Island city may pay more for electricity

Consumers in the island city may have to pay more for power if the state energy regulator clears the proposal.

Consumers in the island city may have to pay more for power if the state energy regulator clears the proposal.

HT Image

On Tuesday, the committee governing Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) — which distributes power in the island city — cleared its budget for 2010-11, which proposes to hike its income from electricity distribution by Rs 52 crore.

The provision is for the purchase of an extra 100 megawatts of power to meet increasing demand. And to make that acquisition, tariff will need to be hiked by up to 40 per cent for its 9 lakh consumers in the island city.

“We will buy 100 megawatts from other states, and also try generating green power (wind energy) after setting up a unit at Mankhurd. Electricity demand increases by 2.5 per cent annually. This has forced us to increase tariff,” said BEST committee chairman Dilip Patel.

The budget, passed by the Sena-BJP amid protests by the Opposition, will now go to the civic standing committee and later to the civic general body. Any hike in tariff will have to be cleared by the state’s energy regulator, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission.

“We will send the budget to the standing committee next week, when cleared, it will be forwarded to the electricity regulator,” said BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya. BEST will include the power purchase cost in its Annual Revenue Requirement, which is submitted to MERC for approval of new tariffs.

Tariff for consumers drawing 101 to 300 units is now around Rs 3.70 per unit. That could go up to Rs 4.60 - Rs 5.20, and even higher for those consuming above 500 units.