Tangedco’s tariff revision petition faces stiff opposition

Chennai:

It was anger and stiff opposition from farmers and other associations against Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) tariff revision petition proposing hike in demand charges for agricultural and hut services during a public hearing conducted by Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The public hearing, which was conducted by TNERC members K Venugopal and S Nagalsamy, had ssociations like Farmers Association (Vyvasayee Sangam), Power Engineers Society of Tamil Nadu and farmers opposing the move and stating that the loss by Tangedco should not be passed on to consumers.

S Gandhi of Power Engineers Society of Tamil nadu said last time, “The tariff was hiked following the loss of 7,874 crore incurred by TNEB. Despite this, during the previous year the electricity board loss is Rs 9,719 crore.This is mostly due to the purchase of power from the private power producers at an astronomical cost.”

He said the proposed hike in demand charges for agricultural and hut services would generate only Rs 973 crore. He said the loss should not be passed on to other consumers. He also said that there is no clear account on generation of wind power by the windmills as well as units adjusted. This results in huge loss to TNEB in accounting system, Gandhi alleged.

There was also plea by the Broilers association seeking that it be brought under tariff IV on par with agriculture. Sugarcane farmers as well as fish farms also urged the TNERC to include them under tariff IV, which is the bare minimum tariff structure.

There was also some drama when Tangedco finance director G Rajagopal, who started speaking and highlighting the issues which has resulted in Tangedco seeking tariff revision, was interrupted by people several times posing their queries. TNERC member Nagalswamy urged the people to calm down. This resulted in some heated argument between TNERC members as well as some members attending the public hearing. However, things calmed down and Rajagopal was able to finish his speech.