Hyderabad: The TRS government has saved its own skin by allowing TS Electricity Regulatory Commission to take suo motu decision on power tariffs hike for 2017-18. In case of any criticism on power hike, the government can put the blame on ERC as part of its ‘power’ game.
TSTransco had prepared proposals of around Rs 2,000 crore to hike power charges, but could not submit them to the ERC. Now, the ERC will take suo motu decision on power tariff on the basis of business plan and aggregate revenue requirement submitted by TSDiscoms.
Generally, the ERC would not accept the tariff proposals submitted by power utilities and it decides the tariff after conducting hearings. Before taking a decision, ERC asks the state government on cross subsidy, based on which it finalises the tariff.
According to Transco estimation, 54,756 MU will be needed for next year and total required funds are Rs 31,935 crore. The revenue gap will be around Rs 10,000 crore and after hiking the power charges to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore, the remaining gap is Rs 8,000 crore.
In the present year, the state government has given Rs 4,500 crore as subsidy. Officials expect that the ERC may increase power charges to the tune of around Rs 1,500 crore.
