HYDERABAD: The Telangana government will bear the fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA) for electricity consumed for agricultural purposes by farmers. The rest of the consumers will have to pay 30 paise per unit across categories from April 1.
Sources said Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao reportedly instructed the finance department to release funds to the discoms towards FSA charges for farmers to avoid financial troubles to Discoms.
It is expected that all consumers' power bills, excluding those for agriculture, will rise by up to 30 paise per unit each month, depending on the price of the fuels used to generate energy. The move is expected to burden the consumers by Rs 22,000 crore.
The TS Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) has set a cap on the highest FSA charge at 30 paise per unit. If FSA costs are more than 30 paise per unit, discoms must first obtain TSERC permission to levy the higher charge.
The FCA is the amount that is added to the electricity bill based on the price of fuel or coal, which fluctuates based on several factors. The TSERC instructed discoms to claim FSA charges of farmers from the state government. Further, the TSERC made it clear that it will not allow discoms to recover them from annual true-up charges filings later if the FSA charges of farmers are not reimbursed by the state government.
