CERS urges regulator to reject GEB petition

Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), the Ahmedabad-based consumer rights organisation, has appealed to the Gujarat Electricity and Regulatory Commission (GERC) seeking rejection of the Gujarat Electricity Board's (GEB's) petition for aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) for the four years from 2000-01 to '03-04.

CERS, in its petition filed on December 11, 2003, held that the tariff order passed by the GERC on October 10, 2000, was valid up to March 31, 2002, and, therefore, the GEB should demand approval of the ARR only for the years 2002-03 and 2003-04. The Commission is expected to hold its hearing on the petition soon, CERS sources said.

"The GEB's loss was shown at Rs 1,167 crore on October 10, 2000 and this has risen to Rs 7,103 crore in 2003. What measures has the petitioner taken to reduce or control these losses?," the CERS asked in its petition.

It demanded that the GEB submit the details in this regard to the GERC. In its order on October 10, 2000, the GERC had directed the GEB to limit the expenses and reduce the cost of fuel. The GEB stated in its petition that it had implemented all measures suggested by the GERC.

"Then how have the losses increased," CERS asked. The GEB claimed in its petition that it had brought down the transmission and distribution losses to 20.25% in 2001-2002 from 34.2%, but the T&D loss increased to 28.74% in 2002-2003.

The GEB should explain such large variations in T&D losses, the CERS noted in its petition before the Commission.

The plant load factor (PLF) of the Sikka Thermal Power Station (TPS), the Kutch Lignite TPS and the Dhuvaran TPS is much less than what was expected by the GERC.