Power tariff hike on cards, Jaya assures subsidy

Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission suo moto notified a proposal today to hike tariff across the board to bridge a revenue deficit of Rs 6,854 Crore of State run power corporation TANGEDCO.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa referring to the regulator's proposal in a statement here assured that her government would provide additional subsidy to protect the poor.
The TNERC has proposed a tariff increase of 15 per cent (average) for domestic consumers, 31 per cent for industries and 15 per cent for commercial users. For government and State aided educational institutions a hike of 60.44 per cent is proposed.
As regards temporary supply segment, which is used by builders, the hike is 15.78 per cent.

The hike is determined after taking into consideration factors, including the present energy charges for each segment.
The hike has been proposed for all consumer categories.In addition to the proposed hike, an increase of Rs 10 (bi- monthly) in fixed charges has been proposed for domestic users.

For High Tension users including industries, a rise of Rs 50 in demand charges (monthly) has been proposed.
Citing the Electricity Act, Appellate Tribunal orders and the National Tariff Policy, the TNERC said it decided to take up determination of Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) and tariff for 2014-15 suo moto as TANGEDCO failed to file statutory petitions.

TNERC has invited objections and suggestions from the public about its proposals following which a meeting of the State Advisory Committee will be held. Public hearings will also be conducted across Tamil Nadu to elicit views of the public.
TANGEDCO will now have to file petitions stating if they concurred with the ARR and tariff determination of the regulator.