GUWAHATI, Oct 7 � The Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL), the ASEB�s successor company engaged in power distribution, has sought a hike in the average power tariff to Rs 5.99, against the existing Rs 4.54 per unit. The actual hike proposed thus appears to be of Rs 1.55 per unit of power.
However, for the domestic consumers with connected load up to 5 kw, the proposed average tariff is Rs 5.50 per unit against the existing Rs 3.86 � an increase of Rs 1.64 per unit on an average, at the rate of 42.66 per cent.
The APDCL, in its tariff petition submitted to the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) for 2010-11, has stated that its total estimated expenditure would be Rs 2,334.54 crore during the fiscal. But after deducting the non-tariff income like meter rent, house rent etc, the aggregate revenue requirement of the company will stand at Rs 2,266.45 crore.
However, the company has finally stated that Rs 2, 212.65 crore would be its annual revenue requirement for the fiscal.
The company proposes to sell 3,694 million units (MUs) of power during the fiscal and if this amount of power is sold at the existing rate of tariff, it will be able to earn a total amount of only Rs 1,672 crore as revenue.
If the above amount is added to the company�s other estimated earnings worth Rs 95.69 crore and the prior period amount of Rs 41.89 crore, the total revenue requirement of the company will appear to be Rs 2, 212.65 crore, said the company.
For the power consumers, the company has proposed a connection charge with the argument that it needs money to recover the cost of billing, metering and attending to consumers� complaints, irrespective of their connected load and consumption.
For each of the domestic consumers having connections between .5 kw and 5 kw, the company has proposed Rs 30 per month as connection charge, energy charge of Rs 3.90 for the first four units, Rs 4.90 for the next four units and Rs 5.30 for the remaining units. Besides, a capacity charge of Rs 40 per kw, per month has also been proposed by the company for these consumers.
These proposals are made to replace the existing fixed charge of Rs 30 per kw, per month, energy charge of Rs 3 for the first four units of power per day, Rs 4.05 for the next four units of power per day and Rs 4.75 for the remaining units of power consumed.
For the domestic consumers each having connection between 5 kw and 20 kw, the proposed capacity charge is Rs 70 per kw, per month. For them, a connection charge of Rs 30 per connection, per month and an energy charge of Rs 4.90 per unit have also been proposed.
The existing fixed charge for these consumers is 30 per kw, per month and the energy charge is Rs 4.35 per unit.
For the high-tension (HT) domestic consumers each having connected load of 25kva (20kw) and above, the company has proposed Rs 80 as the monthly capacity charge against per kva per month. It has proposed a connection charge of Rs 100 per connection, per month and Rs 4.90 as energy charge against per unit of power.
The existing fixed charge for this category is Rs 30 per kva per month and energy charge is Rs 4.15 per unit.
