Inspite of very serious & shocking issues in the ARR petitions of DISCOMs, New Power Tariff expected today

Inspite of very serious & shocking issues in the ARR petitions of DISCOMs, they are going to announce the Power Tariff today at around 3pm. Shockingly, we the stakeholders were not at all informed/intimated about the Public hearing. We strongly oppose any such move of DERC. Let DERC announce the New Tariff, we will share the Shocking issues with the Media.

Power Tariff issue with DERC : The Hindu

Formula to lower the Power Tariff ?

Formula to Lower Tariffs by 30% During Bijli Rally : BJP

Delhi BJP today said it will release a 10-point formula to reduce power tariff in its 'Bijli Rally' tomorrow and challenged Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to implement it or else be perceived to be hand-in- glove with private discoms and DERC on power tariff hike.

The party said it will reveal the formula to reduce power tariffs by at least 30 per cent in Delhi during its 'Bijli Rally', organised to protest rising power tariffs in the city.

"If the Chief Minister does not implement this formula even after it comes in public domain, then it would simply imply that she is hand-in-glove with the private discoms and DERC in ensuring completely unjustified hike in power tariff," Delhi BJP Chief Vijay Goel told reporters.

"Our party is committed to bringing down power tariff by 30 per cent. Those who are questioning it should know that if you have the right kind of intention and political will, then this is not at all difficult," Goel said.

BJP national president Rajnath Singh, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley, Delhi election in-charge Nitin Gadkari and would also participate in the rally.

Besides, Delhi election co-incharge Navjot Singh Siddhu and Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra would also take part in the rally.

The party announced that it would implement a special package for lower income groups and people living in Jhuggi Jhopri clusters to provide them subsidised power with a fixed monthly bill.

Goel said, "Logically, after privatisation, had the government allowed more players into power distribution, power tariffs would have come down due to market competitiveness. But that just didn't happen. People of Delhi want to know why?"

He also said Delhi BJP will review the decision of Congress government and DERC to approve hike of 300 per cent in power tariff in coming days. 

Goel said this would be done by reviewing the decision to allow Regulatory Assets (losses of private discoms to be charged from common people through tariff hike) worth at least Rs 19,500 crore.

"No private company would continue to run with such huge losses. So, why these discoms are still operating even after such huge losses? Why haven't they opted out of the power sector?"

"The fact of the matter is that these companies are actually making huge profits, they have been assured 16 per cent assured return. Their modus operandi is to take loan from banks on 10 per cent and get a return of 16 per cent on that investment," he alleged.

"The discoms should have been buying bulk power at cheaper rates but instead, they are buying expensive power from their own companies. These high prices are then passed on to consumers. There is no transparency in the power purchase agreement.

"DERC as well as Congress government is fully supporting this by not getting CAG audit done," he alleged.

"We would like to know why there has been no CAG audit of accounts of these private discoms? And without audit, how can Congress government and DERC approve and accept claims of these companies?" he said.

Goel also claimed that people were being duped by faulty electric metres at their homes which were over billing millions of consumers without their knowledge.

He said the discoms have monopoly, so no consumer could dare to complain or challenge them "as they would immediately cut off the power supply".

Individual consumers, with electricity being a basic necessity, continue to get robbed haplessly and find it difficult to challenge them individually, he said.

"Adding insult to injury of the common man, we have a Chief Minister who instead of controlling the power tariff hike, tells them: If you cannot pay electricity bills, do not use AC or Cooler, just use a tubelight or fan!", he said.

with thanks : OUTLOOK : LINK

DERC to appoint agency for testing of faulty meters

Under attack from BJP and Aam Aadmi Party over "inflated" power bills, Delhi's power regulator DERC has decided to appoint an "independent" agency within a month to carry out testing of electricity meters. 

"We feel consumers should have a choice to get their meters tested by an independent agency. The whole process to appoint the agency will be completed within one month," Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairman P D Sudhakar said. 

He said the Commission has already invited bid from private and government entities having accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) which functions under Department of Science and Technology of Government of India. 

Sudhakar said in case a meter is found to be inaccurate, then the cost of carrying out the test will have to be borne by the power distribution company which installed it. But if the meter is found accurate then the consumer will have to pay the fee for testing the meter. 

"In case a meter is found to be fast running, then the concerned power distribution company will have to adjust the past bills accordingly," the DERC chairman said. 

At present, consumers have to approach the private power distribution companies for testing of their meters. Consumers also have the option of preferring testing of meters at Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) in Bangalore through the Public Grievance Cell of Delhi government. 

Both BJP and Aam Aadmi Party have been attacking the DERC alleging that most electricity meters in the city run fast. 

Sudhakar said DERC has already set aside Rs 50 lakh for facilitating third party testing of meters. 

The Commission has also set aside Rs 20 lakh for the Electricity Consumer Advocacy Centre which will have a panel of lawyers who will assist consumers to take up their grievances with Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum and courts in Delhi. 

with thanks : Business Standard : LINK : for detailed news.

Sheila Dikshit Favours Increasing Power, Water Tariff To Prevent Wastage

Pitching for serious efforts to conserve scarce resources, chief minister Sheila Dikshit today favoured increasing the tariff on power and water to prevent their wastage.

Dikshit, while speaking at a function to mark the World Environment Day, identified limiting consumption of energy and water as main challenges facing the city and appealed to citizens and government agencies to make serious efforts to conserve them.

Addressing the gathering, IPCC chief RK Pachauri suggested increasing the tariff on power and water to make people understand the value of the scarce resources.

"We will have to take serious efforts to save the environment. We will have to control wastage of water and power. If the solution to limit consumption of water and power lies in increasing the tariff as suggested by Pachauri then we support it," Dikshit said.

The chief minister, who also flagged off a rally featuring battery operated cars, herself drove a Reva car from her 3, Motilal Nehru Marg official residence to the NDMC Commonwealth Garden in Africa Avenue.

The chief minister said the rising population in the city has put a lot of pressure on its scarce resources.

She said 42% of the total water distributed by the Delhi Jal Board goes waste.

DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : source : DNAINDIA

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DERC Rejects Discoms' Tariff Hike Demand

In a major setback to the power distribution companies in the Capital, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has once again rejected the contentions of discoms seeking hike in power tariff. Hardening its position on the ongoing faceoff over the power tariff dispute, the DERC has shot off letters to all three private discoms rejecting their arguments point-by-point, demanding an increasing in the rates. 

 

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission also sent a letter to the Government, believed to be sympathetic to the demands by the discoms, strongly objecting to any hike in tariff. The letters to discoms as well as to the Government from the DERC came days after a top official in the Chief Minister's office said genuine demands of the discoms must be addressed by the regulatory board while finalising the new electricity rates.

In its letter to Tata backed discom - NDPL - the DERC said the company made a profit of Rs 468.82 crore in 2009-10, which increased from Rs 169.60 crore in 2004-05, an increase of 176 per cent. The regulator also charged NDPL of giving "figures without any basis" in its representation to the Government demanding a hike while ignoring the fact that the audited accounts for 2009-10 showed a cash profit of Rs 468.82 crore. 

Also rejecting the discom's arguement that banks have refused to lend money to the company for its poor financial position, DERC said credit rating agency ICRA has given NDPL high credit quality rating for its healthy financial position.

DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : source : DailyPioneer

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Power rates shall go down if CM allows AND DERC has courage

Bloggers may recall the struggle in which couple of us participated to reveal truth about cost and performance of BSES and Tata distribution companies in Delhi. There were written and oral submissions and our dear Sharama ji did wonderful job besides others. We feel satisfied that DERC LISTENED BUT our political bosses spannered the tariff reduction proposal of DERC. We need to know what is happening.

I take this opportunity to say that DESU had spent a good deal of money to buy equipment which helps work on LIVE LINES AND no shutting down of line or transformer is needed. It is really regretful to see that a complete transformer is shut down plunging almost complete colony into darkness even when a work is to be carried out on a line feeding a small segment of colony.

Further, regarding customer education or interaction with residence NO MINUTES ARE ISSUED. I draw attention to MEETINGS HELD IN KARKARDOOMA AND NIRMAN VIHAR. No minutes of meeting have been received (and not even issued). The representative of residents associations and societies had made several suggestions but we do not know what happened. BSES MUST HAVE at least a monthly meeting to know how consumers are reacting to their unsheduled and announced shedding or planned shedding.

Merely publishing in some obscure news paper does not satisfy us. Why TV CHANNELS OR NATIONAL NEWS PAPERS COULD BE MEDIUMS TO INFORM PUBLIC.

Green signal for new power tariff order for the Capital

The Solicitor-General of India has given the go-ahead to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission to announce the new tariff order for the Capital. The Commission had written to Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium seeking his opinion on the validity of the Delhi Government's policy direction asking it not to go ahead with the tariff announcement just a day before it was due. Armed with the Solicitor-General's opinion, the DERC has now shot off a letter to Delhi's Power Secretary pointing out why the Commission is not bound to adhere to its earlier directive. The Solicitor-General's opinion is a major boost for the DERC's contention that it cannot be stopped from passing the tariff order.

"The direction issued by the Delhi Government under Section 108 of the Electricity Act (EA), 2003, has given rise to questions regarding the extent and applicability having legal connotations. This matter was referred to the Solicitor-General of India for giving his valuable opinion," says the DERC letter to Power Secretary Rajendra Kumar.

DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : source : Hindu

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New Power Tariff Likely Only After Games

Delhiites will continue paying the same electricity tariff rates till October this year, whenever the government gives a go-ahead for the new rates to be effective.

According to highly-placed sources, the new tariff is likely to be implemented only after the Commonwealth Games and the government is keen on a status quo. Whether the new tariff rates will reflect the reduction proposed earlier, or whether discoms will finally have their way with a hike, remains to be seen.

Following directions of the government, regulator Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has started the process of sending statutory advice to the state government on the financial position of the power companies.

While officials from the commission declined to comment on the issue, sources said the advice to be sent to the government would contain a lot of the same information that the regulator unearthed from the average revenue requirement (ARR) petitions submitted by the discoms late last year. The regulator took three-four months analyzing data submitted by discoms and audited accounts of distribution companies showing a profit made mainly by selling surplus power.

DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : source : Times of India

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Your Power Bill May Go Up Every Three Months

A new formula is being worked out to hike your electricity bills every three months, even as the power distributors (discoms) for the first time asked the Delhi government to bail them out by lending Rs 700 crore to meet a perceived cash crunch.

Sources said the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has in principle agreed to consider a new financial tool for discoms allowing them to charge a variable "fuel surcharge" in the elec- tricity bills every quarter.

 

Thus, the power tariff will be reviewed every three months, as the fuel-surcharge component will help discoms recover the extra money they pay to power generators whenever the cost of gas or coal used to produce the power increases.

The power generators charge this monthly, over and above the per unit cost of power they sell, if the input cost of coal or gas goes up.

Discoms have been complaining that this causes a bleeding of their cash as they recover the extra money only two years later when their expenses are trued up, while borrowing to meet expenses now.

DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : source : Hindustan Times

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नई बिजली दरें घोषित हो सकती हैं मार्च में

बिजली दरों में बढ़ोतरी करने के मामले में दिल्ली इलेक्ट्रिसिटी रेग्युलेटरी कमिशन (डीईआरसी) ने लोगों की जो राय मांगी थी उसका सोमवार को अंतिम दिन था। इसके बाद अब 23 और 24 फरवरी को सार्वजनिक सुनवाई की जाएगी। उम्मीद है कि मार्च के अंत तक बिजली की नई दरों की घोषणा कर दी जाए।

डीईआरसी ने बताया कि बिजली कंपनियों ने उसके पास 13 जनवरी तक अपने-अपने अग्रीमेंट रेवेन्यू रिक्वायरमेंट (एआरआर) जमा कर दिए थे। इसमें सिर्फ एनडीएमसी को छोड़ते हुए बाकी बीएसईएस यमुना और राजधानी सहित एनडीपीएल ने घाटे का हवाला देते हुए बिजली की दरें बढ़ाने की मांग की थी। डीईआरसी ने 17-18 जनवरी को पब्लिक नोटिस जारी कर इस मसले पर 6 फरवरी तक पब्लिक की राय मांगी थी। इसके बाद यह तारीख 15 फरवरी तक के लिए बढ़ा दी गई थी। डीईआरसी का कहना है कि अगर कोई 15 फरवरी की रात 12 बजे तक भी ऑनलाइन अपनी राय देगा तो उसे भी इस प्रक्रिया में शामिल किया जाएगा।
इसके अलावा जिन लोगों ने लेटर के जरिए उन्हें 15 फरवरी तक राय भेजने का काम किया है उनके लेटर भले ही 16 या 17 फरवरी तक उनके पास आए, ऐसे पत्रों को भी शामिल किया जाएगा। डीईआरसी का कहना है कि फिलहाल अभी इस बात की जानकारी नहीं ली गई है कि कितने लोगों ने अपनी राय भेजी है। इसका पता एक-दो दिन बाद लगाया जाएगा। फिर इन लोगों की राय को पढ़ा जाएगा और उनमें से कुछ कमेंट्स को बिजली कंपनियों की राय जानने के लिए उन्हें भी भेजा जाएगा।
डीईआरसी के मुताबिक इन्हें पढ़कर और सार्वजनिक सुनवाई के बाद बिजली की दरें बढ़ाने या न बढ़ाने के बारे में कोई अंतिम फैसला लिया जाएगा। मालूम हो कि बीएसईएस यमुना ने बिजली की दरों में 60.04, बीएसईएस राजधानी ने 69.60 और एनडीपीएल ने 52.48 फीसदी तक की बढ़ोतरी करने की मांग की है।

with thanks : source : navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/delhiarticleshow/5577854.cms


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BSES NEED TO BE PROACTIVE

Kindly look at the functioning of BSES Yamuna Power Ltd regarding Power Supply and its maintenance in Vishwas Nagar Block-10. There was a BIG POWER CUT started from 7:00pm on 8th Feb to 10:00am on 9th Feb (Next Day) of about 15 hours in the area.
There was another power cut from 2pm to 7:30pm on 11th Feb. Complaint made to BSES with complaint no.10021101334 and no. 1364.

Now today i.e. on 12th Feb there is a Power Cut starts from 10am to 9pm for 11 hours (only power restored twice for very little time from 3:15 to 4:15pm and 6 to 6:45pm). Complaint made to BYPL customer care with complaint no.386. Neither action nor any status is available with BSES Customer Care, hours after making the complaint.

The officers of BYPL like DGM(O&M), Asst VP(O&M), VP(O&M) and also BYPL CEO office with CM control room are apprised about the problem /situation but of no help.This is the pattern of maintenance and system up gradation /modernization by BSES and for these types of services, BSES is asking for Tariff Revision?

Lalit Mohan Sharma (General Secretary),
Vishwas Nagar RWA

Worried on the possible increase of POWER TARIFF ? Please file your comments now, before it is too late.

LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF COMMENTS ON TARIFF PETITIONS EXTENDED TO 15th FEBRUARY 2010 by DERC.

The Electricity distribution companys have filed petitions for approval of revised ANNUAL REVENUE REQUIREMENT ( ARR )and Tariff for FY 2010 - 11. Last date for receipt of comments from stakeholders was 6th of February, 2010. This has now been extended to 15th February by DERC.

Please refer few earlier news messages in print media as well on this blog, which indicated about a significant increase in the Power Tariffs. Therefore, please file your comments in any case before the 15th of February.

Please contact Mr.K K Ghei, who is working on it. Please feel free to add your comments on this blog with your contact details. Mr. Ghei will contact you for further discussions.

Please note, the reply is to be filed with :
Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission,
Viniyamak Bhawan, C- Block, Shivalik,Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, INDIA,
TeleFax.: 91-11-266736081,51,51, E Mail : secyderc@nic.in

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WAKE UP OR PAY MORE ON BIJLI BILL

BSES Yamuna power (Delhi ) Ltd Delhi has filed a PETITION before Honble’DERC(Delhi Regulatory Commission) Requesting for permission to RAISE electricity supply rates.
Public was invited to file objections before 6TH FEB (DEAD DATE).
I had filed objections earlier years and allowed personal hearings.
Most of our arguments were accepted and HIKE NOT ALLOWED.
Now i have gathered ducuments which run into six hundred pages.
I need volunteers for THREE DAYS WHO COULD COME TO A-78 MADHUVAN .
I am available on mobile 9811 868 133, land line 0114304 2395Poverty stricken and fresh migrants to the city, in search of work, live in rented accommodation.
In trans yamuna, lot of them are staying in Mandawli,Shakarpur, Laxmi Nagar etc. etc.
A couple of ladies work as maids in our homes. They cannot and do not have strength to cope with our administrative juggernaut and hence cannot avail below poverty line benefits or widow pension.
Why we cannot come to their help.
I suggest that concerned officers could visit such colonies.
In Madhuvan alone a large number of such helps are in dire need of such effort.
Kindly do something.

E mail kkghei@gmail
LET BE AWAKE OR BE READY TO PAY MINIMUM 25% MORE ON ELECTRICITY BILL.
KK Ghei

Proposed electricity tariff hike by BSES and delhites

Every year Private companies in Delhi expect increase in electricity rates without bothering about poor or middle class. BSES has failed to check theft or to meter energy supplied to street light and govt office including police stations. So,this burden is passed on to consumers. Why should i pay for the stolen electricity? Secondly, compare per kwhr energy billed in any comparable city served by STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD. Before privatisation, the Expenses in supplying electricity per kwh need to be compared with present charges.

Expenses are high because of over head high charges and purchase of equipment at exorbitant prices. We have to firm up our replies and submit before 4th Feb 2010 to DERC.

Kindly comment so that a proper replied could be firmed up.

K K Ghei

Ready to pay 70% more for power?

It is now official. The Capital’s power distribution companies have sought up to a 70% increase in power tariff.

In the annual document called Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) submitted to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), the discoms have shown humungous revenue gaps, which, if approved, will be passed on to consumers next year and will cause a sharp spike in the cost of consumption.

Going by the ARR calculations, BSES Rajdhani (BRPL), the biggest discom, has sought around a 69 per cent increase, while its cousin, BSES Yamuna (BYPL), the smallest commercial discom, has pitched for around a 60 per cent hike.

Both the discoms are controlled by Anil Ambani's Reliance. The Tata-backed North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) has asked for 52 per cent increase in tariff.

PLEASE CLICK THE HEADLINE ABOVE FOR THE DETAILED NEWS.

with thanks : source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/newdelhi/Ready-to-pay-70-more-for-power/Article1-497560.aspx

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