Big industries in the State have asked the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) to review its June 25 order hiking power tariffs, saying that anomalies have crept into it resulting in excessive tariffs for them.
The Kerala High Tension (HT) and Extra High Tension (EHT) Industrial Electricity Consumers’ Association told a hearing held by the commission on Friday that while the average increase in power tariffs, for all consumer categories, was 6.58%, the tariff for the EHT 66kV industrial consumers was hiked by 10.42% and that of the EHT 110 kV consumers by 10.51%.
The association, which has 167 members, represents government-run and private industries. According to it, the commission had, in its order, ''blindly reproduced'' the tariff hike proposed by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for these consumers.
In the June 25 order, the per-unit energy charge for EHT 110 kV consumers was raised from ₹5.40 to ₹5.90 and the demand charge from ₹330 to ₹390 for the 2022-23 fiscal. The energy charge and demand charge respectively were hiked from ₹5.50 to ₹6 and from ₹340 to ₹400 for EHT 66kV. Both sets of increases were totally in line with the KSEB proposal, the association alleged.
This, apparently, is an ''error,'' according to the association. The commission itself, in its order, has held that the KSEB proposal is excessive and that it will allow only a moderate increase for the EHT 110 kV consumers given the need to promote industrial consumption, association president A.R. Satheesh said.
Soon after the tariff orders were issued on June 25, the association had objected to the fact that the commission had accepted the KSEB proposals for the high-end industries in toto. Industrial consumers had also petitioned the Chief Minister and the Ministers for Industries and Electricity seeking reduction in the tariffs. However, so far no action had been taken, according to the association.
