UP power hike likely in June

Lucknow, May 1

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) is expected to announce the revised power tariff by the first week of June, official sources said.

The new power tariff tabled by the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has proposed a hike up to 23 per cent for various categories of consumers.

For the urban domestic consumers, the corporation has proposed a hike of around 18 per cent.

The commission has not revised the power tariff since 2018-19.

The UPERC has completed the public hearing in all distribution companies -- the last hearing was in Noida on April 28.

Sources said that the Commission would now send a compiled report of public objections to various discoms to take their counter feedback.

After this, the Commission would finally analyse the tariff after taking into consideration all observations of the stakeholders before announcing the tariff formally.

"This is expected to take a month. The Commission will be able to announce the tariff expectedly by the first week of June," a senior official said.

Sources said that the UPPCL reportedly highlighted the rising operational cost of thermal power plants. This has been accentuated by the climbing cost of fuel, essentially coal.

The sources further said that the corporation categorically put forth the Annual Revenue Realised (ARR) which critically factors in revenue recovery for every power unit produced. It also includes the revenue loss because of power theft and the billing anomalies.

As a matter of fact, the UPPCL has not only proposed an increase in power unit charge but also the fixed charge by 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

President of the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhogta Parishad, Avdhesh Verma, who is one of the petitioners in the power tariff case, said that the association participated in all hearings.

"The UPPCL needs to address the issue of over Rs 25,000 crore which it owes towards the consumers. This way, there would not be any need to increase the tariff, if the calculation is done fairly," he said.