Assam: AERC to hold public hearing on power tariff petitions on Feb 4

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) will hold a public hearing on February 4, 2026, regarding tariff petitions filed by major state power utilities, including Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd. (APDCL), Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Ltd. (AEGCL), State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC), and Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (APGCL).

The hearing will cover the True-up for FY 2024–25, Annual Performance Review (APR) for FY 2025–26, and Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) along with tariff determination for FY 2026–27. The session will also consider responses from stakeholders.

Meanwhile, APDCL has proposed that there should be no increase in electricity tariffs for FY 2026–27, despite projecting a cumulative revenue gap of Rs 20.21 crore under the existing tariff structure.

In its petition before the AERC, APDCL stated that its cumulative revenue requirement for FY 2026–27 is estimated at Rs 11,747 crore, excluding the revenue gap and carrying cost arising from the APR of FY 2025–26. Against this, the projected revenue at existing tariffs stands at Rs 11,726.60 crore, leaving a marginal shortfall of Rs 20.21 crore.

The utility has projected electricity sales of 13,182 million units (MU) during FY 2026–27. Based on this, the Average Cost of Supply (ACoS) is estimated at Rs 8.91 per unit, marking an increase of around 2.19 per cent over the prevailing cost of Rs 8.72 per unit in FY 2025–26, excluding subsidy and fuel cost adjustments.

According to APDCL, bridging the Rs 20.21 crore gap would require only a nominal hike of about 1.53 paise per unit. However, the company has decided not to pass on the additional burden to consumers.

The cumulative revenue gap up to FY 2026–27 includes a true-up gap of Rs 377.27 crore for FY 2024–25 and a carrying cost of Rs 89.76 crore, taking the total true-up gap to Rs 467.03 crore. Additionally, the APR for FY 2025–26 indicates a gross revenue gap of Rs 177.74 crore, including carrying costs.

APDCL noted that power purchase costs remain the largest contributor to the cost of supply, accounting for over 92 per cent of the ACoS at Rs 7.95 per unit. Operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses amount to around Rs 1.08 per unit, with employee costs forming the largest share within O&M.

The company has proposed continuation of the existing tariff structure approved by the AERC on March 25, 2025, without any hike across all LT and HT consumer categories for FY 2026–27.

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