Power cos make merry this season
The electricity that has been saved due to cold weather has been sold
to neighbouring states
Freezing: The cold weather has affected our electricity bills too
It's not just us who have benefited from the weather's cold spell.
While we can all expect a lower bill due to less consumption of
electricity, power companies too have made some good money.
They have sold the unused power to neighbouring states suffering from
a power crisis at a rate of Rs 7 to Rs 7.50 per unit.
"We will now reduce the per unit cost charged in the bills at least
for February by around 20 per cent," said an official of Tata Power
Comp-any.
The lowered costs will apply to Reliance Energy Ltd (REL), BEST and
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd consumers too.
The demand for power in Mumbai during the night has come down from
700-800 MW to 500-600 MW.
However, there is some bad news for those Mumbaikars who are supplied
power by REL and BEST. Consumers will have to pay more from April, as
these companies have proposed to increase the electricity tariffs, and
have also added new tariff components.
"We had to amend the tariffs due to the additional power purchased
from other states in the past," said S A Puranik, additional GM, BEST.
BEST has added Rs 226 crore for purchasing power from other states for
2007-08 and Rs 435 crore in 2008-09.
REL has proposed to recover Rs 534 crore for a new component called
the Asset Recovery Charge. This amount is the cost incurred by REL on
employee costs, maintenance costs, etc.
An official from REL said, "We are following the Appellate Tribunal of
Electricity's order to charge consumers in 2008-09."
From Chandigarh to Chennai - find friends all over India. Click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment