Electricity Dept justifies power tariff hike
Reddy says under JERC regulations, every quarter FPPCA is to be calculated and credit/debit passed on to consumer
PANJIM: Electricity Department, in a statement issued by Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) N N Reddy, slammed reports criticising the hike in power tariffs.
In the wake of an increase in power tariffs, the department said that most of its power needs are procured from the Central Generating Stations (CGS) while it also purchases solar and non solar power to meet renewable power obligation as per the target set by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC).
Reddy, also stated that in case of shortage of power from CGS, short term power from the open market, power from power exchange platforms, over drawl from the grid is also being purchased. “This type of power (other than regular allotted power) is costlier than regular power. This affects the quarterly imposed Fuel & Power Purchase Cost Adjustment Formula (FPPCA),” he said justifying the increase in power bills.
He went on to state that the rates of the power generating government enterprises are fixed by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and these orders affect the payments. “Payments to these generators are made on weekly/monthly basis by the department. The coal-based generators purchase coal from the domestic or international market, which vary on day to basis,” he said.
To match the payment to be made to the generators and for other sources made by the utilities, JERC allows the department to recover the amount paid to the power suppliers for FPPCA. “It is always not the situation wherein department only recovers these charges from consumers but there have been many instances where credit has been passed on to the consumers. To cite an example the first quarter of the current year was total credit case to all consumers as FPPCA charges were negative,” Reddy said.
The department clarified that this is a routine practice followed since 2012. As per JERC regulations, every quarter FPPCA is bound to be calculated and credit/debit will have to be passed on to the consumer. The entire process is based on JERC regulation and formula, Reddy said.
Source: heraldgoa.in
