Power tariff hikes in delhi For more blogs and more information about power problems in India.. contact Monika bansal@ monika.delhi.2004@gmail.com or you can come to blog on power shortages- http://group6.blog.com for more blogs .

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Power tariff hikes in Delhi- A
costly affair
Aggressively setting up solar power systems in Delhi can overcome the power deficit to a
large degree
It’s that bad news we all dread to hear and it’s happened once again. Barely two months
back when the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had increased the
power tariff by 1.5-3%, another hike of 1.5% has now been given the green signal. While
the state regulator has fixed 4.5% fuel surcharge for BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and BSES
Rajdhani Power Ltd, 3% surcharge has been approved for Tata Power Delhi Distribution
Ltd customers, shooting up the power bills by at least Rs 90.
The reason quoted by the distribution companies to justify the inflation is the rising fuel
cost. “Since coal is getting costlier, power generation is getting costlier. Hence, more
money has to be paid to buy this expensive electricity”. Sadly, this has now become the
default justification for tariff hikes as more than 75% of Delhi’s electricity comes from
coal-based thermal power plants.
In 2012, 32 major thermal power plants, including five major ones that supply power to
Delhi, faced a severe shortage of coal. This was caused by the rising cost of coal, both in
the domestic and international markets, and it led to a nationwide power deficit of
8,000MW. Out of this, the national capital’s share was 300MW. So to prevent long

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power cuts (this summer’s projected shortfall is 400MW in Delhi) and feed the starving
power plants, the government is working on a proposal to import more coal and it hopes
to pass on this higher costs (read another tariff hike) to consumers. But wait a minute.
Why should you and I, as Delhiites, become the victims of our government’s inefficient
planning? Why are we being forced to bear the burden of expensive and truant
electricity when we could have got better service at a lower rate?
Not only is the cost of coal increasing, coal mining destroys forests and wildlife and
pollutes the environment
In 2012, the Delhi regulatory commission was instructed by law to setup renewable
power projects of 120MW. Considering that the city receives 350 days of sunlight that
could be harnessed as solar energy, the target was very much achievable. But the state
failed to do its bit. Had it completed its target of last year, we could have overcome the
power deficit to some degree in this year. Moreover, switching to renewable energy
would have freed us, as consumers, from the vicious cycle of rising coal prices and rising
power tariffs.
Just as Air Marshal (retd) Minhi Bawa of Safdarjung Enclave in Delhi has done. Two
years back, Bawa installed a solar heater on his rooftop for Rs 45,000. Today, he gets
500 litres of hot water in a single day without paying a single penny. During peak hours,
when power discoms have to shell out Rs 12 for coal-based electricity, solar energy for
the same period can be bought at Rs 7. Today, using solar energy is cheaper than

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for more blogs .
burning diesel in power generators. Still, we are being forced to accept DERC’s tariff
hikes, despite knowing that it could have been avoided had the state regulator been pro-
active and shown a firm will to fulfill its clean energy targets.
Renewable energy, we all know, is the future as coal is not going to last forever. And the
faster we burn this fossil fuel, the higher would be the price to use it. Unfortunately, the
DERC is yet to realize this fact as it continues to rely heavily on coal-based electricity.
Worse, utility companies are now brainstorming on how to carry out the load-shedding
when the summer peaks. So, like every previous summer, this year too, we’ll all be
paying double money for a bad service.