Power tariff slashed ahead of Lok Sabha polls in K’taka

Bengaluru, Feb 28 (IANS) Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has approved significant reduction in electricity tariff for commercial, industrial and domestic consumers consuming more than 100 units of power a month.

The KERC on Wednesday announced an early revision of tariff for the year 2024-25. According to the official note, energy charges have been reduced by 110 paise per unit for consumption of above 100 units for low tension (LT) domestic lighting.

Energy charges have been reduced by 125 paise per unit and demand charges by Rs 10 per KVA for high-tension (HT) commercial usage. For HT industrial usage, energy charges have been reduced by 50 paise per unit, while demand charges have been cut by Rs 10 per KVA.

For hospital and educational institutions (HT), per unit charges have been reduced by 40 paise, and demand charges by Rs 10 per KVA. For private lift irrigation (HT), the charges have been reduced by 200 paise per unit, the note said.

For residential apartments (HT), demand charges have been reduced by Rs 10 per KVA.

The charges have been reduced by 50 paise per unit for private hospital and educational institutions (LT), while energy charges for industrial installations have been cut by 100 paise per unit, the release stated.

The ESCOMs have prayed for approval of annual revenue requirement (ARR) of Rs 69,474.75 crore with a revenue deficit of Rs 4,863.85 crore for FY25. To bridge this revenue deficit, the ESCOMs have proposed an average increase by 66 paise per unit (ranging between 49 and 163 paise per unit).

The revenue deficit for FY25 also includes revenue deficit of Rs 723.06 crore, as per the annual performance review (APR) for FY23; the ESCOMs have proposed 7.53 per cent increase in tariff.

After scrutiny of ESCOMs' applications, the Commission has approved total ARR of Rs 64,944.54 crore as against Rs 69,474.75 crore sought by the ESCOMs in their tariff applications.

The Commission has also approved a net revenue surplus of Rs 290.76 crore for FY2024-25, which includes revenue surplus of Rs 565.39 crore as per the annual performance review for FY23.

To encourage the use of electric vehicles, the energy charges for EV charging stations have been continued at a reduced rate of Rs 4.50 per unit.