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Bhubaneswar, Feb 18: Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) will announce the new power tariff structure by March 20, informed the commission’s secretary in-charge, KL Panda, here Thursday.
“March 20 has been fixed as the tentative date for the announcement of a new tariff order,” said Panda at the end of a meeting of the state advisory committee of the commission. “All relevant factors and the views of all the stakeholders will be taken into consideration prior to announcement of the new order. The new order will come into effect from April 1,” he added.
OERC wound up its hearing on the annual revenue requirement (ARR), determination of power generation tariff and a power tariff hike as proposed by various companies engaged in producing, purchasing and distributing power for 2016-17 fiscal February 11.
Sources said discoms such as CESU, WESCO, NESCO and SOUTHCO have appealed for a tariff hike of up to one rupee per unit. Likewise, OHPC and OPGC have also urged OERC to increase their power generation tariff by around 65 to 75 paise per unit, whereas GRIDCO and OPTCL have appealed to the commission to increase their unit cost from the existing `2.84 to `3.62 and 25 paise to 35 paise respectively.
Sources said the advisory committee also recommended OERC not to resort to power tariff hike and have asked the stakeholders to upgrade infrastructure to ensure better service. Meanwhile, the consumers bodies are also opposing the proposal for a tariff hike, saying it would put additional financial burden on domestic consumers who already faced a 20-paise hike per unit earlier this year.
