BHUBANESWAR: The Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) on Tuesday urged the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to approve its annual revenue requirement (ARR) of Rs 6,862.54 crore for 2025-26 failing which it will face a revenue shortfall of Rs 114.49 crore.
If the TPCODL proposal is accepted by the regulator, the unit cost of power will go up by 12.42 paise.
On the sixth day of the public hearing for determination of power tariff for the ensuing financial year, the Tata Power subsidiary projected additional power purchase of 1,310 million units (MUs) from GRIDCO, totaling 13,823 MU which will cost approximately Rs 4,688.36 crore at the existing rate of bulk supply price. Estimating distribution loss of 17.17 per cent which account for 2,374 MUs, the utility said around 11,449 MUs will be sold to consumers.
The company has estimated a net revenue requirement of Rs 6,862.54 crore taking into account the power purchase, operation and maintenance and other distribution costs. However, it will recover only Rs 6,720.39 crore as the existing retail tariff rate leaves a revenue gap of Rs 142.15 crore. An upward revision of the tariff by 12.42 paise per unit will make up the revenue shortfall.
All the 32 objectors representing cross section of consumers including Ramesh Satpathy of Upabhokta Mahasangh (Consumer Federation) opposed TPCODL proposal for a further hike in tariff.
The common submission was that the existing tariff is too high compared to other states and the projection made by the company towards operation, repair and maintenance are at higher side. They further said the company’s proposal of doubling employee expenses is unjustified. There has been a 14-fold increase in maintenance and repair costs. The four time rise in administrative and general expenses is also considered unreasonable.
Power analyst Anand Mohapatra emphasised that tariff determination should be done in a transparent manner. He pointed out that estimating revenue for the next financial year at a lower rate than the previous year’s revenue collection is not acceptable. Mohapatra suggested the revenue collection for the ensuing financial year should be the same or higher than the previous year’s actual rate.
He also strongly opposed Tata Power’s proposed revenue collection rate of Rs 5.87 per unit for 2025-26 as it is lower than the current fiscal’s rate of Rs 6.11 per unit. This violates the provisions of Electricity Act, 2003, he claimed.
