Promotion Society’s (CREST) will be allowed to sell solar power to the UT electricity department. The commission has fixed Rs 1.13 per unit (KWh) as the rate, making it the cheapest in the country. Unhappy with the decision, CREST has decided to file a review petition and demanded increase in the rate.

The project had previously hit a road block after the UT electricity department had raised certain objection