Need tariff hike to buy power to meet load requirements: Dept
Panaji: The electricity department has cited increased
power load requirements
and rising power costs as justification for its proposed
power tariff hike
for the next three years in the state.
It has proposed a tariff hike of 5.95%, 5.64%, and 4.88% for 2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28.
For the two years after that, no hike has been proposed.
Once approved by the
Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission
(JERC), the tariff hike could come into effect from June. Chief electrical engineer, Stephen Fernandes, said on Friday that the hike is necessary because the power load in the state has increased by an average of 10% over the past three years, forcing the state to buy power at high rates to meet the shortfall.
'Fortunately, Goa has long-term contracts — 25 to 30 years old — with the National Thermal Power Corporation from whom it buys power for between Rs 1.8 paise and Rs 3.15 paise.
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If long-term thermal agreements are signed now, we will have to pay Rs 6 or 7 per unit of power,' he said. 'During peak hours, our power demand increases by almost 25-35%,' he added, noting that during peak hours, the department must purchase power from the open market at the rate of Rs 10 per unit.
Consumers at the public hearing, however, said people would be financially burdened and industries would be affected. They appealed to the JERC to keep the tariff hike on hold until the department recovers outstanding dues from govt departments and other defaulters first.
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The consumers said the department has huge dues to recover, which is affecting billing and also burdening people who honestly pay bills. They pointed out the department's failure to recover dues from cable TV operators and others utilising the department's poles to hang their cables and signage.
Consumers also asked about action on power thefts.
Goa Consumer Action Network coordinator, Roland Martins, said the department should have held a public discussion to explain the new classifications of categories of consumers.
He suggested that the department constitute a separate cell to check houses being turned into tourism businesses but being billed on domestic tariff. He also said govt failed to recover money from the failed aerial bunch cabling project.
Fernandes, however, said there is no correlation between the recovery of outstanding dues and the tariff hike. He added that power thefts don't take place in Goa on a large scale. Most of the time, it is consumers running commercial businesses under domestic connections. The JERC cut short the public hearing, permitting few consumers to speak and asking the rest to send their concerns and suggestions on the power tariff via email instead.
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