The DERC had introduced this in 2012 to help discom recover additional costs on account of costlier coal and gas.
In a move that could lead to a rise in power tariff in Delhi, the appellate tribunal for electricity has directed the capital’s power regulators to finalise the pending power purchase adjustment cost (PPAC) within three weeks.
If the petitions of the three discoms are accepted by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) , the capital is likely to see a tariff hike of 5 per cent to 20 per cent.
Stating that it would have to “face the consequences” for non-compliance of the order, the tribunal has directed the DERC to determine the PPAC component for the third and fourth quarter of the financial year 2014-15.
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The PPAC is a surcharge levied to compensate discoms for variations in fuel prices in the market.
The DERC had introduced this in 2012 to help discom recover additional costs on account of costlier coal and gas.
Reacting to the development, the DERC Chairman P D Sudhakar told The Indian Express, “We are now reading the detailed order. Any further action would be taken after that.”
The appellate tribunal’s directive comes after the Tata-owned discom TPDDL moved the tribunal, challenging a November 14 decision by the DERC.
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In that order, the DERC had withdrawn the provisional PPAC surcharge. TPDDL had said that “suffering huge financial crunch” on account of non-determination of the PPAC on “time-bound basis”. The DERC, on November 13 last year, had given its nod to fuel surcharge of 7 per cent for BSES Yamuna Power, 4.5 per cent for BSES Rajdhani Power and 2.5 per cent for Tata Power.
However, a day later it had withdrawn the surcharge stating that various power generating companies, including NTPC “have provided only part of the information regarding the pricing of fuel and billing of power generated at their stations” and that a “fresh decision” would be taken after “further examination” of the claims.
The increase in the tariff due to the levy of surcharge in November last year had lead to standoff between the AAP and the power regulator.
The AAP had condemned the tariff hike, saying that DERC has failed to perform its duty as an independent regulator and its decision seem to benefit the discoms.
What’s PPAC
Power purchase adjustment cost is a surcharge levied to compensate the discoms for variation in fuel costs in the market. It was introduced in 2012. Delhi’s three discoms have said that the cost at which they buy power from public sector units has gone up and increase in other costs such as rail freight for transporting coal have pushed up the price.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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The DERC had introduced this in 2012 to help discom recover additional costs on account of costlier coal and gas.
