New power tariff to be announced in Punjab next month: PSERC

A new electricity tariff in Punjab will be announced next month, power regulator PSERC said, adding the main focus would be to ensure round-the-clock power supply to all consumers.
"New power tariff will be announced by the end of April," Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) Chairman D S Bains said here today.
Without divulging any information about any possible revision in tariff, Bains said the main focus of the commission will be to ensure round-the-clock power of superior quality.
PSERC is yet to work out details regarding profit or loss of the power utility Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Bains said.

"After working out details about profit or loss by April 1 or 2, the same will be communicated to the state government which will further take a call on it," he said.
The Commission is required to get written consent from the state government on bearing financial burden on account of power subsidy announced for any section of the society.

The power regulator will announce the multi-year tariff for 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 for the first time in the state.
The tariffs will comprise electricity tariff for one year and indicative tariff for the next two years while determining the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for power utilities -Punjab state power corporation and Punjab state transmission corporation.

The Congress, which took over the reins of Punjab under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh, had announced in its manifesto that it would ensure 24/7 power at affordable rates to all the sectors. It had also promised to freeze power tariff for the industry for five years.
Notably, power utility PSPCL in its Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) had sought suitable hike in power tariff to cover to cover a gap of Rs 1.16 per unit.
PSPCL's average cost of supply is pegged at Rs 6.83 per unit while average revenue realized is projected at Rs 5.66 per unit for 2017-18.

PSPCL projected revenue gap of Rs 5,576.21 crore with revenue requirement of Rs 33,336.34 crore for year 2017-18. The total revenue gap has been projected at Rs 11,575 crore.
PSPCL has projected total subsidy burden of Rs 8,000.33 crore for 2017-18, up from Rs 6,364 crore for 2016-17.
Punjab supplies free power to the farm sector and 200 units per month each to SC, BPL and Backward class families. Besides, Punjab had promised to supply power to new industries at concessional rate of Rs 4.99 per unit.
In 2016-17, the power tariff were reduced for industrial categories and there was no change in tariff for other consumer segments.