Power Bills to shoot up in Kerala, Karnataka and HP
After a recent power tariff hike by the states of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, it was now time for ERCs of Kerala, Karnataka and HP to come to the rescue of their respective DISCOMs. Time has come when poor financial condition of DISCOMs is getting passed to consumers by increased tariff rates. Kerala and Karnataka increased power tariffs with effect from 1st May 2013 whereas Himachal Pradesh put the same into effect from 1st April 2013.
In Kerala, there has been no hike in tariffs for domestic consumers (using less than 40 units in a month) and agriculture segment. Also in most cases the fixed charges have been kept untouched. For domestic consumers (using more than 40 units in a month) the average hike in tariff is to the tune of 6.94 % (considering slabs as per table below), the table below shows the slab-wise tariff for domestic consumers:
Similarly, for LT Commercial consumers with average tariff hike is 6.89% as can be seen in the table:
For LT Industrial consumers, the approved tariff is Rs. 4.7 per unit; compared to existing tariff of Rs. 4.25 per unit, i.e. an increase 10.58 % whereas for HT Industrial the percentage increase is around 12.5 % (Approved is 4.60 Rs. /unit).
In Karnataka, May 5th 2013 marked the conclusion of elections in the state and an exit poll result predicts change of government. Just after the elections the power consumers were given a power shock. The tariff was hiked by 20 paise for domestic consumers and by 25 paise for commercial consumers. A summary of the retail tariff revision by KERC was published on the website and can be accessed by clicking here.
Himachal Pradesh also revised its power tariff and the highest increase around 16 % was mandated for domestic consumer category. HPERC asserted that though average cost of power purchase per unit is almost same as last year because hydel stations are cheaper, major cost is power purchase and employee cost. Details of approved tariff are as in table below:
| Category | 2012-13 Tariff | 2013-14 Tariff | %age increase |
| Domestic | 3.69 | 4.28 | 15.99% |
| Industry | 4.76 | 5.50 | 15.47% |
| Street light | 4.64 | 5.05 | 8.83% |
| Commercial | 5.21 | 5.95 | 14.20% |
| Water Pumping | 4.45 | 5.05 | 13.48% |
| Average | 4.59 | 5.20 | 13.29% |
Links to relevant media coverage: