Bhubaneswar: A proposal was presented today during a public hearing of the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) advocating a reduction of ₹1 per unit in electricity tariffs. Earlier in February, a hearing had been conducted to finalize this year’s revised power tariff. At that time, the commission had provisionally approved electricity rates without making a final decision on the application submitted by OPGC (Odisha Power Generation Corporation), keeping the existing tariff unchanged.
Today’s public hearing at the OERC addressed the tariff application previously submitted by OPGC. Due to an urgent matter, Commission Member Gajendra Mahapatra was absent, while Chairman Pradeep Kumar Jena and Member Sushant Ray Mahapatra presided over the hearing. OPGC’s General Manager Haresh Tripathy submitted a request to approve the earlier-provisionally sanctioned rate of ₹3.40 per unit for the second-phase power plant. He clarified that the delay in the project had led to increased capital investment, a concern jointly addressed by GRIDCO and OPGC and communicated to the commission.
Other stakeholders like Tata Distribution Company, OPTCL, and SLDC offered general opinions. Power analyst Anand Mahapatra represented Eastern Media Limited in the absence of Chairman Soumya Ranjan Patnaik. OPGC currently supplies one-third of Odisha’s total power requirement, and upon completion of its third phase, will meet a major portion of the state’s electricity demand. Consequently, OPGC’s tariff significantly influences the overall consumer power rate.
No Hourly Power Cuts Under the Pretext of Maintenance
Mahapatra emphasized that although public investment of ₹4,192 crore has been made in OPGC, the benefits have not yet reached the consumers. He accused OPGC of operating the plant with a profit-driven, private-sector mentality. The coal cost for OPGC has been provisionally approved at ₹1,800 per ton. Mahapatra also submitted a complaint highlighting this unusually high temporary cost of coal to the commission.
If the coal pricing issue is resolved, the electricity tariff of OPGC may decrease by approximately ₹1 per unit, providing direct benefits to consumers. He estimated that this could lead to a reduction of 33 paise per unit in the overall tariff.
The commission took Mahapatra’s complaint seriously, expressing interest in obtaining the government’s stance on various related issues. Government representative and Energy Department legal officer Sonali Patnaik informed the commission that she would present these matters to the government.
A public hearing is scheduled for May 20 to address OPGC’s coal procurement price determination, based on a proposal submitted by OCPL (Odisha Coal and Power Limited). In relation to regular maintenance-based outages, Commission Chairman Mr. Jena sought opinions from Tata Power. Tata representatives clarified that no permission had been granted to cut power in the name of maintenance. The commission has instructed Tata Power to issue a public notice to inform citizens regarding this matter.