SERC flays KSEB proposals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) has severely criticised the KSEB proposals for imposing power restrictions on domestic consumers, observing that the KSEB has never before submitted a petition which hurt domestic consumers to such an extent.At a public hearing here, the Commission questioned the rationale behind the KSEB’s proposal to charge `10 per additional unit consumed above 150 units a month by a domestic category consumer. In the past, the monthly ceiling used to be 300 units a month, the Commission chaired by K J Mathew noted.(The 150 unit a month ceiling would affect 9.5 lakh of the 85.38 lakh domestic consumers in the state. Consumers using more than 300 units a month number only 1.19 lakh consumers, KSEB figures show.) In fact, the restrictions proposed for the LT category, which includes the domestic consumers, was much more severe than that is currently in effect for the HT/EHT category, the commission observed. The KSEB had recommended restricting normal tariff-based supply to LT category consumers other than domestic to 90 per cent. Excess consumption will be charged at `10 per unit. Domestic category consumers must pay `10 per additional unit consumed above the 150 unit a month ceiling.On Wednesday, KSEB officials had no ready answer to the commission’s question whether it planned to lift the half-hour loadshedding if the power restriction proposal was indeed allowed. Besides, the KSEB had failed to mention the period during which it proposed to impose restrictions on the LT consumers, the commission noted.The KSEB had filed the petition on the instructions of the commission. Commission chairman K J Mathew observed at the beginning of the hearing that the KSEB could withdraw it if it was not convinced about the need for such a restriction.