Cesc proposes power tariff hike of 80 ps per unit

Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Ltd (Cesc) proposed a power tariff hike of 80 paise per unit, to balance the revenue deficit faced by the Corporation, here on Monday.

Speaking at the public hearing of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, Cesc Managing Director, D Kiran said that the Corporation faced a revenue deficit of Rs 466.09 crore. The meeting was chaired by the chairman of KERC, M R Srinivasa Murthy.

However, the remark prompted industrial associations to allege that Cesc was indulging in “major manipulation of figures”, to impose the proposed hike. According to Kiran, of the total deficit, Rs 369.89 crore was the projected revenue deficit for the year 2016. In order to balance the deficit and increase the revenue, Cesc has proposed a fare revision of 80 paise per unit, he said.

Ravindra Prabhu, vice president of KIADB Industrial Area Manufacturers Association (KIAMA), said that the proposed hike was unscientific. He said that the loss incurred by Cesc, which has resulted in the revenue deficit was due to the mismanagement of Escoms of Karnataka. Power tariff revision was an attempt to victimise the consumers, he said. He urged the Commission to reject the proposal submitted by Cesc.

Public representatives and representatives of industrial and consumer associations present at the meeting, also opposed the proposed tariff hike of Cesc.

Unsafe

The safety of linemen, working for Cesc was also raised during the meeting. Srinivasa Murthy, referring to newspaper reports of deaths of three linemen on duty during the past year, sought an explanation on why Cesc was not ensuring that the employees wear the safety gear provided to them.

Kiran said that safety gears had been distributed to all linemen, to prevent accidents during electric line repairs.

Awareness programmes regarding the same has been taken up in all districts under Cesc, he said.

However, public representatives present at the meeting complained that none of the linemen were using safety equipment, while taking up repair works.
 “Even though a few of them have been given kits, they do not use the same. In some cases, the employees are not qualified to take up the works, which put their lives in danger,” they said. Some of the employees, do not even have uniforms, they complained.
Following the concerns raised by the public, Srinivasa Murthy instructed Cesc authorities to ensure that all personnel involved in repair works are seen wearing the required safety kit and uniforms.

Rebate

Ravindra Prabhu of KIAMA, said that the industries were ready to shift their activities to non-peak hours, provided Cesc increased the rebate given to industries.
 He said that power demand peaked in the region during day time, while the demand was significantly lower during the night.

Kiran however said that the demand peaked during the morning hours, usually due to activities in residences. There was no direct relation to power demand during peak hours and power consumption of industries.

Public representatives also made suggestions to prevent the losses suffered by Cesc. They suggested that Cesc install meters to all streetlights to increase the efficiency of billing, and to ensure that the Corporation collects the bill amount pending from local bodies in the region.

Srinivasa Murthy, instructed Cesc officials to ensure that all transformers in Cesc limits are repaired or replaced by the end of the month so as to ensure that people did not face problems during summer months. B Manival Raju and H D Arun Kumar were two other members of KERC, who attended the meeting.