Bhubaneswar: After a long time, there is good news for the electricity consumers of Odisha. On Tuesday, during a public hearing held by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), it was revealed that the electricity tariff per unit is likely to decrease by 33 paise. This decision was made by the commission after hearing the arguments from both electricity distribution companies and the general public.
Very soon, the commission will seek approval from the government and make a formal announcement. During the public hearing held earlier in February this year for determining the retail electricity price, the commission had not taken any decision on the tariff application submitted by Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) and had kept the electricity rates unchanged. On Tuesday, the commission accepted OPGC’s tariff application for public hearing.
During the hearing, one of the commission members, Gajendra Mahapatra, was absent due to urgent work, while the chairman Pradeep Kumar Jena and member Sushant Ray Mahapatra conducted the hearing. Harish Tripathi, Director (Operations), informed that a temporary rate of Rs 3.40 per unit for the second phase plant had been approved during the earlier hearing.
ODISHA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION
During the public hearing, energy analyst Anand Mahapatra stated that OPGC currently fulfills about one-third of Odisha’s total electricity demand. Once the third phase of OPGC becomes operational, it will be able to meet a significant portion of the state’s power requirement. He emphasized that the tariff set by OPGC significantly influences the retail power prices in the state. He also mentioned that Rs 4,901 crore of public investment has gone into OPGC projects, but the public is yet to receive its full benefits.
The coal cost per ton for OPGC has been temporarily approved at Rs 1,800. However, there were objections filed against such a high temporary rate. Anand informed the commission about this and mentioned that if this issue is resolved, the power tariff could drop by around Re 1 per unit, directly benefiting consumers.
As of now, a reduction of 33 paise per unit in retail electricity prices is expected.