The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) through an order dated June 30 announced a 2.18% hike in energy charges and fixed charges, which will come into effect from Saturday, July 1, for 2023-24. The hike is applicable to all categories of consumers. However, per the directions issued by the Tamil Nadu state government, domestic consumers will not bear the brunt of the hike as the government will bear the burden.
According to TNERC, common facilities in multi-tenements (apartments etc.) which were previously brought under the single slab tariff low tension LT-ID category through an order issued last year, will see an increase in energy charges by Rs 0.15 per unit, while the fixed charges will increase by Rs 2/kilowatt per month. Further, common facilities such as lighting and water supply in multi-tenements that consist of both domestic and non-domestic utilities will also be charged under the LT-ID tariff if the non-residential area does not exceed 25% of the total built-up area of the tenements.
If non-residential areas exceed 25% of the total built-up area, such tenements will be charged under LT Tariff V, TNERC said. For High Tension (HT) consumers who fall under the HT-2 category, the consumption charges have been hiked to 25 paise per unit (up from 15 paise per unit) and the demand charges have been hiked to Rs 562 per kVA per month from Rs 550 per kVA (kilovolt-amp) per month. While the same hike in demand charges has been applied for industries and IT services under the LT-III B category, the consumption charges have been increased by 15 paise per unit.
Based on a policy directive by the Tamil Nadu government, the escalated rates have been arrived at after comparing the General Consumer Price Index (CPI) of April 2023 with the same index for the month of August 2022. The same formula will be used for the upcoming years, to arrive at the hike rates, TNERC said.
In September last year, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) approved a proposal by Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) to raise the power tariff for domestic consumers. The TNERC also announced that power tariffs would henceforth be regularly revised every year, starting from July 1, 2022, until 2026-2027.