We bring to you three major tariff stories and these are unfolding developments, which will be watched in the months to come.
The first relates to Uttarakhand. Hydro Power Developers are flocking to Uttarakhand to sell expensive power and the state government is taking on long-term, 35-year purchase commitments at high costs. If this continues unhindered the state will be in an overall surplus situation and the cost will have to be borne by the people, first because these purchases are made at higher tariffs per unit and also because the unutilized surplus will be a drain on state finances as the state discom will have to absorb the cost. UPCL’s engagement with DANS Energy Pvt Ltd has both these ingredients.
DANS Energy wants to sell UPCL power from its 96 MW Jorethang Loop Hydro Electric Project power plant in Sikkim. The Tariff Petition of DANS to the state regulator, UERC raises several questions: the methods applied for manipulating project cost to secure high tariff, how the same developer offers much lower tariff at the same time to other entities. UERC has dismissed the DANS Tariff Petition on several grounds, the manipulated project cost also being one the reasons. The company has gone in appeal to APTEL and the matter is listed for hearing on January 23, 2017.
The second concerns TN. TNERC has dismissed three petitions filed by the Adani group and SunEdison seeking higher tariff from Tangendco for its solar projects in Kamuthi and Ramnad. This has arisen because the groups missed the commissioning dates of the projects. The group says they are not responsible for the delay; it is Tangedco’s fault. The petition has been dismissed, though not on substantive issues but on its filing process. The groups had filed under the Miscellaneous Petition category under which court fee payable is only Rs 10,000. But TNERC registry wanted the petitions to be filed under Dispute Resolution Petition, under which the court fee for Adani group would be Rs 22.89 crore. Exactly similar is the condition of SunEdison petition in which case the court fee would be Rs 3.97 crore. Both the companies have not re-filed their petitions.
The third, is the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) orders compensating the two power generators – Tata owned, Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd and Adani Power Ltd – for hike in the coal price imported from Indonesia by way of increase in tariff. CERC has held that the impact of foreign exchange fluctuation should also be given to these companies. The discoms (govt companies) of five states will have to pay compensation to the companies in six equal monthly installments. It is a huge amount calculable from 2011 to the present times and payable in future too. The CERC orders are a mesh of detailed guidelines and tables, which we have simplified. The CERC has filed these orders with the Supreme Court which will hear the matter on January 9, 2017. The final decision will have enormous implications for the consumers.
