State run bulk power purchaser, Gridco aims to procure 25,829.57 million units (mu) of electricity from different sources at a total cost of Rs 6,542.41 crore to meet the electricity demand of the state during the next fiscal.
Gridco aims to purchase 18,076.47 mu from the state sector while 7,753.10 mu will be procured from the central utilities. The break-up figures of power purchase from the state sector includes 5,764.16 mu from Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), 11,697.31 mu from thermal plants, 615 mu from renewable sources.
The bulk power trader has projected its annual revenue requirement (ARR) at Rs 8,445.70 crore before the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Authority (OERC) against Rs 6,112.5 crore approved by the commission for the current fiscal. ARR includes power purchase cost of Rs 6,542.41 crore, pass through expenses of Rs 429.22 crore, financial cost of Rs 1,374.47 crore and miscellaneous cost of Rs 99.60 crore.
As per the Electricity Act, 2003, the electricity tariff is determined on annual basis by OERC for generation, transmission and supply of electricity considering commercial viability and operational efficiency of the utilities.
The OERC is expected to give its verdict on tariff revision on March 23 and the new rates will be effective from April 1, 2014.
The bulk trader has pegged power requirement of the discoms (distribution companies) at 25,079.90 mu about 8.82 per cent over OERC's approval for 2013-14. This includes 9,100.39 mu for Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu), currently managed by OERC.
Similarly, the requirements of three other discoms, owned and operated by Reliance Infrastructure-North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Limited (Nesco), Western Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Limited (Wesco) and Southern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Limited (Southco) - are pegged at 5,414.51 mu, 7,165 mu and 3,400 mu respectively.
