Consumer Counsel For Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission

    Regulatory Counsel

    Consumer Counsel For Annual Revenue Requirement And Tariff For All State Electrical Utilities (Genco, Discom, Stu, Sldc) In Orissa (Fy 2011-12 – Present)

    As part of its role as Consumer Counsel for Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) since 2011, the Centre for Regulation and Policy (CRP), WISE, continued to assist in the systematic analysis of annual revenue requirement (ARR) and tariff petitions submitted by the power utilities of the state for the financial year 2023—24. CRP prepared a summary of each petition, analysed the ARR and tariff petitions filed by the utilities from the consumer’s perspective, and presented the analysis during public hearings in Odisha, finally presenting the summary of petitions before the State Advisory Committee meeting held at OERC office. As Consumer Counsel, the CRP team attended both virtual and physical public hearings in February-March 2023, and presented their opinion on the ARR submitted by each utility before OERC. The public hearings were organised at Paralakhemundi (South), Balasore (North), Dhenkanal (Central), and Burla (West). CRP summarised the objections submitted by various stakeholders against each petition and rejoinders submitted by utilities, before and after the public hearing. The summaries and detailed analyses were incorporated in the respective tariff orders issued by OERC. CRP also prepared summary presentations incorporating contents from all the petitions for presentation before the State Advisory Committee.

    The issues pointed out by CRP, WISE, for distribution utilities included: sales projection with respect to consumer numbers and sanctioned load, division-wise energy accounting and energy audits, periodic audits as per the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, monitoring of division-wise performance, consumer awareness for payment through digital mode, review of costs based on observed employee addition trends, initiatives to recover the outstanding dues, open access charges for renewable energy projects as per new RE Policy announced by the Government of Odisha, and review of various incentives proposed to incentivize industries to increase their consumption and utilize available surplus power.