Freight, coal is expensive, the power to be the most expensive in Punjab in the region | Chandigarh News

Patiala: Electricity will cost even more in Punjab. The state electricity regulator has cleared PSPCL to increase its Fuel Cost Adjustment Surcharge (FCA) in order to overcome rising prices for coal and rail freight. .

With the new move, the unit cost of energy in Punjab is expected to range from Rs 5.06 a unit to Rs 7.33 a unit for domestic households – the highest among all northern states. By raising rates, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) hopes to recover Rs 146.35 crore, the increase in planned spending due to higher prices for coal and freight. In its latest order, the Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) approved the recovery because of additional costs paid by the PSPCL to generate electricity in its own thermal power plants and increase costs. purchase of electricity from other thermal power plants under long-term contract. during the fourth quarter of the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

The FCA surtax will be collected in the second quarter of fiscal year 2018-2019 and the increase in costs will then be pbaded on to consumers. PSPCL filed a request to increase the CFA markup on June 8, in which it stated that the price of coal and rail freight had led to an increase in variable cost purchases in the last quarter of the year. FY 2017-2018.

After considering all aspects, the PSERC concluded that PSPCL calculated the total amount of FCA attributable to Rs 160.31 crore. He calculated the billable FCA as 17 per unit for consumers in the measured category and 17 per unit, or Rs 6.94 per BHP, per month for unmeasured consumers.

The Panel noted that PSPCL calculated the cost of fuel from its own thermal generating stations baduming that the coal transit loss was 1% instead of the actual value, which was less than 1%. As a result, the fuel cost of the PSPCL's thermal power plants has been reworked by considering the actual transit loss.

The regulator stated that when calculating the billable FCA per unit, PSPCL examined the consumption figures from January to March 2018. However, the commission provisionally allowed the recovery of Rs 146.35 crore because of the Fuel cost increase the second quarter of the current fiscal year, subject to reconciliation or validation of the balance sheet of 2017-2018 fiscal year.

___

OTHER RIDING IN THE RATE

In October 2017, the state increased the cost of electricity between 6.7% and 12%, causing several protests

At that time, the unit cost of energy in Punjab had risen to 4.98 rupees (formerly 4.52 rupees) and 7.36 rupees (formerly 6.56 rupees) for supply. and 7.4 rupees (formerly 6.53 rupees) to 7.47 rupees (previously Rs 6.75) for commercial establishments

The cost of energy for the industrial sector also increased between 8.5% and 11.88%

In March of this year, the state government had approved the social security bill under which a 5% tax was imposed on electricity bills.

2nd FCA INCREASE | This is the second time this year that the Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) allows the PSPCL to recover from consumers an additional surcharge on the adjustment of the cost of fuel (FCA). ). In April, the PSERC allowed the company to charge an additional Rs 103.34 million to the FCA.