People of the State would pay power tariff at increased rates from April 1this year after a final decision is taken by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) by the third week of March.
“A hike in the power tariff will be enforced from April 1. The final decision regarding hike will be taken by March third week,” OERC Secretary-in-charge Kamol lochan Panda told reporters here on Thursday.
According to information, the OERC on Thursday concluded public hearing on the annual revenue requirement applications of power generators, transmission and distribution companies proposing tariff hike for 2016-17. The State Advisory Committee on Electricity held the proposals on the concluding day.
The Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) made a strong plea for hike in retail supply tariff or reduction in bulk supply price to meet a revenue gap of Rs 1065.92 crore in the coming financial year. It pegged the techno-commercial loss at about 30 per cent and urged the OERC to direct the State Government to provide subsidy to compensate the tariff loss for providing subsidised power to different categories of consumers including BPl households.
The three other distribution companies, Nesco, Southco and Wesco, also made similar demands for hike in the retail supply tariff.