SERC to hear public opinion

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) will hear the public’s opinion on a KSEB proposal to regulate the supply of electricity to consumers during the 2012-2013 fiscal on March 6 and March 8.The March 6 sitting will be held at the Kerala Institute for Entrepreneurship Development, Rockwell Road, HMT Colony, Kalamassery, at 11 a.m. The second, on March 8, will be held at theRegulatory Commission’s office at Vellayambalam at 11 am. The KSEB, in its petition on Aggregate Revenue Requirement for the 2012-2013 fiscal, said that it was being forced to purchase thermal power from outside at Rs 10.29 to Rs 10.77 per unit to meet the soaring demand in the state. Purchase of power at such prohibitive costs cannot be sustained and supply regulations will have to be imposed, KSEB argued. The proposal is as follows: In 2012-2013, consumption at normal tariff by all categories of consumers - HT/EHT and LT categories - except domestic would be confined to 85 percent of the average energy consumption during the previous year. For domestic consumers, consumption at normal tariff would be fixed at 300 units a month.Any consumption over and above the ceilings would be charged at the rate of Rs 10.31 per unit. Only consumers falling under agriculture and orphanages categories and public lighting should be exempted from the above proposal, according to the KSEB. A copy of the petition is posted on www.erckerala.org