MUMBAI: With power utility firms announcing Fuel Adjustment Charges (FAC), some MSEDCL residential consumers will now have to pay an additional of at least Rs 2 per unit every month for the next five months, depending on consumption, said power sector activist Pratap Hogade on Sunday.
While FAC levied for consumption of 301-500 units of electricity will be Rs 2.05 per unit, it will be Rs 2.35 for units over 500.
The minimum monthly bill for some high-end consumers will be as high as Rs 7,500, said sources.
The cumulative burden on monthly electricity bills for consumers (residential, commercial and industrial across Maharashtra will be over Rs 1,000 crore, with an average hike in bill of one rupee per unit. The state has over 3.3 crore consumers, and a majority of them receive electricity from state-run MSEDCL.
“It’s a tariff shock for several consumers who have to shell out more towards monthly electricity bills at a time when infaltion is high. LPG rates have crossed the Rs 1,000 mark per cylinder, piped gas is priced at around Rs 45 per unit, CNG at Rs 76 per kg, petrol at Rs 111.35 per litre and diesel at Rs 97.28,” said another activist.
Vijay Gokhale, a consumer from Thane, demanded that the FAC be rolled back or recovered over a longer period of time in order to reduce burden on consumers. Power expert Ashok Pendse, however, said it was unlikely that the FAC would be rolled back. “Consumers may complain, and there may even be protests on the streets by political groups, but what you are paying now as FAC is due to expensive power purchased in the past few months,” he said.
He explained that power demand had peaked during summer, and expensive electricity, which cost up to Rs 16 per unit, was purchased from power exchange to ensure there were as no loadsheddings. “So, if you don’t want loadshedding, it is better that you pay FAC – which depends on the electricity purchase costs,” he added.
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) sources said to reduce the impact on consumers, FAC is being recovered quarterly (FAC for March to May) in equal installments in five months – from July to November. A former bureaucrat who did not wish to be named suggested that MERC should have allowed power utilities to recover the sum over one to two years, and that could have reduced the burden furthermore.
FAC is a variable charge added in your electricity bill based on the varying price of fuel or coal/gas. This amount was not billed to consumers for the past two years. During the past two years of Covid, MERC had factored in reasonable annual escalation in power purchase expenses and directed all power companies to create “FAC stabilising fund” to meet fuel costs. “Now, even if FAC is levied on consumers, it will be done on a quarterly basis. The regulatory commission will allow recovery equally over the next five months,” a source from MERC added.
Source: PTI
