Electricity rates likely to go up in Delhi

Electricity rates may go up in the city as the Delhi government has authorised the Discoms to recover Rs 27,000 crore accumulated as regulatory assets, Power Minister Ashish Sood revealed in Vidhan Sabha on Monday.

Sood, while replying to a question posed by AAP MLA and former minister Imran Hussain during the Question Hour, said the previous AAP government in Delhi left behind Rs 27,000 of regulatory assets of the Discoms.

“Power Discoms are authorised to recover this amount from people through hike in power tariff,” he said.

Regulatory assets of a power distribution company (Discom) refer to any costs incurred by it that can be recovered from consumers in future through tariff revisions.

The regulatory assets are accumulated when a power regulator (DERC in case of Delhi) defers the recovery of the amounts incurred by the Discoms through future rate hike. No hike in electricity rates took place during the 10-year rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.

“During the tenure of the previous government, tariff orders were to be issued according to a High Court order and the previous government could not protect the interests of the people of Delhi in the court,” the Minister said, adding the rates would increase in the coming time.

In an apparent reference to the AAP, Sood said “perhaps some people want the electricity rates to be hiked so that they can do politics over it”.

He said the BJP government was looking into the matter and is in touch with the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). The DERC has already started the process for tariff revision through consultations with various stakeholders.