Tata Steel seeks electricity tariff hike in Jamshedpur at public hearing

Requests to keep tariff hikes in domestic category minimal

JSERC public hearing on Tata Steel’s tariff petition for FY 2023

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, March 20: The Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC) held a public hearing on March 20 on the tariff petition of Tata Steel Limited, the licensed power distribution entity for Jamshedpur. The hearing, conducted at Golmuri Club, focused on the True-up for FY 2022-23, Annual Performance Review of FY 2023-24, and ARR for FY 2024-25.

Chaired by Justice Amitav Kumar Gupta, along with Mahendra Prasad and Atul Kumar, members of JSERC, the session was attended by numerous domestic, commercial, and industrial consumers, as well as representatives from Tata Steel and Tata Steel UISL.

Suman Mandal, Sr. Divisional Manager (EP&C), presented the key points of the petition, emphasizing the need for tariff adjustments to recover costs and proposing a tariff adjustment to bring it closer to the cost of supply, aiming to recover the revenue gap.

During the Q&A session, approximately 200 attendees, including representatives from Tata Steel Limited and Tata Steel UISL, were present, with about 15 individuals providing suggestions on the tariff proposal.

Consumers praised the service and power availability provided by Tata Steel Limited. Requests were made to keep tariff hikes in the domestic category minimal while raising tariffs in the commercial category. Suggestions were put forward to introduce subsidies in the tariff of the domestic category and to increase the 0-100 Units slab to 0-200 Units. Concerns were raised about power theft, capital investment plans, Jharkhand Electricity Duty, and fixed/demand charges, among other issues.

Among those who presented questions and suggestions included Baidyanath Agarwal, N S Walia,  Parsuram Singh Baghi,  Rajesh Kumar, and  Santu Hore, Gupteshwar Singh, Nand Singh, BN Jha, Birendra Singh, SS Chawla, Shashi Acharya, SD Pandey, S Anand Rao, Lakkad Das and Y Prasad.

The session provided a platform for stakeholders to express their concerns and suggestions regarding Tata Steel’s tariff petition, fostering transparency and public participation in the regulatory process.

LF rebate for industrial consumers:
Existing- On total energy consumption over 65% subject to a maximum of 15%
Proposed- On incremental energy consumption over 65% subject to a maximum of 15%.
Prompt payment rebates: 2% within 5 days (no change).
Online payment rebates: 1% shall be allowed on the Billed amount for payment within due date subject to a
maximum ceiling rebate of Rs 250 against the bill amount (no change).
DPS:
Existing:- Delayed beyond 21 days, Bank Rate +500 basis point for 1st month and 50 basis point increase
every month till 700 points (as per DTR).
Proposed: – 1.5% per month or part thereof.