Covid-19: Uttar Pradesh govt decides not to increase electricity tariff in state

Nevertheless, a UPERC official instructed FE that the chief minister’s path “is a non-event for the Fee, until and till it comes by the use of a written communication from the federal government, accompanied with subsidies as per Part 65 of the Electrical energy Act.

In view of the Covid state of affairs, the Uttar Pradesh authorities has determined to not improve the costs of electrical energy within the state. In a gathering with key officers, chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed them to make sure that there is no such thing as a improve in electrical energy costs this yr.

“The chief minister has given a basic path that the electrical energy charges is not going to be elevated. The matter is with the regulator at current. As soon as the regulator decides on it, the federal government will take a view on it,” mentioned a senior official of the federal government, who was current within the assembly.

The path comes at a time when the Uttar Pradesh Electrical energy Regulatory Fee is within the midst of making ready the tariff primarily based on the annual income requirement (ARR) filed by the Uttar Pradesh Energy Company.

Nevertheless, a UPERC official instructed FE that the chief minister’s path “is a non-event for the Fee, until and till it comes by the use of a written communication from the federal government, accompanied with subsidies as per Part 65 of the Electrical energy Act.

“If there’s a deficit in ARR, somebody has to foot the hole, both by the shoppers or by the federal government. If the federal government doesn’t need to go on the hole to the general public, it has to provide it to us in writing that they’re able to fill that hole by means of subsidy,” mentioned the official.

Earlier, in February this yr, the 5 energy distribution corporations (discoms) of UPPCL  — Madhyanchal, Paschimanchal, Poorvanchal, Dakshinanchal and KesCo — had filed their annual income requirement (ARR) proposal to the UP Electrical energy Regulatory Fee, projecting a complete income requirement of Rs 81,901 crore throughout 2021-22. It included an estimated expenditure of Rs 62,020 crore on the acquisition of 1,20,043 million models (MUs) of electrical energy in the course of the yr. The UPPCL had additionally pegged the distribution losses at 16.64% for 2021-22 in opposition to the 11.08% authorised by the UPERC in its final tariff order.

It might be talked about that the electrical energy regulator had rejected UPPCL’s demand for energy hike within the final fiscal yr, citing the hostile monetary affect as a result of pandemic on the livelihood, industrial and industrial actions and the decreased paying capability of shoppers resulting from anticipated contraction in GSDP.

In a latest letter, the Union energy ministry has requested quite a few states, together with Uttar Pradesh, to challenge tariff orders for FY22 “on the earliest” for his or her energy distribution corporations (discoms). Irregular tariff revisions restrict the discoms’ means to develop into financially viable, which, in flip, results in delayed cost to energy turbines and makes it tough to take care of and improve their very own community and techniques, it had acknowledged.