Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission, Patna - India RE ...

Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission, Patna

Case No. 30 of 2019 (NBPDCL) and

Case No. 31 of 2019 (SBPDCL)

Tariff Order

Truing up for FY 2018-19, Annual Performance Review for FY 2019-20,

Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and determination of Retail Tariff for FY 2020-21

for

North Bihar Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL)

and

South Bihar Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL)

Issued on 20th March 2020

(With effect from 1st April, 2020)

Discoms (NBPDCL and SBPDCL) Tariff Order for FY 2020-21

Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission | Page i

CONTENTS

ORDER1

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 9

1.1. Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) ...................................................................... 9

1.2. Functions of BERC................................................................................................................... 9

1.3. Profile of Discoms ................................................................................................................. 10

1.4. Admission of Current Petition and Public Hearing Process .................................................... 10

1.5. Approach of this order .......................................................................................................... 13

1.6. Contents of this order ........................................................................................................... 15

2. Summary of Petition filed for Truing-up for FY 2018-19, Annual Performance Review for FY 2019-20 and Annual Revenue Requirement for FY 2020-21 ................................................. 16

2.1 Petitions filed by DISCOMs for FY 2020-21 ........................................................................... 16

2.2 Proposed Tariffs ................................................................................................................... 19

2.3 Request to the Commission .................................................................................................. 21

3. Stakeholder’s Objections/Suggestion, Petitioner’s Response and Commission’s Observation ....... 22

3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 22

4. Truing-up for FY 2018-19 ...................................................................................................... 43

4.1 Background .......................................................................................................................... 43

4.2 Truing-up of ARR for FY 2018-19 ........................................................................................... 44

4.3 Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Energy Sales .................................................... 44

4.3.1 Number of Consumers .......................................................................................................... 46

4.3.2 Connected Load.................................................................................................................... 47

4.3.3 Energy Sales ......................................................................................................................... 48

4.4 Distribution Loss ................................................................................................................... 52

4.5 State Transmission Loss ........................................................................................................ 54

4.6 Central Transmission Loss ..................................................................................................... 55

4.7 Power Purchase .................................................................................................................... 56

4.8 Energy Balance ..................................................................................................................... 62

4.9 Power Purchase Cost ............................................................................................................ 64

4.10 Additional Power Purchase cost incurred due to excess Distribution Loss ............................. 80

4.11 Total Power Purchase Cost ................................................................................................... 80 4.12 Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO) ....................................................................... 81

4.13 Capital Expenditure .............................................................................................................. 86

4.14 Gross Fixed Assets ................................................................................................................ 90

4.15 Depreciation ......................................................................................................................... 91

4.16 Interest on Loans .................................................................................................................. 93

4.17 Other Interest and Finance Charges ...................................................................................... 97

4.18 Return on Equity................................................................................................................... 98

4.19 Employee Costs .................................................................................................................. 100

4.20 Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expenses ......................................................................... 101

4.21 Administrative and General (A&G) Expenses ...................................................................... 102

4.22 Holding Company Expenses ................................................................................................ 104

4.23 Summary of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses ............................................... 107

4.24 Prior Period Credit / (Charges) ............................................................................................ 107

4.25 Interest on Security Deposit ............................................................................................... 108

4.26 Deposit of Regulatory fund for Renewable Power Purchase Obligation ............................... 110

4.27 Non-Tariff Income .............................................................................................................. 111

4.28 Contingency Reserve .......................................................................................................... 116

4.29 Interest on working capital ................................................................................................. 117

4.30 Revenue from sale of power ............................................................................................... 118

4.31 Government Subsidy .......................................................................................................... 124


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4.32 Annual Revenue Requirement and Revenue Gap for FY 2018-19 ........................................ 125

5. Review for FY 2019-20 ........................................................................................................ 127

5.1. Background ........................................................................................................................ 127

5.2. Number of Consumers, Sales and Connected Load ............................................................. 127

5.2.1. Number of Consumers ........................................................................................................ 132

5.2.2. Energy Sales ....................................................................................................................... 132

5.2.3. Connected Load.................................................................................................................. 134

5.3. Distribution Loss ................................................................................................................. 137

5.4. State Transmission loss ....................................................................................................... 139 5.5. Central Transmission Loss ................................................................................................... 140

5.6. Power Purchase .................................................................................................................. 140

5.7. Energy Balance ................................................................................................................... 149

5.8. Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO) ..................................................................... 152

5.9. Power Purchase Cost .......................................................................................................... 155

5.10 Transmission Charges ......................................................................................................... 168

5.11 Total Power Purchase Cost ................................................................................................. 169

5.12 Capital Expenditure ............................................................................................................ 170

5.13 Gross Fixed Assets .............................................................................................................. 174

5.14 Depreciation ....................................................................................................................... 175

5.15 Interest on Loans ................................................................................................................ 177

5.16 Other finance charges ........................................................................................................ 179

5.17 Return on Equity................................................................................................................. 180

5.18 Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses .................................................................... 182

5.18.1 Employee Cost .................................................................................................................... 182

5.18.2 Administration and General (A&G) Expenses ...................................................................... 186

5.18.3 Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expenses ......................................................................... 189

5.18.4 Allocation of Holding Company Expenses ........................................................................... 191

5.18.5 Summary of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses ................................................ 192

5.19 Contribution to Contingency Reserve ................................................................................. 192 5.20 Interest on Security Deposit ............................................................................................... 192

5.21 Non-Tariff Income .............................................................................................................. 194

5.22 Interest on working capital ................................................................................................. 195

5.23 Revenue from sale of power at existing tariff ...................................................................... 196

5.24 Annual Revenue Requirement and Revenue Gap at existing tariff projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................................................................................................................ 200

6. Aggregate Revenue Requirement for FY 2020-21 ................................................................ 203

6.1. Background ........................................................................................................................ 203

6.2. Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Sales for FY 2020-21 ...................................... 203

6.2.1. Petitioners’ submission....................................................................................................... 203

6.2.2. Analysis of Category-wise number of consumers, energy sales and connected load ............ 206

6.3. Summary of Category-wise number of consumers, connected load and sales approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21 ...................................................................................... 214

6.4. Distribution Loss ................................................................................................................. 216

6.5. State Transmission Loss ...................................................................................................... 218

6.6. Central Transmission Losses ............................................................................................... 219

6.7. Power Purchase .................................................................................................................. 219

6.8. Energy Balance ................................................................................................................... 231

6.9. Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO) ..................................................................... 234

6.10. Power Purchase Cost .......................................................................................................... 237

6.11. Transmission Charges ......................................................................................................... 250

6.12. Total Power Purchase Cost ................................................................................................. 252


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6.13. Incremental Power Purchase Cost ...................................................................................... 253

6.14. Merit Order Dispatch (MOD) .............................................................................................. 253

6.15. Capital Expenditure ............................................................................................................ 255

6.16. Gross Fixed Assets .............................................................................................................. 259

6.17. Depreciation ....................................................................................................................... 260

6.18. Interest on Loans ................................................................................................................ 261

6.19. Other Finance Charges ....................................................................................................... 264

6.20. Return on Equity................................................................................................................. 265

6.21. Contribution to Contingency Reserve ................................................................................. 266

6.22. Employee Costs .................................................................................................................. 267 6.23. Administration and General (A&G) Expenses ...................................................................... 269

6.24. Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expenses ......................................................................... 271

6.25. Allocation of Holding Company Expenses ........................................................................... 272

6.26. Summary of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses ................................................ 273

6.27. Interest on Security Deposit ............................................................................................... 273

6.28. Non-Tariff Income .............................................................................................................. 274

6.29. Interest on working capital ................................................................................................. 276

6.30. Annual Revenue Requirement ............................................................................................ 278

6.31. Trued up net Revenue Gap / (Surplus) of FY 2018-19 .......................................................... 279

6.32. Revenue from sale of power at existing tariff ...................................................................... 280

6.33. Consolidated approved ARR of DISCOMs for FY 2020-21 ..................................................... 282

6.34. Revenue with revised tariff ................................................................................................. 282

6.35. Average Tariff as a percentage of Average Cost of Supply ................................................... 283

6.36. Average Tariff as a percentage of Voltage wise Cost of supply ............................................ 284

7. Voltage-wise Cost of Supply ................................................................................................ 286

7.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 286

7.2 Methodology adopted for Computation of Voltage-wise cost of supply .............................. 286

7.3 Determination of Voltage-wise Technical losses ................................................................. 288

7.4 Computation of Voltage-wise Cost of Supply ...................................................................... 290

8. Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff Schedule ........................................................................ 297 8.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 297

8.2 Simplification of Tariff Structure ......................................................................................... 298

8.3 Terms and conditions of LT and HT Tariff ............................................................................ 302

8.4 Recovery of Fixed charges .................................................................................................. 305

8.5 Miscellaneous and General charges .................................................................................... 305

8.6 Revenue gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21 ................................................................................ 306

8.7 Tariff Schedule ................................................................................................................... 309

9. Wheeling and Open Access Charges ................................................................................... 334

9.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 334

9.2 Wheeling Charges ............................................................................................................... 334

9.3 Open Access Charges .......................................................................................................... 338

9.4 Transmission Charges ......................................................................................................... 338

9.5 Transmission and Wheeling Charges for Open Access Customers ....................................... 340

9.6 SLDC Charges ...................................................................................................................... 341

9.7 (A) Cross Subsidy Surcharge ................................................................................................ 341

9.8 (B) Roadmap for reduction of cross subsidy surcharge ........................................................ 343

9.9 Additional Surcharge .......................................................................................................... 344

9.10 Reactive Energy charges ..................................................................................................... 344

9.11 Standby charges ................................................................................................................. 345

9.12 Application Fee ................................................................................................................... 345 9.13 Other Charges .................................................................................................................... 346


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9.14 Information to be put on the website ................................................................................. 346

10. Directives ........................................................................................................................... 347

10.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 347

10.2.1 Directive 1: Performance of Discoms .................................................................................. 347

10.2.2 Directive 2: Cent Percent Consumer Metering .................................................................... 349

10.2.3 Directive 3: Energy Accounting/Audit ................................................................................. 351

10.2.4 Directive 4 : Consumer Database ........................................................................................ 353

10.2.5 Directive 5: Reduction of AT&C Losses ................................................................................ 357

10.2.6 Directive 6 : Interest on Security Deposit of LT Consumers ................................................. 360 10.2.7 Directive 7 : Asset Register ................................................................................................. 361

10.2.8 Directive 8 : Voltage wise Cost of Supply............................................................................. 362

10.2.9 Directive 9 : Regulatory Accounting .................................................................................... 362

10.2.10 Directive 10 : Outstanding Arrears .................................................................................... 363

10.2.11 Directive 11 : O&M Norms ................................................................................................ 365

10.2.12 Directive 12 : Consumer Grievance Redressal Mechanism ................................................ 366

10.2.13 Directive 13 : Strengthening of billing & collection system ................................................ 367

10.2.14 Directive 14 : Strengthening of vigilance machinery .......................................................... 368

10.2.15 Directive 15: Power Procurement ..................................................................................... 369

10.2.16 Directive 16: Contingency Reserve .................................................................................... 369

10.2.17 Directive 17: Optimization of Power Purchase Cost ........................................................... 370

10.2.18 Prior approval of Capex ..................................................................................................... 371

10.2.19 General ............................................................................................................................. 372

Annexure-I Minutes of meeting of SAC ....................................................................................... 373

Annexure – II List of Participants of Public Hearings (Page 1 of 4) .................................................. 384

Annexure-III Revenue from sale of power for FY 2018-19 (NBPDCL) .............................................. 388

Annexure-IV Revenue from sale of power for FY 2018-19 (SBPDCL) .............................................. 390

Annexure-V Revenue from sale of power for FY 2020-21 from existing tariffs (SBPDCL) ............... 390

Annexure-VI Revenue from sale of power for FY 2020-21 from existing tariffs (NBPDCL)............... 391


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LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Summary of the Tariff Petition of SBPDCL ........................................................................ 16

Table 2.2: Summary of the Tariff Petition of NBPDCL ....................................................................... 17

Table 2.3: Tariff Rates Existing and Proposed for Retail Sales of Electricity for FY 2020-21 ............... 19

Table 4.1: Number of Consumers, Connected Load (KW) and Sales (MU) claimed by SBPDCL for FY

2018-19 ............................................................................................................................ 45

Table 4. 2: Number of Consumers, Connected Load (KW) and Sales (MU) claimed by NBPDCL for FY

2018-19 ............................................................................................................................ 45

Table 4. 3: Number of consumers approved for Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19 ....................... 46

Table 4. 4: Connected Load (kW) approved for Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19 ........................ 47

Table 4.5: Energy Sales approved for Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19 (MU) .............................. 51

Table 4.6: Distribution Loss claimed by SBPDCL for FY 2018-19 ........................................................ 52

Table 4.7: Distribution Loss claimed by NBPDCL for FY 2018-19 ....................................................... 52

Table 4.8: Distribution Loss (%) approved for Discoms in Truing up for FY 2018-19 .......................... 53

Table 4.9: Power Purchase as per actuals claimed by the Discoms for FY 2018-19............................ 57

Table 4.10: Power Purchase quantum approved in truing up for FY 2018-19 .................................... 59

Table 4.11: Energy Balance claimed by Discoms for FY 2018-19 ....................................................... 62

Table 4.12 : Energy Sales for DF Areas of NBPDCL & SBPDCL ............................................................ 63

Table 4.13: Energy Balance approved in Truing up for FY 2018-19 ................................................... 63

Table 4.14: Power Purchase Cost claimed by Discoms for FY 2018-19 .............................................. 65

Table 4.15 : Power Purchase Quantum Regulated for SBPDCL .......................................................... 72

Table 4.16 : Power Purchase Quantum Regulated for NBPDCL ......................................................... 72

Table 4.17: Approved Power Purchase cost for SBPDCL in truing up for FY 2018-19 ......................... 74

Table 4.18: Approved Power Purchase Cost for NBPDCL in truing-up for FY 2018-19 ....................... 77

Table 4.19: Total Power Purchase Cost approved for Discoms for FY 2018-19 .................................. 81

Table 4.20: Renewable energy purchase submitted by Discoms in FY 2018-19 ................................. 81

Table 4.21: Percentage of RPO for FY 2018-19 ................................................................................. 83

Table 4.22: RE Certificate Cost for FY 2018-19 ................................................................................. 84

Table 4.23: CWIP, Capitalisation and Funding of capitalisation claimed for FY 2018-19 .................... 87

Table 4.24: Capitalisation and funding approved for FY 2018-19 ...................................................... 89

Table 4.25: Gross Fixed Assets claimed for FY 2018-19..................................................................... 90

Table 4.26: Gross Fixed Assets approved for FY 2018-19 .................................................................. 91

Table 4.27: Depreciation claimed for FY 2018-19 ............................................................................. 91

Table 4.28: Effective weighted average rate of depreciation on Assets ............................................ 92

Table 4.29: Depreciation approved for FY 2018-19 .......................................................................... 93

Table 4.30 : Weighted Average Rate of Interest for NBPDCL ........................................................... 94

Table 4.31: Weighted Average Rate of Interest for SBPDCL ............................................................. 94

Table 4.32: Interest on loans claimed for FY 2018-19 ....................................................................... 94

Table 4.33: Net Capitalization for NBPDCL & SBPDCL ....................................................................... 95

Table 4.34:Interest on loans approved for FY 2018-19 ..................................................................... 97

Table 4.35: Other Interest and Finance Charges claimed for FY 2018-19 .......................................... 97

Table 4.36: Other Finance Charges approved for FY 2018-19 ........................................................... 98

Table 4.37:Return on Equity claimed for FY 2018-19 ........................................................................ 99

Table 4.38: Details of Closing Equity for FY 2017-18 ......................................................................... 99


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Table 4.39: Return on Equity approved for FY 2018-19 .................................................................. 100

Table 4.40:Employee expenses claimed by the Discoms for FY 2018-19 ......................................... 100

Table 4.41:Employee expenses approved for FY 2018-19 ............................................................... 101

Table 4.42: Repairs and Maintenance expenses claimed for FY 2018-19 ........................................ 101

Table 4.43: R&M expenses approved for FY 2018-19 ..................................................................... 102

Table 4.44:Administration and General Expenses claimed for FY 2018-19 ...................................... 102

Table 4.45:Administration & General expenses approved for FY 2018-19 ...................................... 103

Table 4.46:Holding Company Expenses claimed for FY 2018-19 ..................................................... 104

Table 4.47:Holding Company expenses approved for FY 2018-19................................................... 106

Table 4.48:Total O&M cost approved by the Commission for FY 2018-19 ...................................... 107

Table 4.49:Prior period expenses approved in truing up for FY 2018-19 ......................................... 108

Table 4.50: Interest on security deposit claimed for FY 2018-19 .................................................... 108

Table 4.51: Interest on SD to the consumers.................................................................................. 109

Table 4.52: Interest on security deposit approved for FY 2018-19 .................................................. 110

Table 4.53:Non-tariff Income claimed for FY 2018-19 .................................................................... 111

Table 4.54:Financing cost of DPS ................................................................................................... 115

Table 4.55: Non-tariff income approved for FY 2018-19 ................................................................. 115

Table 4.56: Interest on working capital claimed for FY 2018-19 ..................................................... 117

Table 4.57: Interest on working capital approved for FY 2018-19 ................................................... 118

Table 4.58: Revenue from sale of power claimed by Discoms for FY 2018-19 ................................. 119

Table 4.59: Under reported Energy charges computed for FY 2018-19 for SBPDCL for those category

of consumers where average billing rate are below the tariff rate approved by the

Commission .................................................................................................................... 121

Table 4.60: Under reported Energy charges computed for FY 2018-19 for NBPDCL for those category

of consumers where average billing rate are below the tariff rate approved by the

Commission .................................................................................................................... 123

Table 4.61: ARR and Revenue Gap/ (Surplus) claimed for FY 2018-19 ............................................ 125

Table 4.62: ARR and Revenue Gap / (Surplus) approved for FY 2018-19 ......................................... 126

Table 5.1: Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Sales projected by SBPDCL for FY 2019-20

(RE)................................................................................................................................. 127

Table 5.2: Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Sales projected by NBPDCL for FY 2019-20

(RE)................................................................................................................................. 128

Table 5.3: Number of consumers approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Vs. Projected in the Review

by Discoms ..................................................................................................................... 129

Table 5.4: Connected load approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Vs. Projected in the Review by

Discoms .......................................................................................................................... 130

Table 5.5: Energy Sales approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Vs. Projected in the Review by

Discoms .......................................................................................................................... 131

Table 5.6: Growth rates considered by SBPDCL for projecting consumers and sales for FY 2019-20 133

Table 5.7: Growth rates considered by NBPDCL for projecting consumers and sales for FY

2019-20 .......................................................................................................................... 134

Table 5.8: Number of Consumers considered in Review for FY 2019-20 (RE) .................................. 135

Table 5.9: Connected load considered in Review FY 2019-20 (RE) .................................................. 136

Table 5.10: Energy Sales considered in Review for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................................ 136

Table 5.11: Distribution Loss projected by Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE) ........................................ 137


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Table 5.12: Distribution Loss trajectory considered by the Commission for FY 2019-20 (RE)........... 138

Table 5.13: Total power purchase projected in review by DISCOMs for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................ 142

Table 5.14: Power Purchase quantum regulated for DISCOMs ....................................................... 146

Table 5.15: Power Purchase projected by Discoms and Considered by Commission for FY 2019-20

(RE)................................................................................................................................. 147

Table 5.16: Energy Balance projected for FY 2019-20 (RE).............................................................. 150

Table 5.17: Energy Requirement and Surplus Energy Available Computed with approved losses for FY

2019-20 (RE) ................................................................................................................... 151

Table 5.18: RPO to be met for FY 2019-20 (RE) projected by Discoms ............................................ 152

Table 5.19: RPO Considered for DISCOMS for FY 2019-20 (RE) ....................................................... 154

Table 5.20: Power Purchase cost projected by SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE) .................................... 155

Table 5.21: Power Purchase cost projected by NBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................... 158

Table 5.22: Power Purchase Cost considered for SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................ 162

Table 5.23: Power Purchase Cost considered for NBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE)................................ 165

Table 5.24: Transmission Charges projected by Discoms for FY 2019-20 ........................................ 168

Table 5.25: Transmission Charges considered by Commission for Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE) ...... 169

Table 5.26: Total Power Purchase Cost considered by Commission for Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE)

....................................................................................................................................... 169

Table 5.27: Scheme-wise capitalisation and source of funding projected for FY 2019-20 ............... 170

Table 5.28: CWIP, Capitalisation and Funding of capitalisation projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ....... 170

Table 5.29: Funding of Capitalisation considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ............................................ 173

Table 5.30: Plan-wise Capitalisation considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) .............................................. 173

Table 5.31: CWIP, Capitalisation and funding of capitalization considered for FY 2019-20 .............. 174

Table 5.32: Gross Fixed Assets projected for FY 2019-20 ............................................................... 174

Table 5.33: Gross Fixed Assets considered for FY 2019-20 in review .............................................. 175

Table 5.34: Depreciation projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................................................. 175

Table 5.35: Funding of capitalisation for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore) ..................................................... 176

Table 5.36: Depreciation considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ............................................................... 176

Table 5.37: Interest on loans projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ........................................................... 178

Table 5.38: Interest on loan considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ......................................................... 179

Table 5.39: Other finance charges projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................................... 179

Table 5.40: Other finance charges considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................................. 180

Table 5.41: Return on Equity projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ........................................................... 180

Table 5.42: Return on Equity approved for FY 2019-20 (RE) ........................................................... 182

Table 5.43: Employee Cost projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) .............................................................. 182

Table 5.44: Weighted average CPI index inflation .......................................................................... 185

Table 5.45: Employee expenses based on norm considered for FY 2019-20 for Discoms ................ 186

Table 5.46: A & G Expenses projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ............................................................. 187

Table 5.47: Weighted average CPI index inflation .......................................................................... 189

Table 5.48: A&G expenses based on norm considered for FY 2019-20 for Discoms ........................ 189

Table 5.49: R & M expenses projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ............................................................ 190

Table 5.50: R&M expenses considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ............................................................ 190

Table 5.51: Holding Company Expenses projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) .......................................... 191

Table 5.52: Holding Company expenses considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ........................................ 192

Table 5.53: Total O&M cost considered for FY 2019-20 (RE)........................................................... 192


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Table 5.54: Interest on security deposit projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)........................................... 193

Table 5.55: Interest on security deposit considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ........................................ 193

Table 5.56: Projected Non-tariff Income for FY 2019-20 (RE) ......................................................... 194

Table 5.57: Non-tariff income considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ....................................................... 195

Table 5.58: Interest on working capital projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)............................................ 195

Table 5.59: Interest on working capital considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) ......................................... 196

Table 5.60: Revenue from sales of Power at existing Tariff projected by Discoms for FY 2019-20 ... 197

Table 5.61: SBPDCL- Revenue from Sale of Power to RTS .............................................................. 198

Table 5.62: NBPDCL- Revenue from Sale of Power to RTS ............................................................. 198

Table 5.63: Revenue from sale of power at existing Tariff considered for Discoms for FY 2019-20 . 198

Table 5.64: ARR and Revenue Gap/(Surplus) projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) ................................... 200

Table 5.65: ARR and Revenue Gap/(Surplus) considered in review for FY 2019-20 ......................... 201

Table 6.1: Category-wise number of consumers, sales and connected load projected by SBPDCL for

FY 2020-21...................................................................................................................... 205

Table 6.2: Category-wise number of consumers, sales and connected load projected by NBPDCL for

FY 2020-21...................................................................................................................... 205

Table 6.3: Growth rates considered by SBPDCL for projecting consumers and sales for FY 2020-21 206

Table 6.4: Growth rates considered by NBPDCL for projecting consumers and sales for FY 2020-21

....................................................................................................................................... 210

Table 6.5: Category-wise number of consumers, approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21 . 214

Table 6.6: Category-wise Connected Load approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21 ........... 215

Table 6.7: Category-wise Energy Sales approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21 ................. 216

Table 6.8: Distribution Loss Trajectory approved for FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 ............................. 217

Table 6.9: Distribution Loss Approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 ................................................. 217

Table 6.10: Plant Addition in FY 2019-20 & FY 2020-21 ................................................................. 219

Table 6.11: Power purchase projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21 (MU) ........................................ 220

Table 6.12: Energy entitlement from various sources for FY 2020-21 ............................................. 224

Table 6.13: Merit Order despatch scheduling from various stations/sources ................................. 228

Table 6.14:Power Purchase approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 ................................................. 230

Table 6.15:Energy Balance Projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21 ................................................... 232

Table 6.16:Energy Requirement Computed with approved sales and losses for FY 2020-21 ........... 233

Table 6.17: RPO projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21 ................................................................... 234

Table 6.18: RPO Approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 .................................................................. 236

Table 6.19: Power Purchase Cost projected by SBPDCL for FY 2020-21 .......................................... 238

Table 6.20: Power Purchase Cost projected by NBPDCL for FY 2020-21 .......................................... 239

Table 6.21: Power Purchase cost during April, 2019 to September, 2019 (6 Months) ..................... 242

Table 6.22: Power Purchase Cost Approved for FY 2020-21 to SBPDCL........................................... 244

Table 6.23: Power Purchase Cost Approved for FY 2020-21 to NBPDCL .......................................... 247

Table 6.24: Transmission charges projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21 ......................................... 250

Table 6.25: PGCIL Charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 ................................................... 251

Table 6.26: BSPTCL charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 ................................................ 251

Table 6.27: BGCL charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 .................................................... 252

Table 6.28: SLDC Charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 .................................................... 252

Table 6.29: Total Power Purchase Cost approved for FY 2020-21 ................................................... 253

Table 6.30: Merit Order Dispatch approved for FY 2020-21 ........................................................... 253


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Table 6.31: Projected scheme-wise capitalisation and source of funding for FY 2020-21 ................ 255

Table 6.32: CWIP, Capitalisation and Funding of capitalisation projected for FY 2020-21 ............... 255

Table 6.33: Capex and Capitalisation not considered for FY 2020-21 relating to NBPDCL ............... 257

Table 6.34: Capex and Capitalisation not considered for FY 2020-21 relating to SBPDCL ................ 257

Table 6.35: Capital expenditure and Capitalisation approved for FY 2020-21 ................................. 258

Table 6.36: Funding of capitalisation approved for FY 2020-21 ...................................................... 258

Table 6.37: CWIP, Capitalisation and funding Considered for FY 2020-21 ....................................... 258

Table 6.38: Gross Fixed Assets projected for FY 2020-21 ................................................................ 259

Table 6.39: Gross Fixed Assets approved for FY 2020-21 ................................................................ 259

Table 6.40: Depreciation projected for FY 2020-21 ........................................................................ 260

Table 6.41: Depreciation approved for FY 2020-21 ........................................................................ 261

Table 6.42: Interest on loans projected for FY 2020-21 .................................................................. 262

Table 6.43: Debt Equity considered for FY 2020-21 ........................................................................ 263

Table 6.44: Interest on loan approved for FY 2020-21 .................................................................... 264

Table 6.45: Other finance charges projected for FY 2020-21 .......................................................... 264

Table 6.46: Other finance charges approved for FY 2020-21 .......................................................... 265

Table 6.47: Return on Equity projected for FY 2020-21 .................................................................. 265

Table 6.48: Return on Equity approved for FY 2020-21 .................................................................. 266

Table 6.49: Employee Cost projected for FY 2020-21 ..................................................................... 267

Table 6.50: Employee expenses approved based on norm for FY 2020-21...................................... 268

Table 6.51: Administration & General expenses projected for FY 2020-21 ..................................... 269

Table 6.52: A&G expenses approved based on norm for FY 2020-21 .............................................. 270

Table 6.53: R & M expenses projected for FY 2020-21 ................................................................... 271

Table 6.54: R&M expenses considered for FY 2020-21 ................................................................... 272

Table 6.55: Holding Company Expenses projected for FY 2020-21.................................................. 272

Table 6.56: Holding company expenses approved for FY 2020-21 .................................................. 272

Table 6.57: Total O&M cost approved for FY 2020-21 .................................................................... 273

Table 6.58: Interest on security deposit projected for FY 2020-21 .................................................. 273

Table 6.59: Interest on security deposit approved for FY 2020-21 .................................................. 274

Table 6.60: Projected Non-tariff Income for FY 2020-21................................................................. 274

Table 6.61: Non-tariff income approved for FY 2020-21 ................................................................. 276

Table 6.62: Interest on working capital projected for FY 2020-21 ................................................... 277

Table 6.63: Interest on working capital considered for FY 2020-21 ................................................ 277

Table 6.64: ARR projected for FY 2020-21 ...................................................................................... 278

Table 6.65: ARR approved for FY 2020-21 ...................................................................................... 279

Table 6.66: Trued up approved Revenue Gap/(Surplus) of FY 2018-19 carried forward to ARR of FY

2020-21 .......................................................................................................................... 280

Table 6.67: Projected Revenue from sale of power at existing tariff for FY 2020-21 ....................... 280

Table 6.68: Revenue from sale of power at tariff applicable for FY 2020-21 ................................... 282

Table 6.69: Approved revenue gap/(surplus) for FY 2020-21 .......................................................... 282

Table 6.70: Revenue with revised tariff and approved revenue Gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21 ....... 283

Table 6.71: Average realisation as a percentage of average Cost of supply .................................... 283

Table 6.72: Average realisation as a percentage of voltage-wise Cost of Supply ............................. 285

Table 7.1: Voltage-wise Technical Losses Considered by SBPDCL for FY 2020-21 ........................... 289

Table 7.2: Voltage-wise Technical Losses Considered by NBPDCL for FY 2020-21 ........................... 289


Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission | Page x

Table 7.3: Voltage –wise technical losses considered by Commission ............................................. 290

Table 7.4: Classification of Categories on the basis of Voltage of power supply .............................. 290

Table 7.5: Voltage wise Cost of Supply Projected for FY 2020-21 by SBPDCL .................................. 291

Table 7.6: Voltage wise Cost of Supply Projected for FY 2020-21 by NBPDCL.................................. 291

Table 7.7: Voltage wise Energy Sales (MUs) approved for FY 2020-21 ............................................ 291

Table 7.8: Computation of Technical Losses .................................................................................. 293

Table 7.9: Computation of Commercial Losses ............................................................................... 293

Table 7.10: Average Power Purchase Cost ..................................................................................... 294

Table 7.11: Allocation of power purchase cost ............................................................................... 294

Table 7.12: Network Cost approved for FY 2020-21 ....................................................................... 294

Table 7.13: Allocation of Network cost .......................................................................................... 295

Table 7.14: Cost of supply at different voltage levels approved for FY 2020-21 for Discoms ........... 295

Table 9.1: Segregation of Wires and Retail Supply Costs ................................................................. 334

Table 9.2: Wheeling Charges at 33 kV Projected by Discoms.......................................................... 335

Table 9.3: Wheeling charges at 11 kV Projected by Discoms .......................................................... 335

Table 9.4: Allocation matrix for segregation of expenses between Distribution Wire Business and

Retail Supply Business ..................................................................................................... 336

Table 9.5: Segregation of Wires and Retail supply costs ................................................................. 336

Table 9.6: Wheeling Charges Approved at 33 kV Voltage Level ....................................................... 337

Table 9.7: Wheeling Charges Approved for 11 kV Voltage Level ..................................................... 337

Table 9.8: Open Access Charges ..................................................................................................... 340

Table 9.9: Cross Subsidy Surcharge (Rs).......................................................................................... 342


Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission | Page xi

ABBREVIATIONS

A&G Administration and General Expenses ACT Electricity Act. 2003 ARR Annual Revenue Requirement BERC Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission BSHPS Bihar State Hydro Power Station BSEB Bihar State Electricity Board BSPHCL Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Limited BSPTCL Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited BTPS Barauni Thermal Power Station CAGR Compounded Annual Growth Rate CAPEX Capital Expenditure CEA Central Electricity Authority CERC Central Electricity Regulatory Commission CGS Central Generating Station CTU Central Transmission Utility CWIP Capital Work in Progress DISCOM Distribution Company FC Fixed Charges FPPCA Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment FY Financial Year GFA Gross Fixed Asset KBUNL Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited KVA Kilo Volt Ampere KVAH Kilo Volt Ampere Hour KWH Kilo Watt Hour MoP Ministry of Power MU Million Unit MVA Mega Volt Ampere MW Mega Watt MYT Multi-Year Tariff NBPDCL North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited NFA Net Fixed Asset NHPC National Hydro Power Corporation NTPC National Thermal Power Corporation O&M Operation and Maintenance PLF Plant Load Factor R&M Repairs and Maintenance RE Revised Estimates RoE Return on Equity SAC State Advisory Committee SBPDCL South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited SERC State Electricity Regulatory Commission TPS Thermal Power Station


Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission | Page xii

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Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission | Page 1

Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission

Ground floor, Vidyut Bhawan –II Jawaharlal Nehru Marg,

Patna – 800021

Case No. 30 of 2019 (NBPDCL) and

Case No. 31 of 2019 (SBPDCL)

In the matter of:

Petitions for approval of Truing-up for FY 2018-19, Annual Performance Review

(APR) for FY 2019-20, Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and determination of

Retail Tariff for sale of electricity to the consumers for the Financial Year 2020-21 in

the State of Bihar filed by North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited

(NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).

and

North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited --------------------------------Petitioner

South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited---------------------------------Petitioner

Present: S. K. Negi - Chairman

Rajeev Amit - Member R. K. Choudhary - Member

ORDER

(Passed on 20th March, 2020)

1. Background

The two Discoms in the State of Bihar namely North Bihar Power Distribution

Company Limited (NBPDCL) & South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited

(SBPDCL) came into existence on 01.11.2012 after restructuring of erstwhile Bihar

State Electricity Board vide Notification No. 17 dated 30.10.2012 issued by Energy

Department, Government of Bihar.



2. Common order for SBPDCL & NBPDCL

The Commission, keeping in view the common issues, common tariff structure for

both the Discoms, similarities in tariff format and nature of major objections /

suggestions / comments received from consumers and stakeholders, had issued

common Tariff Order for both the Discoms (NBPDCL and SBPDCL) for FY 2019-20 in

order to obviate duplication of work and to present a holistic power scenario of the

entire state at one place.

The Commission, for the sake of consistency, issues the instant common tariff order

for Discoms for FY 2020-21 and also after due consultation with all stakeholders

including the consumer organizations.

3. Regulatory Provision

The tariff orders are being passed in exercise of the powers vested in Bihar

Electricity Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred as the 'Commission') under

section 62 (1) (d) read with Section 62 (3) and Section 64 (3) (a) of the Electricity

Act, 2003 and Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations, 2015 and Regulations 2018.

4. Filing of Tariff Petitions

The NBPDCL & SBPDCL had filed petitions on the scheduled date of filing i.e. on

15.11.2019 for True up of ARR for FY 2018-19, APR for FY 2019-20, ARR and

determination of Retail Tariff for FY 2020-21. The Commission, after seeking

necessary rectifications on the petitions and additional information from the

Discoms, admitted the respective tariff petitions on 11.12.2019 as Case No.30 of

2019 and Case No.31 of 2019 for NBPDCL and SBPDCL respectively.

5. Public Notice and Consultation Process

Clause 12.9 and 12.10 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018

provides for giving adequate opportunities to all stakeholders and general public

for making comments, suggestions and objections on the Tariff Petitions as

mandated under section 64(3) of the Electricity Act, 2003. Accordingly, the

Commission directed the two Discoms (NBPDCL & SBPDCL) to publish public notices

showing the contents of the ARR and Tariff Petitions in an abridged form in the

leading newspapers having wide circulations in the State of Bihar inviting

comments, suggestions and objections thereon. Accordingly, the two respective



Discoms issued their respective public notices of their Tariff Petitions in abridged

versions in the various newspapers and the same were also uploaded on the

websites of the Commission and the respective Discoms. The last date of

submission of comments, suggestions and objections was scheduled on 15.01.2020.

The Commission, in order to ensure transparency in the tariff determination

process and for affording convenient opportunity to wide section of stakeholders

and general public for offering their comments, suggestions and objections on the

tariff petitions held public hearings at Muzaffarpur on 10.01.2020, Gaya on

18.01.2020, Bhagalpur on 12.02.2020 and in Commission’s office at Patna on

14.02.2020.

The proposals of the Discoms were also placed before the State Advisory

Committee (SAC) in its meeting held on 06.02.2020 wherein various aspects of the

petition were discussed by the Committee. The Commission took the views,

comments and suggestions of the SAC on the tariff petitions of the Discoms in the

meeting of the Committee.

The Commission, after taking into consideration the facts presented by the Discoms

in their petitions and various subsequent filings, the comments, suggestions and

objections received from across all section of stakeholders, consumer

organizations, general public, SAC and response of the Discoms to those comments,

suggestions and objections, has trued up the ARRs for FY 2018-19, reviewed the

APRs for FY 2019-20, approved ARRs for FY 2020-21 and has also determined the

common tariff for retail sale of electricity for FY 2020-21 for the Discoms in their

respective jurisdictions.

6. True up for FY 2018-19

The ARRs for FY 2018-19 as claimed by the two Discoms on the basis of the audited

annual accounts vide their tariff petitions and approved by the Commission in true

up after careful examination of the claims in the light of laid down norms and

exercising prudence check are as under:



True up of FY 2018-19 for NBPDCL & SBPDCL

(Rs. Crore)

Name of the

Discom

Claimed by the Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19

Approved by the Commission in true up for FY 2018-19

ARR

Past period

trued up Gap with carrying

cost

Revenue from sale of power

Net Gap claimed

ARR approved

Past period trued up Gap with

carrying cost


Net Gap/ (Surplus) approved

1 2 3 4 5=(2+3-4) 6 7 8 9=(6+7+8)

NBPDCL 6884.60 (8.00) 6479.00 397.60 6378.03 (8.00) 6344.43 25.60

SBPDCL 8977.06 (0.18) 8043.00 933.88 7654.66 (0.18) 7561.44 93.04 Total 15861.66 (8.18) 14522.00 1331.48 14032.69 (8.18) 13905.87 118.64

The Commission after true up exercise of the ARR of 2018-19 of both Discoms has

approved combined ARR of Rs.14032.69 crore and gap of Rs.118.64 crore as against

the claim of combined ARR of Rs.15861.66 crore and combined revenue gap of

Rs.1331.48 crore. The revenue gap of FY 2018-19 along with carrying cost shall be

carried forward to the ARR of FY 2020-21 as per the regulatory provisions.

7. Annual Performance Review (APR) for FY 2019-20

The Commission, after examination of projected expenditure for revised ARR by the

NBPDCL and SBPDCL in their Annual Performance Review petitions for FY 2019-20

has approved the combined revised ARR of Rs.14792.28 crore and surplus of

Rs.748.54 crore as under:

APR for FY 2019-20 for NBPDCL & SBPDCL (Rs. Crore)

Name of the Discom

Projected by the Discoms in review For FY 2019-20

Approved by the Commission in review for FY 2019-20

ARR

Past period trued up Gap with carrying

cost

Revenue from sale of

power

Net Gap projected

ARR Approved

Past period trued up Gap with carrying

cost


Net Gap approved

1 2 3 4 5=(2+3-4) 6 7 8 9=(6+7+8)

NBPDCL 8298.06 0.00 7222.00 1076.06 6834.04 (1199.76) 7132.52 (1498.24) SBPDCL 10012.06 0.00 8493.00 1519.06 7958.24 1137.82 8346.36 749.70

Total 18310.12 0.00 15715.00 2595.12 14792.28 (61.94) 15478.88 (748.54)

However, the Commission in accordance with the Regulation 14.1 (f) of BERC (Multi

Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, has considered it appropriate not to

carry forward this revenue surplus of Rs.748.54 Crore of FY 2019-20 in the

proposed ARR of FY 2020-21 as the surplus arrived in review for FY 2019-20 is

based on estimates submitted by the Petitioners and may vary with reference to

audited accounts for FY 2019-20 while truing up.



8. ARR for FY 2020-21

The Commission, taking into consideration the comments, objections and

suggestions of the stakeholders, general public as well as State Advisory

Committee and after strict scrutiny and prudence check of the proposed revenue &

expenses and other submissions of the Petitioners (Discoms), determined the net

revenue requirements of the Petitioners (Discoms) NBPDCL and SBPDCL as under :-

ARR for 2020-21 for NBPDCL & SBPDCL (Rs. Crore)

Name of the

Discom

Proposed by the Discoms for FY 2020-21 Approved by the Commission for FY 2020-21

ARR

Trued up Gap of FY 2018-19

with carrying

cost


Net Gap projected

ARR approved

Revenue from sale of

power

Revenue Gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21

Trued up Gap of FY 2018-19

with carrying

cost

Net Gap approved

1 2 3 4 5=(2+3-4) 6 7 8=(6-7) 9 10=(8+9)

NBPDCL 9281.02 481.00 8450.00 1312.02 8795.29 8886.79 (91.50) 30.95 (60.55) SBPDCL 9481.74 1129.00 9805.00 805.74 9732.84 10027.85 (295.01) 112.49 (182.52)

Total 18762.76 1610.00 18255.00 2117.76 18528.14 18914.64 (386.50) 143.44* (243.07)

* includes carrying cost of Rs. 24.80 crore on trued up surplus of Rs. 118.64 Crore

The Discoms have projected total revenue gap of Rs.2117.76 crore against which

the Commission has approved a net revenue surplus of Rs.243.07 crore. The

NBPDCL out of its projected revenue gap of Rs.1312.02 crore has proposed to

recover Rs.221 crore through tariff hike and remaining gap of Rs.1091 to be treated

as Regulatory Asset. Similarly the SBPDCL out of projected revenue gap of

Rs.805.74 crore has proposed to recover Rs.288 crore through tariff hike and

remaining gap of Rs.520 crore to be treated as Regulatory Asset.

However, after detailed scrutiny and prudence check of the Annual Revenue

Requirement filed by the Discoms, the Commission has arrived at a combined

revenue surplus of Rs.386.50 Crore (Rs.91.50 Crore for NBPDCL and Rs.295.01

Crore for SBPDCL) for FY 2020-21 on standalone basis.

The Commission has also considered Rs.143.44 crore trued up revenue gap of FY

2018-19 with carrying cost. After adjusting it with combined standalone surplus in

ARR of 2020-21, the ARR for FY 2020-21 has resulted into a net surplus of Rs.243.07

Crore (Rs.60.55 Crore for NBPDCL and Rs.182.52 Crore for SBPDCL).

9. Approved Retail Tariff for 2020-21 The Discoms on the basis of their projected revenue gap have proposed increase in

the fixed charges across all categories of consumers in the range of 20% to 22.5%



(overall increase of 2.79% in the total tariff) leaving the energy charges unchanged

for FY 2020-21

The Commission, based on the approved revenue surplus in Discoms and after

taking all facts, views and circumstances into account, has decided to reduce the

tariff by 10 paise/Unit uniformly across all categories of consumers leaving the

existing fixed charge unchanged.

The Commission has also taken the following decisions after due deliberations and

consultations during State Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting:-

1. The Commission has abolished meter rent as the same is recovered by the

Discoms through Capex.

2. The Commission has removed the un-metered sub-category in Kutir Jyoti (KJ)

and Domestic-Rural (DS-I).

3. The Commission has introduced demand based tariff to DS-I, NDS-I and IAS-II

category of consumers for whom the meters installed are compatible to

record the actual demand.

4. The Commission has lowered the minimum billing demand form the exsisting

85% to 75% of the contract demand for all the consumers covered under the

demand based billing.

5. The Commission has introduced recovery of full fixed/demand charges, only

if the supply of power is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the

billing month. If supply is less than 21 hours/day, the demand charge shall be

levied on pro-rata basis for that month except street lights, Agriculture and

all unmetered categories of consumers.

6. The Commission has introduced to levy penal charge for use of load beyond

contracted demand on the pro-rata additional energy consumption also in

addition to levy of additional demand charge.

7. The Commission has introduced ‘Time of Day Tariff’ on optional basis for

LTIS-I, LTIS-II and PWW consumers from 1st April 2020 onwards.

8. The Commission has reduced the contract demand limit from existing 1000

KVA to 500 KVA to avail supply at 33 kV level.

10. Open access charges

The Commission has determined the wheeling charges for FY 2020-21 as given



below:

1. Wheeling charges at 33 kV voltage level 38 paisa/kWh

2. Wheeling charges at 11 kV voltage level 42 paisa/kWh

To encourage the consumers to avail power under open access from other sources,

the Commission in terms of the revised Tariff Policy 2016, has reduced the cross

subsidy surcharge to 20% of average billing rate of the relevant HT category for FY

2020-21 as given below:

1. For 132 kV consumers…………………………………….… Rs.1.70/kWh

2. For 33 kV consumers (other than HTSS)................ Rs.1.80/kWh

3. For 11 kV consumers (other than HTSS)................ Rs.1.82/kWh

4. For HTSS consumers (33 kV & 11 kV) ..................... Rs.0.26/kWh

11. Miscellaneous Charges

The Discoms have proposed changes under the head Miscellaneous and General

charges on monthly meter rent for Kutir Jyoti, 11kV consumers, Smart/Prepaid

programmable single phase and three phase meters. However, as stated earlier

since the cost of meter rent is being recovered by Discoms through Capex, the

Commission has not considered the proposal of petitioner and abolished the meter

rent altogether.

12. Power Purchase Cost and Average Cost of Supply

The Average Power Purchase cost for both Discoms at ex-bus for FY 2020-21 is

Rs.4.20/kWh and at the state periphery (including PGCIL and POSOCO charges and

CTU losses) is arrived at Rs.4.62/kWh for FY 2020-21.

The Average Cost of Supply (ACoS) for both Discoms for FY 2020-21 comes to

Rs.7.30/kWh on standalone basis and comes to Rs.7.35/kWh considering trued up

gap of FY 2018-19 also in the gross ARR of FY 2020-21.

The Average Revenue Realisation with approved tariff for both Discoms in FY 2020-

21 is Rs.7.36/kWh.

13. Compliance of Directives

The Commission has reviewed the directives issued in its earlier Tariff Orders and

noted that some of these directives have been complied and some are partially

attended to. Accordingly, the Commission has decided to drop directives that are

fully or substantially complied with and has further directed the Discoms to comply



the remaining directions along with fresh ones added in the instant order. The

Commission will monitor the compliance of the directives quarterly.

14. General

The Commission has been determining the Retail Tariff without considering the

Government subsidy from FY 2017-18 onwards. Accordingly the Commission has

approved the retail tariff for FY 2020-21 also without considering Government

subsidy.

The Government of Bihar has been announcing direct subsidy to consumers. If the

State Government announces any direct subsidy to any category of consumers

after the pronouncement of retail tariff for FY 2020-21 by the Commission, the

DISCOMs shall immediately bring the same to the notice of the Commission

intimating the tariff rates at which the DISCOMs proposes to bill the energy charges

for such category of consumers and also ensure adequate publicity of the same.

Further, the details such as the energy charges as per the tariff rates, reduction of

energy charges due to government subsidy and net energy charges to be paid by

the consumers shall be clearly exhibited in the electricity bill to be served to the

consumers.

The Discoms shall ensure implementation of the order from the effective date after

issuance of a Public Notice, within a week in at least two daily news papers having

wide circulation in the various parts of State in such a font which is clearly visible

and compliance of the same shall be submitted to the Commission by the Discoms.

This Order shall be effective from 1st April 2020 and shall remain in force till 31st

March 2021 or till the next Tariff Order of the Commission.

This order will be placed on the website of the Commission and copies will be sent

to BGCL, BSPHCL, BSPTCL, NBPDCL, SBPDCL, Department of Energy of Government

of Bihar, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and Central Electricity

Authority.

Pronounced in the open Court on the day of 20th March 2020.

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/- (R.K.Choudhary) (Rajeev Amit) (S.K.Negi)

Member Member Chairman



1. Introduction

1.1. Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC)

The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as

“Commission” or “BERC”) was constituted by the Government of Bihar under

Section 17 of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998 vide Government of

Bihar notification No.1284 dated 15th April 2002. The Electricity Regulatory

Commission Act, 1998 along with Indian Electricity Act, 1910 and Electricity

(Supply) Act, 1948 was repealed by Section 185 (1) of the Electricity Act, 2003

(hereinafter referred to as the “Act”). The first proviso of Section 82(1) has ensured

continuity of the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission by laying down

that the State Electricity Regulatory Commission established by the State

Government under Section 17 of Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998 and

functioning as such, immediately before the appointed date, shall be the State

Electricity Regulatory Commission for the purpose of the Act.

1.2. Functions of BERC

As per Section 86 of the Electricity Act 2003, the State Commission shall

discharge the following functions, namely:

a. Determine the tariff for generation, supply, transmission and wheeling of

electricity, wholesale, bulk or retail, as the case may be, within the State.

Provided that where open access has been permitted to a category of

consumers under section 42, the State Commission shall determine only

the wheeling charges and surcharge thereon, if any, for the said category of

consumers;

b. regulate electricity purchase and procurement process of distribution

licensees including the price at which electricity shall be procured from the

generating companies or licensees or from other sources through agreements

for purchase of power for distribution and supply within the State;

c. facilitate intra-state transmission and wheeling of electricity;

d. issue licenses to persons seeking to act as transmission licensees,

distribution licensees and electricity traders with respect to their operations

within the State;

e. promote co-generation and generation of electricity from renewable sources of



energy by providing suitable measures for connectivity with the grid and sale of

electricity to any person, and also specify, for purchase of electricity from such

sources, a percentage of the total consumption of electricity in the area of a

distribution licensee;

f. adjudicate upon the disputes between the licensees, and generating

companies and to refer any dispute for arbitration;

g. levy fee for the purposes of this Act;

h. specify State Grid Code consistent with the Indian Electricity Grid Code

specified with regard to grid standards;

i. specify or enforce standards with respect to quality, continuity and reliability

of service by licensees;

j. fix the trading margin in the intra-state trading of electricity, if

considered, necessary; and

k. discharge such other functions as may be assigned to it under this Act.

1.3. Profile of Discoms

The Discoms/South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited and North Bihar

Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL and NBPDCL) are companies

registered under the provision of Companies Act 1956 and are subsidiary

companies of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL).

Discoms have the universal obligation to supply electricity to all the consumers of

the State. The table below presents status of key data relating to power supply by

the Discoms in Bihar as on 31.03.2019.

Table 1: Existing distribution infrastructure as on 31.03.2019

SI. No.

Particulars Unit SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

1 No. of electrified villages No 22126 23284 45410

2 No. of consumers No 54 Lakhs 82.91 Lakhs 136.91

3 No. of capacity of 33/11 kV Substations

No / MVA 465/7092 462/6779 927/13870

4 No. of capacity of 11/0.4 kV 3 phase Transformers

No/ MVA 74194/9267 82908/5844 157102/15111

5 Length of 33 kV line CKM 6307 6532 12839

6 Length of 11 kV line CKM 50072 63132 113204

7 Length of LT line CKM 113220 123921 237141

1.4. Admission of Current Petition and Public Hearing Process



Discoms have filed the current petitions on 15th November 2019 for Truing-up for

FY 2018-19, Annual Performance Review for FY 2019-20 and Annual Revenue

Requirement (ARR) for FY 2020-21 and determination of Tariff for Retail sale of

Electricity for FY 2020-21 under Section 62 of Electricity Act 2003 read with Bihar

Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi-Year Distribution Tariff ) Regulations,2015

and Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations, 2018.

The Commission is issuing the instant composite/combined order for ARR and Tariff

(Case No. 30 of 2019 (NBPDCL) and 31 of 2019 (SBPDCL)) for the FY 2020-21.

On preliminary verification of the petition and additional information the

Commission has admitted the petitions on 11.12.2019 under Case No.30 of 2019

(NBPDCL) and Case No.31 of 2018 (SBPDCL). The Commission vide Letter No.1375,

dated 27.11.2019 (NBPDCL) and Letter No.1384, dated 29.11.2019 (SBPDCL)

directed the Petitioner to submit the additional information/clarification data on

the Tariff Petition filed by them. NBPDCL and SBPDCL submitted the replies vide

Letter No. 1637, dated 06.12.2019 and Letter No. 105, dated 06.12.2019

respectively.

The Commission directed vide its letters no. 1454 dated 12.12.2019 and letter no.

1453 dated 12.12.2019 to SBPDCL & NBPDCL respectively to publish the petition

in the abridged form in atleast two Hindi and one English daily newspapers having

wide circulation in the State inviting comments/objections and suggestions from

its stakeholders on the Tariff Petition.

Discoms were also directed to publish the schedule for Public Hearings along with

the public notice inviting objections/suggestions/comments on the tariff petitions

Accordingly the public notices were published in the following newspapers :

SI. No

Name of the News Paper Language Date of

Publication Utility

1 Hindustan Hindi 17.12.2019

SBPDCL

2 Prabhat Khabar Hindi 17.12.2019

3 Times of India English 17.12.2019

4 Dainik Bhasker Hindi 24.12.2019

5 Prabhat Khabar Hindi 24.12.2019

6 Dainik Bhasker Hindi 17.12.2019

NBPDCL 7 Dainik Jagran Hindi 17.12.2019

8 Times of India English 17.12.2019



The tariff petitions were also placed on the website of the Discoms (SBPDCL and

NBPDCL) for inviting objections and suggestions on the petitions and copies of

the petitions along with Annexures were also made available for sale in the Office

of the Chief Engineer (Commercial), SBPDCL, 2nd Floor, Vidyut Bhawan-I, Bailey

Road, Patna and and Chief Engineer (Commercial), NBPDCL, 3rd Floor, Vidyut

Bhawan-I, Bailey Road, Patna. The interested parties/stakeholders were asked to

file their objections/ suggestions on the Petition on or before 15.01.2020.

The Commission received all together 59 written objections/suggestions from

consumers and other stakeholders. Forwarding these written

comments/suggestions the Commission directed the Discoms to submit the

replies/responses to these suggestions/objections to the objectors with a copy to

the Commission. The Discoms have submitted the replies/responses to the

Commission as per the details mentioned below:

SBPDCL:

BERC Letter No Date

No. of objections/ suggestions received from the objectors and sent to

SBPDCL

Letter No. and Date of submission of

reply by SBPDCL

110 22.01.2020 7 30 dated. 03.02.2020

109 22.01.2020 2 31 dated.03.02.2020

188 16.02.2020 16 51 dated. 25.02.2020

197 17.02.2020 5 Total 30

NBPDCL:

BERC Letter No Date

No. of objections/ suggestions received from the objectors and sent to

NBPDCL

Letter No. and Date of submission of

reply by NBPDCL

110 22.01.2020 7 52 dated.06.02.2020

67A 13.01.2020 6 85 dated 25.02.2020

189 16.02.2020 16 101 dated. 03.03.2020

Total 29

Besides written submissions, many participants of the public hearing orally

submitted their opinion, suggestions and objections to the proposal contained in

the tariff petitions which were duly noted by Discoms and response on many of the

issues especially consumer grievances aspect were given by the Discoms during the

course of hearing itself.

The proposal of Discoms was also placed before the State Advisory Committee



(SAC) in its meeting held on 06.02.2020 and various aspects of the petitions were

discussed in the meeting. The Commission solicited the advice/comments/

suggestions of the State Advisory Committee on the petitions. The minutes of the

meeting are given in Annexure-I.

The scheduled public hearings were conducted as indicated below:

SI. No.

NBPDCL SBPDCL Place Date Place Date

1 Muzaffarpur 10.01.2020 Gaya 18.01.2020 2 Patna 14.02.2020 Bhagalpur 12.02.2020 3 Patna 14.02.2020

The names of consumers/consumer organisations who filed their objections,

suggestions and the list of objectors participated in the public hearings for

presenting their objections/suggestions are given in Annexure II.

A note on the main issues raised by the objectors in written submissions and also in

the public hearing in respect of the petitions, along with the response of the

Discoms and the Commission’s view on the response are given in Chapter-3.

1.5. Approach of this order

The Commission has examined the petitions and additional information submitted

by NBPDCL and SBPDCL before admission of the petitions, observed that further

more additional data/information and clarifications are required for conducting

detailed analysis of the petitions. The Commission directed the Discoms to submit

the additional data/information and clarifications vide following letters:

NBPDCL:

1. Letter No. BERC-Case No.30\2019 1476 dated 17.12.2019 2. Letter No. BERC-Case No.30\2019 1511 dated 26.12.2019

SBPDCL:

1. Letter No. BERC-Case No. 31/2019 1477 dated 17.12.2019 2. Letter No. BERC-Case No. 31/2019 1512 dated 26.12.2019

The NBPDCL has submitted additional information/data/clarifications vide following

Letters:

1. Letter no 661 dated 13.12.2019 2. Letter no 667 dated 17.12.2019 3. Letter no 683 dated 24.12.2019 4. Letter no 684 dated 24.12.2019 5. Letter no 708 dated 31.12.2019 6. Letter no 02 dated 03.01.2020



7. Letter no 09 dated 08.01.2020

The SBPDCL has submitted additional information/data/clarifications vide following

Letters:

1. Letter No. 398 dated 24.12.2019 2. Letter No. 399 dated. 24.12.2019 3. Letter No. 402 dated 31.12.2019 4. Letter No. 01 dated 03.01.2020

The Commission has provided an opportunity to the Discoms vide letter no. BERC-

Case No. 30&31/2019/1516, dated 27.12.2019 for validation of information and

data. Accordingly, validation session was held on 08.01.2020 & 09.01.2020 with

the officers of the Discoms and the officers of the Commission and compared the

data and wherever necessary corrections were carried out.

On further careful examination of this tariff petitions, Petitioners’ were directed to

submit some more data/ clarification vide following correspondences as noted

below:

NBPDCL SBPDCL

Sl. No

Letter No Date Sl. No

Letter No Date

1 100 21.02.2020 1 100 21.01.2020

2 135 03.02.2020 2 145 04.02.2020

3 136 03.02.2020 3 168 10.02.2020

4 144 04.02.2020

5 168 10.02.2020

In compliance of the above direction of the Commission Petitioners NBPDCL and

SBPDCL submitted their additional information vide letter no’s noted as below:

NBPDCL SBPDCL

SI. No Letter No Date SI. No Letter No Date

1 30 20.01.2020 1 20 20.01.2020

2 31 21.01.2020 2 29 03.02.2020

3 37 29.01.2020 3 31 03.02.2020

4 46 03.02.2020 4 40 11.02.2020

5 93 05.02.2020 5 60 11.02.2020

6 66 13.02.2020 6 44 14.02.2020

7 68 14.02.2020 7 49 20.02.2020

8 81 20.02.2020

All the additional information/clarifications were taken on record for consideration

for determination of tariff.

The Discoms were strictly directed by the Commission to put those additional



supplementary information on public domain for the information of the

stakeholders and consumers.

The Commission has undertaken Truing-up for FY 2018-19 in accordance with BERC

(Multi-Year tariff), Regulations, 2015 and Annual Performance Review (APR) for FY

2019-20, Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and determination of Tariff for Retail

Sale of electricity for FY 2020-21 in accordance to the BERC (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations, 2018.

1.6. Contents of this order

The order is divided into Eleven (10) chapters as detailed below:

1. The First Chapter provides introduction of Discoms.

2. The Second Chapter contains a summary of tariff petition.

3. The Third Chapter provides a brief account of the public hearing

process, objections raised by stakeholders, Petitioner’s response and

Commission’s views on the same.

4. The Fourth Chapter deals with the Truing-up for FY 2018-19.

5. The Fifth Chapter deals with the Annual Performance Review for FY 2019-20.

6. The Sixth Chapter deals with the Annual Revenue Requirement for FY 2020-21.

7. The Seventh Chapter deals with the Voltage wise cost of supply.

8. The Eighth Chapter deals with the Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff Schedule

for FY 2020-21.

9. The Ninth Chapter deals with the Transmission and Wheeling charges for

Open Access customers.

10. The Tenth Chapter deals with the Directives.



2. Summary of Petition filed for Truing-up for FY 2018-19,

Annual Performance Review for FY 2019-20 and Annual

Revenue Requirement for FY 2020-21

2.1 Petitions filed by DISCOMs for FY 2020-21

The summary of Petitions filed by DISCOMS for truing up for FY 2018-19, Annual

Performance Review for FY 2019-20 and Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for

FY 2020-21 and Revenue Gap projected for FY 2020-21 are as given in Tables below:

Table 2.1: Summary of the Tariff Petition of SBPDCL (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Particulars

FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21

Approved in Review in

Tariff Order dated

25.02.2019

Claimed in True up

for FY 2018-

19

Approved in MYT Order

dated 25.02.2019

Revised Estimates

for APR for

FY 2019-20

Approved in MYT Order dated

25.02.2019

Revised Projections for ARR for

FY 2020-21

1 No. of consumers (including DF Areas)

5993778 5400462 6563577 6149016 7169127 633545

7

2 Connected Load (KW)

9746254 8690528 11076313 9714069 12572783 101470

35 3 Sales (MU) 12536.62 10586.32 14467 12156 16312 14045

4 Intra-state Transmission Loss (%)

3.92% 4.61% 3.92% 3.92% 3.92% 3.92%

5 Distribution loss (%)

22.00% 32.29% 15% 29.29% 15 % 20 %

6

Energy required at state Trans. periphery (MU)

16728.34 16389 17714.93 17892 19973.83 18272

7 Capital Expenditure

3309.37 3028.35 2967.62 4522.47 1208.51 1245.92

8 Capitalisation 4642.04 1801.23 3794.09 2300.00 1574.49 2050

9 Power Purchase Cost

6295.63 6710.00 6745.25 7102.00 7943.06 6917.00

10

State Transmission including SLDC charges

1356.37 1292.00 1208.20 1757.00 1661.34 2016.00

11 RE Purchase 0.00 120.97

12 O&M expenses

i) Employee Cost 404.39 434.00 462.22 452.00 528.21 471 ii) R&M Expenses 119.56 116.00 212.62 183.00 275.57 215

iii) A&G Expenses 73.60 111.00 136.70 115.00 148.37 118

13 Holding company expenses

10.71 19.00 10.75 21.00 10.78 23.00

14 Depreciation 159.90 141.00 236.05 203.00 272.41 224

15 Interest & finance charges

311.23 303.00 447.11 391.00 528.19 490

16 Other Finance Charges

49.19 54.01



Sl. No.

Particulars

FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21

Approved in Review in

Tariff Order dated

25.02.2019

Claimed in True up

for FY 2018-

19

Approved in MYT Order

dated 25.02.2019

Revised Estimates

for APR for

FY 2019-20


25.02.2019

Revised Projections for ARR for

FY 2020-21

17 Interest on working capital

19.47 29.00 13.66 23.00 22.91 8.00

18 Return on Equity 236.71 175.00 470.59 225.00 560.43 277.00

19 Income Tax

20 Interest on security deposit

33.62 32.00 42.58 32.00 48.74 35.00

21 Bad Debts (if any)

22 Contingency Reserve (if any)

31.68 0.00 54.89 0.00 73.86

23 Deposit for RPO Obligation

10.00

24 Less: IDC

25 Total Revenue Requirement

9052.96 9373.00 10089.72 10504.00 12248.85 10794.0

0

26 Less: Non-tariff income

307.83 397.00 359.70 492 377.01 1311.00

27 Aggregate Revenue Requirement

8745.13 8977.00 9730.02 10013.00 11871.84 9483.00

28 Less: Revenue including subsidy

9273.04 7333.00 8493.00 9805.00

29 Capital Grant/subsidy

710.00

30

Add: Trued up revenue gap of earlier year including carrying cost

-0.18 -0.18

31 Revenue Gap/(Surplus)

-528.09 933.00 1519.00 -322.00

32 Add: Trued up revenue gap of FY 2018-19

933.00

33 Revenue gap / (Surplus)

933.00

34 Add: Carrying cost on revenue gap of FY 18-19

196.00

35 Gap/(Surplus) 933.00 1519.00 808.00

Table 2.2: Summary of the Tariff Petition of NBPDCL

(Rs. Crore)

Sl. No

Particulars

FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21

Approved in Review

in T. O Dated

25.02.2019

Now claimed in True

up for FY 2018-19


25.02.2019

Revised Estimates

for APR for FY

2019-20


25.02.2019

Revised Projections

for ARR for FY

2020-21

1 No. of consumers (including DF Areas)

9778865 9165384 10587861 10026613 11419480 10609345

2 Connected Load (KW)

8231701 8012578 14199603 8336997 11137391 8849580

3 Sales (MU)

11424.20 9493.31 13045 10937 14534 12929



Sl. No

Particulars

FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21

Approved in Review

in T. O Dated

25.02.2019

Now claimed in True

up for FY 2018-19


25.02.2019

Revised Estimates

for APR for FY

2019-20


25.02.2019

Revised Projections

for ARR for FY

2020-21

4 Intra-state Transmission Loss (%)

3.92% 4.62% 3.92% 3.92% 3.92% 3.92%

5 Distribution loss (%) 20% 26.83% 15% 23.83% 15% 20%

6

Energy required at state Trans. periphery (MU)

14490.53 13082 15697.68 14505 17506.64 16467

7 Capital Expenditure 2630.47 3761.64 2676.59 2858.13 2523.69 2076.11

8 Capitalisation 5860.05 2722.86 3453.82 2070 3159.26 2100


5509.54 5328.00 6013.00 5833.00 6981.69 6499.00

10 State Transmission including SLDC charges

1163.06 1031.00 980.00 1464.00 1415.21 1684.00

11 RE Purchase 0.00 0.00 59.00 0.00 113.27 0.00

12 O&M expenses i) Employee Cost 269.58 261.00 327.00 272.00 404.54 284.00

ii) R&M Expenses 99.42 114.00 203.00 179.00 251.94 218.00

iii) A&G Expenses 97.73 231.00 134.00 238.00 148.37 245.00

13 Share of holding company expenses

11.25 18.00 11.00 20.00 11.33 22.00

14 Depreciation 108.95 170.00 185.00 193.00 266.40 231.00

15 Interest & finance charges

210.99 149.00 333.00 223.00 478.97 375

16 Other Finance Charges

32.00 41.00 35.26 45.00

17 Interest on working capital

38.96 28.00 33.00 30.00 46.89 33.00

18 Return on Equity 151.80 171.00 332.00 232.00 473.90 298.00

19 Income Tax

20 Interest on security deposit

19.82 20.00 24.00 21.00 26.56 23.00

21 Bad Debts (if any)

22 Contingency Reserve (if any)

36.25 66.00 82.82

23 Deposit for RPO Obligation

30.00 0.00 0.00

24 Less: IDC

25 Total Revenue Requirement

7717.35 7550.00 8731.00 8638.00 10737.15 9760.00

26 Less: Non-tariff income

266.58 666 324 340 326.82 478.00

27 Aggregate Revenue Requirement

7450.77 6884 8408.00 8298.00 10410.32 9282.00

28 Less: Revenue including subsidy

7917.88 6221.00 7222.00 8450.00

29 Capital Grant/subsidy

258.00

30

Add: Trued up revenue gap of earlier year including carrying cost

-8.36 -8.00

33 Revenue Gap/(Surplus)

-475.47 397 1075.00 831.00



Sl. No

Particulars

FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21

Approved in Review

in T. O Dated

25.02.2019

Now claimed in True

up for FY 2018-19


25.02.2019

Revised Estimates

for APR for FY

2019-20


25.02.2019

Revised Projections

for ARR for FY

2020-21

34 Add: Trued up revenue gap of FY 2018-19

397.00

35 Revenue gap / (Surplus)

36 Add: Carrying cost on revenue gap of FY 18-19

84.00

37 Gap/(Surplus) -475.47 397 1075 1312

SBPDCL has proposed to create a part of the gap i.e. Rs. 519 Crore as regulatory

asset to avoid tariff shock and rest of Rs. 289 Crore to be recovered from a hike in

tariff applicable to various categories of consumers. Similarly NBPDCL has also

proposed to create a part of the gap i.e. Rs. 1091 Crore as regulatory asset and rest

of Rs. 221 Crore to be recovered from a hike in tariff applicable to various

categories of consumers.

2.2 Proposed Tariffs

The Discoms have proposed the tariffs for FY 2020-21 as shown in the Table below:

Table 2.3: Tariff Rates Existing and Proposed for Retail Sales of Electricity for FY 2020-21

Sl. No

Category

BERC Approved Tariff- FY 2019-20 (Excluding Govt. Subsidy)

Proposed Tariff- FY 2020-21 (Excluding Govt. Subsidy)

Fixed charge

Units Energy Charge

Units Fixed

charge Units

Energy Charge

Units

1

Domestic Kutir Jyoti - Unmetered

350

Per Connection

Per Month

0.00 kWh 425 Per Connection

Per Month 0.00 kWh

Domestic Kutir Jyoti - Metered (0-50)

10 Per

Connection Per Month


Per Month 6.15 kWh

2

DS-I (Rural) - Unmetered

500 Per



Per Month 0.00 kWh

DS-I (Rural) - Metered

24

First 50 Units 20 Per kW Per

Month 6.15 kWh 24 Per kW Per Month 6.15 kWh

51 - 100 Units 20 Per kW Per


101 -200 Units

20 Per kW Per


Above 200 Units

20 Per kW Per


3

DS-II (Urban- Demand Based)

1-100 U/Month

40 Per kW Per


101 - 200 U/Month

40 Per kW Per


201 -300 40 Per kW Per 7.80 kWh 49 Per kW Per Month 7.80 kWh



Sl. No

Category



Fixed charge

Units Energy Charge

Units Fixed

charge Units

Energy Charge

Units

U/Month Month

above 300 U/Month

40 Per kW Per


DS-III- (Supply at 11 kV)- (Optional)

40 Per kW Per


4

NDS-I (Rural)- Metered

1-100 U/Month

30 Per kW Per


101 - 200 U/Month

30 Per kW Per


above 200 U/Month

30 Per kW Per


5

NDS-II (Demand Based) Contract Demand < 0.5 kW

100 Per



Per Month 6.40 kWh

Contract Demand > 0.5 kW

First 100 Units

180 Per kW Per


101 - 200 Units

180 Per kW Per


Above 200 Units

180 Per kW Per


6

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell) - Unmetered

800 Per HP per

month 0.00 kWh 972 Per HP per month 0.00

kWh

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell) - Metered

30 Per HP per


kWh

IAS-II (State Tubewell) - Metered

200 Per HP per


kWh

7

LTIS-I (Contract Demand < 19 kW)

144 Per kVA Per

Month 6.50 kVAh 175

Per kVA Per

Month 6.50

kVAh

LTIS-II (Contract Demand 19-74 kW))

180 Per kVA Per

Month 6.50 kVAh 219

Per kVA Per

Month 6.50

kVAh

8

Public Service & Connections PWW

315 Per kVA Per

Month 8.05 kVAh 383

Per kVA Per Month

8.05 kVAh

Har Ghar Nal 40 Per HP per

month 6.75 kWh 49 Per HP per month 6.75 kWh

9

Street Light Services SS-Metered

50 Per kW Per


Street Light Services SS-Unmetered

3,750 Per kW Per

Month 0.00 kWh 4,556 Per kW Per Month 0.00 kWh

10

HTS-I (11 kV) 300 Per kVA Per

Month 6.65 kVAh 365

Per kVA Per Month

6.65 kVAh

HTS-II (33 kV) 300 Per kVA Per

Month 6.60 kVAh 365

Per kVA Per Month

6.60 kVAh

HTS-III (132 kV)

300 Per kVA Per

Month 6.55 kVAh 365

Per kVA Per Month

6.55 kVAh



Sl. No

Category



Fixed charge

Units Energy Charge

Units Fixed

charge Units

Energy Charge

Units

HTS-IV (220 kV)

300 Per kVA Per

Month 6.50 kVAh 365

Per kVA Per Month

6.50 kVAh

HTSS (33 / 11 kV)

700 Per kVA Per

Month 4.15 kVAh 851

Per kVA Per Month

4.15 kVAh

11 RTS (132 kV) 280 Per kVA Per

Month 6.80 kVAh 340

Per kVA Per Month

6.80 kVAh

2.3 Request to the Commission

The Petitioners requested the Commission to:

a) Admit this Petition;

b) Approve the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) FY 2020-21 under relevant

regulations and Orders issued by the Hon’ble Commission from time to time

and pass suitable Orders with respect to the True up for FY 2018-19, Annual

Performance Review (APR) for FY 2019-20,

c) Approve the proposed tariff schedule along with open access charges and the

schedule for general and miscellaneous charges as proposed in this petition

for different category of consumers to be made applicable from 1st April,

2020.

d) To propose suitable changes to the respective ARRs, prior to the final

approval by the Commission. Discoms believe that such an approach would

go a long way towards providing a fair treatment to all the stakeholders and

may eliminate the need for a review or clarification.

e) Condone any inadvertent omissions / errors / shortcomings and permit

SBPDCL to add / change / modify / alter this filing and make further

submissions as may be required at a future date.

f) Pass such Order, as the Commission may deem fit and appropriate keeping in

view the facts and circumstances of the case.



3. Stakeholder’s Objections/Suggestion, Petitioner’s Response and Commission’s Observation

3.1 Introduction

Under section 64 (2) and (3) of Electricity Act, 2003 Commission directed the

petitioner to publish an abridged form of the petition in the newspapers and

upload the tariff petition alongwith additional informations for inviting

comments/suggestions/objections from general public and stakeholders. As

scheduled public hearings were held on the following dates and places:-

Discom Date Place

NBPDCL 10.01.2020 Muzaffarpur

SBPDCL 18.01.2020 Gaya

SBPDCL 12.02.2020 Bhagalpur

NBPDCL and SBPDCL combined 14.02.2020 Patna

The following stakeholders and general public submitted their written

comments/suggestions and objections either before the scheduled date of public

hearing or during the public hearing on tariff petitions of NBPDCL and SBPDCL:-

SI .No Name of the Objectors/Stakeholder

1. Bihar Industries Association – Patna

2. Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries – Patna

3. M/s Bihar Steel Manufacturers Association – Patna

4. M/s Patwari Steels Pvt. Ltd. – Patna

5. Shri Ram Sharan Singh, Convenor Nav Chetna Manch, Mokama, Patna

6. Shri Pramod Kumar Sharma – Vaishali

7. Central Bihar Chamber of Commerce - KP Road, Gaya

8. South Bihar Industries Association – Gaya

9. Shri Brijnandan Pathak, Vidhyut Upbhokta Sangharsh Samiti, Gaya

10. North Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries- Muzaffarpur

11. Akhil Bhartiya Deshbhakta Morcha, Muzaffarpur

12. Laghu Udhyog Bharti Muzaffarpur

13. Eastern Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries- Bhagalpur

14. Gharelu Upbhokta Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

15. Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti-Bhagalpur

16. Shri Sandeep Jha-Advocate, Bhagalpur

17. Shri Ashok Kr. Jivarjika, Bijili Upbhokta Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

18. Shri Pradeep Kumar, Bhagalpur

19. Kumar Hira Prabhakar, Saharsa

20. Bijili Upbhokta Sangharsh Samithi

21. M/s. Triveni Smelters Pvt. Ltd., Patna

22. M/s Patwari Forgings Pvt. Ltd, Patna

23. M/s. J G Foundry Ltd., Patna

24. Shri Deo Ratan Pd., Jan Sangharsh Morch, Patna



SI .No Name of the Objectors/Stakeholder

25. Dina Iron & Steel Ltd., Patna

26. Shri Chandradhan Pd. Pandey

27. Bharti Airtel Ltd, Patna

28. Shri Randhir Kumar, Patna

29. Ritu Raj Kumar, Patna

30. Shri Anil Kumar Yadav, Patna

31. Eastern Bihar Industries Association, Bhagalpur

32. Gandhi Shanti Pratisthan, Bhagalpur

33. Gandhi Shanti Pratisthan, Muzaffarpur

In addition to the above written comments/suggestions/objections, many other

general public and stakeholders appeared before the commission during the public

hearings and made their oral submissions objecting to any increase in tariff and

offered suggestions. By and large, all of them admitted with satisfaction that

electricity was available 22-24 Hrs in urban areas and 20-22 Hrs. in rural areas and

lauded the efforts of the Discoms for extending electricity network and providing

facilities for electric connection to all villages and all interested consumers.

However, there were complaints regarding deficiencies in services of the NBPDCL

and SBPDCL such as erroneous billing, delay in redressal of their grievances,

problems relating to metering, meter reading and extending new connections and

low voltage etc.,

Although, as mentioned above, the public hearings were scheduled in respective

jurisdictions of NBPDCL and SBPDCL, but the general public and stakeholders who

appeared during such hearings broadly submitted similar comments/

suggestions/objections with respect to the tariff petitions and the performance of

NBPDCL and SBPDCL. Grievances were also common in nature.

The Commission forwarded all the written comments/suggestions/objections to

NBPDCL vide letter no.67 A dt.13.01.2020, letter no.110 dt.22.01.2020 and letter

no.189 dt.16.02.2020 and to SBPDCL vide letter no.109 dt.22.01.2020, letter no.110

dt.22.01.2020, letter no.188 dt.16.02.2020 and letter no.197 dt.17.02.2020 for

submitting their responses.

NBPDCL has submitted its response vide letter no. 52 dated 06.02.2020, letter

no.85 dated 25.02.2020 and letter no.101 dated 03.03.2020 whereas SBPDCL has

submitted its response vide letter no.30 dated 03.02.2020, letter no.31 dated



03.02.2020 and letter no.51 dated 25.02.2020. The Commission has decided to pass

the common tariff order for NBPDCL and SBPDCL since FY 2019-20 and this year

too, common order is being processed. Therefore, the comments/suggestions and

objections submitted by general public and stakeholders for NBPDCL and SBPDCL

separately are being classified and grouped issue-wise and are being examined and

considered jointly in the light of the responses received from the Discoms as

under:-

Distribution Loss and Energy requirement:

Consumers’ and stakeholders’ submission

The Discoms have claimed higher distribution losses than the distribution loss

target approved by the Commission in their respective tariff orders. It was

suggested to consider distribution losses as per the targets approved by the

Commission for the purpose of energy balance and energy requirement and power

purchase cost thereof.

The losses in DF area are higher than the normative losses and suggested to

consider actual energy sales for DF area for computing total energy sales.

Petitioners’ response: Petitioners submitted that despite of implementation of SAUBHAGYA and Har Ghar

Bijli scheme in the State, SBPDCL and NBPDCL have been able to reduce their

distribution losses from 35.53% and 30% in FY 2018-19 to 32.29% and 26.83%

respectively. It has been further submitted by the Petitioners that they have taken

all the measures to reduce Distribution Losses which is reflected in continuous

reduction in their losses from FY 2016-17 onwards and they are determined to

reduce it further in future also.

The level of Distribution losses in a state depend largely on the consumer mix. The

losses at HT level are lower than that of LT level due to less transformation/line loss

and utility having more HT consumers will have lower losses as compared to the

utility having more of LT consumers.

Apart from low HT: LT ratio, various schemes like Har Ghar Bijli, Saubhagya etc. that

have been introduced by the Government requires increase in the distribution

network in rural areas.

In this backdrop the Petitioners have requested the Commission to consider

practical limitations and challenges of the Petitioners in containing the distribution



losses and have prayed to accept the losses as claimed in the petitions.

It was clarified by the Petitioners that sales to DF area are considered at input point

to DF as per the agreement.

Commission’s view:

The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders and Petitioner’s response.

The Commission had earlier revised the distribution loss trajectory in the light of

APTEL order dated 25.11.2016 aligning it with the target given in UDAY MOUs.

Infact it was request of the petitioner before the APTEL to align the Distribution

losses to UDAY MOUs. Commission accordingly determined the revised Distribution

loss trajectory in the control period. Therefore, the power purchase quantum and

cost of power has been accordingly considered in the ARR by the Commission.

The Commission has considered normative losses in computing the DF sales. The

issue is aptly deliberated in the relevant paragraph.

Intra State Transmission Loss:


The petitioners have claimed transmission loss of 4.62% for FY 2018-19 as against

the target of 3.92% approved by the Commission. The stakeholders suggested to

consider as per the target approved by the Commission for the purpose of

approving energy balance for FY 2018-19.

Petitioners’ response:

Transmission business does not fall under the day to day operations of the

petitioners.


The Commission while noting the views of the stakeholders and Petitioner’s

response, clarifies that since it had determined transmission loss target at 3.92%

year on year for the control period, accordingly the same is considered in the

energy balance for computing power requirement. The Commission has aptly

deliberated this issue in the relevant paragraph.

Power purchase cost:


The power purchase cost of surplus power should be disallowed by following the

Merit Order Dispatch (MOD) principle.



Further, since the Power purchase cost has come down substantially, the benefit of

it should be passed on to the consumers.


The Petitioners have submitted that they have purchased power according to the

demand in the state and followed the MOD principle to schedule power for FY 18-

19 and contended that the details along with supported documents were

submitted to the Commission for perusal and prudence check.

Considering the contention of the objectors, the petitioners have argued that the

claim of the objectors have no merit as the power purchase quantum calculated by

the objector are based on the assumptions which have already been contested by

the petitioners. Further, the approach followed by the objectors to disallow the

power purchase cost from the highest cost plants is also not prudent as it does not

consider the requirement and limitations of the Petitioners in scheduling its power

in 15 min blocks. Hence the contention of the objectors is not acceptable.

As regards fall in cost of power, the petitioners have argued that apart from power

purchase, the DISCOMs have to bear the cost of distribution of power to the

consumer premises which requires a proper network to be in place for quality

delivery. The Discoms have to bear network/distribution cost such as O&M

expense, Interest on loan, Depreciation, Return on Equity, Interest on working

capital for meeting day to day operations. All the above cost forms a part of tariff

charged to the consumer. Therefore, reduction in tariff only on the basis of power

purchase cost is not justifiable.



The Commission has approved the power purchase cost following Merit Order

principle on validation and prudence check. The Commission has aptly deliberated

it in the relevant paragraphs of this Order.

Repair and Maintenance expenses:


The petitioners have claimed Repair and maintenance expenses based on actual

expenses. Source of funding of R&M may be ascertained. It is suggested to allow

the % of opening GFA as per regulations.



Petitioners’ response: The actual R&M expenses is considered as per the audited annual accounts for the

purpose of truing up. The petitioners had submitted revised employee expenses

based on norms to the Commission.



The Commission has approved Repair and Maintenance expenses as a percentage

of GFA in terms of regulations. The Commission has aptly deliberated it in the

relevant paragraphs of this Order.

Administration and General expenses:

Consumers and stakeholders submission

The A&G expenses have increased substantially and suggested to allow the same

based on prudence check and as per norms escalated with inflationary indexation.

Till the norms are determined, the actual cost based on audited accounts shall be

allowed.

Petitioners’ response: The actual A&G expense is considered for truing up as per the audited annual

accounts. The petitioner had submitted revised A&G expenses based as per the

norms of the Commission.



The Commission has approved A&G expenses as per actuals in truing up on

validation and prudence check, whereas for the purpose of APR and ARR the same

has been considered on the basis of approved norms. The Commission has

deliberated aptly in the relevant paragraphs.

Employee cost:


The employee cost shall be considered as per actual for truing up and based on the

norms for APR and ARR. It is suggested to allow the same based on prudence check

and as per norms escalated with inflationary indexation in terms of regulations.


The employee cost shall be determined based on actual cost till the norms are

specified by the Commission. The Commission in the Tariff order dated 25.02.2019



considered the actual employee expenses for truing up and formulated norms for

computing employee expenses for APR and ARR. Based on norms formulated, the

petitioners have submitted revised employee expenses.



The Commission has approved employee cost as per actuals in truing up and for

APR and ARR it has been calculated on the basis of approved norms.

Holding company expenses:


Holding company expenses are in the nature of A&G expenses and shall be allowed

considering inflationary indexation of WPI based on actual considered in truing up.

Petitioners’ response: The true-up of expenses shall be on the basis of actual expenses booked in the

audited books of accounts of the Distribution Licensee for the year. Where audited

books of account are not available at the time of true-up, provisional books of

annual (regulatory) accounts duly approved by the Board of Directors of the

applicant company shall be used for the provisional True-up process. The petitioner

hereby clarifies that it has considered holding company expenses for the purpose of

truing up on the basis of annual audited accounts.

Commission’s view: The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders and Petitioner’s response.

The Commission has approved holding company expenses after validation and

prudence check. The Commission has aptly deliberated this issue in the relevant

paragraph of the order.

Capital expenditure and funding of capitalisation:


Opening balance of CWIP, GFA, Grants, etc. Shall be allowed based on trued-up

closing balance of the previous year.

Petitioners’ response: The opening balances are considered as per the closing balances filed by the

petitioner in the previous tariff order. Bifurcation of addition to Gross Fixed Asset

into Loan, Grant and Equity is based on the funding pattern of the respective

schemes. Details showing bifurcation of assets into Loans, Grant and Equity were

submitted vide Letter No 1442 dated 11.12.2019.





The Commission has considered opening balances of CWIP, GFA, Grants, Loans,

Equity based on the trued up closing balances approved for the previous year. The

Commission has elaborately deliberated these issues in the relevant paragraphs of

the order.

Depreciation:


Weighted average rate of depreciation on assets created through grants shall be

considered equal to the weighted average rate of depreciation on assets. It has also

been stated that Depreciation shall be allowed on Straight Line method as per

regulation deducting fully depreciated asset and ten percent of cost as residual

value.


The Petitioner submits that for the purpose of truing up, depreciation has been

considered based on the audited annual accounts of FY 2018-19. Out of the total

depreciation, depreciation for GFA on grants is reduced to arrive at net

depreciation on assets created other than by way of grants. The difference in

weighted average rate of depreciation calculated by the petitioner and that

calculated by the stakeholder is due to the difference in Opening balance adopted

by the petitioner and that adopted by the stakeholder. The Petitioners have further

submitted that they have furnished detailed calculation of depreciation to the

Commission for perusal and prudence check. The projections are in line with the

applicable BERC MYT regulations.


The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders’ and Petitioners’

response. The Commission has elaborately deliberated the computation of

weighted average rate of depreciation on assets and weighted average rate of

depreciation on assets created through grants in the relevant paragraph of the true

up chapter of this order.



Interest on loan:


The opening balance of loan shall be considered based on the trued up closing

balances of the previous year. Loan addition and repayment of loan for the year

shall be considered as per the regulations.


The petitioners state that, the difference in interest on loan calculated by them and

as calculated by the stakeholder is on account of difference in adjusting opening

balances by the petitioners and by the stakeholders. The petitioners have also

clarified that interest on loan is calculated as per the applicable regulations.


The Commission while noting the views of the stakeholders’ and Petitioners’

response, clarifies that it has allowed the interest on loan in terms of regulations.

The rate of interest adopted has been elaborately deliberated in the relevant

paragraphs of this order.

Return on equity:


The opening balance of equity shall be considered based on the trued up closing

balances of previous year. Equity addition shall be considered as per the

regulations and accordingly RoE is allowed. Source of funds for actual investment to

create assets shall be ascertained.

Petitioners’ response: The petitioner states that Return on Equity is computed as per applicable

regulations.

As per the regulations, Return on equity shall be computed on 30% of the capital

base or actual equity, whichever is lower. Provided that assets funded by consumer

contribution, capital subsidies/ grants and corresponding depreciation shall not

form part of the capital base. Actual equity invested in the Distribution Licensee as

per book value shall be considered as perpetual and shall be used for computation

in this Regulation. Provided further that the premium if any raised by the Licensee

while issuing share capital and investment of internal resources created out of its

free reserves, for the funding of the Scheme, shall be reckoned as paid up capital

for the purpose of computing return on equity, provided such premium amount



and internal resources are actually utilized for meeting the capital expenditure of

the distribution system, and are within the ceiling of 30% of capital cost. The return

on the equity invested shall be allowed from the date of start of commercial

operation after the assets is put to use. Return on equity shall be computed at the

rate of 15.5% for the project which is commissioned w.e.f. 01.04.2016 and further

incentive equivalent to 0.5% will be allowed in the form of RoE, if the project is

completed within original schedule period. However, Return on Equity for the

project commissioned prior to 01.04.2016 shall be allowed at the rate of 14%. The

petitioners state that they have computed RoE on the basis of aforesaid regulation.



The Commission has considered opening value of Equity based on trued up equity

balance of previous and addition to equity during the year on validation and

prudence check of capitalisation in terms of regulations. RoE is allowed as per

applicable regulations in true up, APR and ARR. The Commission has aptly

deliberated the subject in the relevant paragraphs of the order.

Interest on Consumer Security Deposit:


Interest on Consumers security deposit shall be allowed to the extent of interest

actually paid to the Consumers.

Petitioners’ response: The petitioners state that interest on consumers’ security deposit has been

considered based on the audited annual accounts of FY 2018-19.



The Commission has allowed the interest actually paid to the consumers’ on the

security deposit in truing up chapter giving relevant details thereon.

Non tariff income:

Consumers and stakeholders submission

Non tariff income shall be allowed based on actual income earned by the

Petitioners. Consumer contribution received has not been offered as non tariff

income or adjusted against capital assets.



Petitioners’ response: The petitioners have stated that non tariff income has been considered based on

the audited accounts in the petition, However, it has also been clarified by them

that they have submitted revised non tariff income also.



The Commission has considered the non tariff income after validation and

prudence check which has been aptly deliberated in the relevant paragraph.

Revenue from sale of power:


It has been alleged that the revenue from sale of power has been understated by

the petitioners. Hence, it was suggested by the stakeholders to re-compute it on

the basis of average no. of consumers for Fixed charges and for energy charges, it

should be calculated based on average consumption. Accordingly, the revenues

calculated shall be considered in the truing up, APR and ARR.


The Objector has not provided a detailed calculation of energy charges regarding

revenue from sale of energy. Calculation of energy charges depends on the slab and

category of consumption which varies month to month. The petitioner submitted

that Category wise month-to-month revenue from sale of energy has been

submitted to the Commission for approval after perusal and prudence check.



The Commission has considered the revenue from sale of power on validation and

prudence check and this has been elaborately deliberated in the relevant

paragraph.

Load factor rebate:


Consumers particularly H.T Consumers requested for allowing load factor rebate to

HT consumers citing similar concession in neighbouring state of Jharkand & DVC

area to make the industries of Bihar to compete with neighbouring states.



Petitioners’ response: The petitioner having offered no comment on this issue has opined that, the

Commission is empowered to take decision based on the discussions and

recommendation of the State Advisory Committee meeting held on 06.02.2020.


Taking cognisance of the prayer of the stakeholders and stand taken by the

petitioners, the Commission has taken considered decision on this issue that it

would not be prudent to allow load factor rebate without study of the cost - benefit

analysis and the prevailing conditions and concessions in the neighbouring states.

The Commission directs both the Discoms to study the prevailing load factor

rebate in the nearby Jharkund, West Bengal and DVC areas and shall submit

proposal with respect to load factor rebate in next tariff petitions.

Excess contract demand for Induction Furnaces (HTSS): Consumers’ and stakeholders’ submission

It was suggested that billing demand should be maximum of either maximum

demand during the month or the contract demand as per the present applicable

tariff principles. It was highlighted that the burden of un-used demand falls on

HTSS consumers, which imposes additional burden on the HTSS consumers. It was

pointed out that in most of the states the minimum billing demand is around 75% -

80%. The minimum billing demand may be prescribed at 80% of the contract

demand. Some of the stakeholders/objectors suggested minimum billing demand

at 70%.

Contract demand violation/exceeded contract demand shall be charged at twice

the rate of contract demand for HTSS consumers. Few stakeholders suggested not

to levy any penalty up to 110% of the contract demand, whereas, some others

suggested this limit raised to 130%.


The petitioner while retraining from giving comment on this issue opined that, the

Commission is empowered to take decision based on the discussions and

recommendation of the State Advisory Committee meeting held on 06.02.2020.


The High Tension Special Service (HTSS) category had been created as a special

category tariff since 1999 i.e. prior to constitution of this Commission. Such



connection has since been considered as connected load based and accordingly

billing demand is considered the maximum of either maximum demand during the

month or the sanctioned contract demand. Such HTSS connection does not exist in

any other state except Bihar and hence the statement of the stakeholders that in

most of the states the minimum billing demand is around 75% - 80% is not relevant

to HTSS. The Commission has also allowed minimum billing demand at 75% of the

contract demand in case of other HT consumers.

Supply of power based on consumers own assessment of load:


Consumers should be allowed to take connection or enter into agreement for

supply of power on their own assessment of load so that they are not penalised

without any fault of theirs for the un-used load.

Petitioners’ response: The methodology suggested by the objector of providing connection to consumers

based on their own assessment of load is already in practice under Demand-based

tariff.


The instant submission of the stakeholder is not related to the tariff petition, rather

it is related to Supply Code.

The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders and Petitioner’s response

and shall take action on the issue at appropriate time.

Energy charges to be reduced to sustain industry in competition:


Energy charges are very high and they had to be reduced in view of meagre T&D

loss in supply of power at high voltage level to sustain the industry in competition.


Views and suggestions of the Industrial consumers may be justified. However,

reduction of tariff rate to such an extent will force the DISCOMs to pass on unjust

burden to other category of consumers in order to recover their expenses. Passing

on this extra burden to other category of consumers without considering their

paying capacity is against the tariff policy and the Electricity Act,2003.




The Commission appreciates the views of the stakeholders. However, the

Commission clarifies that the Commission already determines voltage-wise cost of

supply and design the tariff in such a way that it is in the range of +/- 20% of the

cost of supply.

Electricity Duty:


Electricity duty (6%) is maximum in Bihar compared to other states and suggested

to abolished it or reduced it to the level that is being charged in the neighbouring

states.


The Electricity Duty is levied as per the Electricity Duty Act of the State Government.



This issue is beyond the scope of this tariff order.

Removal of Fixed Charges for HTSS category for open access: Consumers’ and stakeholders’ submission

Fixed charges be abolished and single part tariff be introduced for Open Access

Facility. If it is not possible create a new category for industries who opt for Open

Access Facility. Wherein the Discoms shall charge for the electrical units consumed.

Wheeling and other charges should be reasonable.


The petitioner states that fixed charge is payable based on the contracted capacity.

The fixed charges are recovered in accordance with the BERC regulations and tariffs

as approved in the Tariff Orders year on year by the Commission.


The Commission clarifies that no fixed charge is leviable from the long term open

access consumers. As regard to the short term open access consumers, it is still an

embedded consumer of the Discoms’ and hence is liable to be charged the fixed

charges as per the relevant regulations.

Notice period for Disconnection of service Consumers’ and stakeholders’ submission

Notice period of 24 months and 3 months for disconnection of service be lowered

to one month only.




Disconnection process is conducted as per the Bihar Electricity Supply Code.

Commissions view:


The said suggestion is not related to the tariff order rather it is related to the

Supply Code. The Commission shall take appropriate action on the issue at

appropriate time.

Reduction in Tariff for HT and Industrial consumers


Tariff may be reduced by 25% - 30% for HT and Industrial consumers.

Petitioners’ response: Reduction of tariff rate to such extent will force the DISCOMs to pass on unjust

burden to other category of consumers in order to recover their expenses. Passing

on this extra burden to other category of consumers without considering their

paying capacity is against the Tariff policy and provisions of the Electricity Act,2003.



The Commission determines tariff considering adhering its tariff regulations after

duly validation of data and prudence check.

Voltage wise Cost of Supply:


Voltage-wise cost of supply has been calculated considering transmission loss at

3.92% and distribution loss at 20%. The Distribution loss shall be considered at 15%.

For 33kV consumers the network cost upto 33kV level should be considered and

network loss of 11kV and 400 volts shall not be loaded on to 33kV consumers,

similarly for other voltage consumers. There is wide difference in the average cost

of supply. It was suggested that the voltage-wise cost of supply should be worked

out on 3% transmission loss and 15% distribution loss and on the basis of

segregated network cost for 33kV, 11kV and 400 volts. Deposit towards RPO,

interest on security deposit, depreciation and RoE shall not be considered in

network cost.




The Petitioner submits that in the current scenario, it is practically very challenging

to segregate the networking cost based on voltage wise cost of supply. However,

the same may be undertaken once the practical issues regarding the same are

resolved. Calculation of voltage wise cost of supply has been undertaken by the

petitioner based on the voltage wise technical losses of its sample feeders. The

details of calculations and the considered parameters have been submitted to the

Commission for prudence check.

Commission’s view

The Commission has noted the concerns raised by the stakeholders and has

considered such suggestion while computing voltage wise cost of supply in this

tariff order following the guidelines issued by APTEL in its order dated 10.05.2012

in Appeal no.14 of 2011 BIA Vs BERC and Appeal no.27 of 2011 Kalyanpur Cements

Limited Vs BERC.

Interest on working capital


Subsidy/Grant received from the Government should be considered for working

capital requirement and amount equivalent to two months shall be deducted from

the working capital requirement for allowing interest on working capital.


The revenue from sale of energy projected is based on tariff approved by the

Commission and does not consider consumer subsidy separately. The fund towards

Operation & Maintenance expense is received in the form of Equity and accordingly

has not considered any subsidy/grant under a separate head while projecting its

Working capital requirement.



The Government has extended tariff subsidy to all the consumers. The tariff

subsidy is in the nature of part payment of energy charges by the Government and

remainining part of the tariff (after deducting subsidy) is recovered from the

consumer. Hence, the same should not be treated as revenue subsidy for the

purpose of calculating the working capital requirement. The Working capital



requirement and interest on working capital is considered as per the norms

specified in the regulations.

Delayed payment surcharge


Delayed payment surcharge is proposed to be increased to 1.5% per month from

present 1.25% per month by the petitioners. Keeping in view falling interest rate in

the market it was suggested to reduce the DPS to 1% per month. It was also

suggested to change DPS on pro-rata basis


The Petitioners provide a rebate of 1.5% to its consumers for prompt payment of

their energy bills. Further, the DISCOMs are required to pay the Late Payment

Surcharge (LPSC) of 1.5% to the generators in case of payment default within the

stipulated period. Therefore, it is prudent to charge DPS at the similar ratio from

other consumers in case of payment default within the due date.

Suggestions of pro-rate DPS and calculation of DPS after end of grace period shall

be discussed internally by the DISCOMs.



The Commission had recently reduced DPS rate from 1.5% to 1.25% per month and

does not incline to change the same so frequently.

Abolish meter rent


Discoms are taking meters cost as part of capital cost and being allowed dependant

parameters on the capital cost as pass through in the ARR and on the same asset

meter rent is charged.

It is stated that meter is a measuring instrument for sale of electricity of the

Discom. No other business man recovers charge of his measuring instrument like

balance (Taraju) and measuring weights.

Meter rent should be abolished from this tariff order.


The Petitioner is facing shortage in required number of meters including HT and LT

meters. DISCOMs are contemplating since the last two years to finalise the tender



for supply of HT-LT-CT meters etc. but, due to one or the other reason, it is yet to

be finalized. If the meter rent is abolished, no prospective consumer will supply

their meter as there is no return on their investment due to non-charging of meter

rent. This will delay release of new connections, replacement of defective meters

due to non-availability of meters with the DISCOM. As such meter rent should not

be abolished and requests the Commission to allow the incremental rates as

proposed.

Commission’s view: The Commission appreciates the concern of the stakeholders and has considered

its suggestion. The Commission has dealt the issue in detail in the relevant chapter

of this order.

Pre-paid meters


Consumers are not coming forward for installation of prepaid meters as pre-paid

meters lead to payment of energy charges in advance. It is suggested that a

discount of 2% on energy consumed through prepaid meters should be allowed and

payment of security deposit should also dispensed with.


Not replied


The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders. The Commission clarifies

that the advance payment involving pre-paid meter is paid an interest @6% per

annum. However, the Commission shall examine the issue with associated cost-

benefit analysis and appropriate action shall be taken in due course.

Single phase connection at 10kV – 12kV


Single phase electricity connections at 10kV – 12kV power supply instead of 3

phase electricity connections should be allowed.


The suggestion of the Petitioner is technically not feasible. Further, the objector

failed to explain the extra operational financial burden as claimed by them.




The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders and Petitioners’ response

and does not find the suggestion prudent as allowance of 10 – 12 KW connection

on single phase may lead to system unbalancing and generation of harmonics

causing quality power issues.

Power Purchase Agreements and capacity addition


Discoms have signed PPAs of around 19333 MW (peak demand is 5139 MW for FY

2018-19) more than the need of electricity resulting in payment of fixed charges to

generators without drawal of power. Similarly, BSPTCL has created transmission

infrastructure more than required. The excess PPA and transmission capacity

additions have impacted the power purchase cost. The idle transmission capacity

should be disallowed and additional PPAs should be cancelled.


Not replied

Commission’s view: The Commission appreciates the concern of the stakeholders. As regards to the

excess PPAs signed by Discoms, most of PPAs entered into by Discoms pertains to

long back MoUs of Government of Bihar and that too from Central Generating

stations whose tariffs are notified by the CERC. However, all the projects have not

yet been commissioned. Moreover, some of the projects have not yet started

construction. The Commission has already reviewed all such PPAs and has directed

the Discoms to take appropriate action from their end. As regards to the

transmission infrastructure, it is still under construction and depreciation, interest

on loan and RoE on transmission capex is allowed only after its capitalisation and

assets put to use.

Fixed charge


All general public and stakeholders who attended the public hearings objected to

increase in the fixed charges as proposed by the Discoms. It was suggested by

stake-holders that full demand charge/fixed charge should be recovered only if full

time (24x7) electricity is supplied to the consumers. If the supply hours is less than



24 hours, the fixed charge shall be reduced proportionately. Demand charge should

be payable if electricity supply hours is 700 hours in the month.


Not replied

Commission’s view: The Commission has noted the views of the stakeholders. It has dealt this issue in

detail in the relevant chapters and decision on it has been incorporated there in.

Miscellaneous issues

Besides the key aforesaid issues, the consumers and stakeholders raised following

non tariff related issues during the hearings:-

Wastage of electricity to be curbed in the government offices and street

lights. Necessary rules may be framed and guidelines be issued on

conservation of energy and punishment for wastage of electricity.

Regular inspection and preventive maintenance be done in all the

Distribution Transformers like checking of transformer oil level, condition of

bushes, fuse, jumpers and conductors etc.

15 days advance notice may be issued before disconnecting the service

connection. Advance intimation to be given to affected consumers for

carrying out shutdowns and maintenance works on the lines and distribution

transformers. Poles obstructing the traffic on the roads should be shifted.

In many villages, electricity has been extended by running service wires on

wooden/bamboo poles. Electricity conductor and proper poles in all such

villages should be provided.

Malpractices at the lower level in the field be curbed and vigilance machinery

be strengthened. Wrong bills be rectified expeditiously.

Collection centres and spot billing in rural areas be expanded and basic

facilities like shelters, chairs, drinking water be made available for the waiting

consumers in these collection centres

Cross subsidy should be minimised and if not eliminated.

Several individual complains were also brought before the Commission during

the hearings on which immediate intervention was requested.




As the Petitioners’ did not submit any specific written responses during the hearing

on the aforesaid issues save and except verbal assurances for taking necessary

steps, the Commission directs the Petitioners (Discoms) to attend to the

miscellaneous issues in general and specific complaints in particular promptly and

submit compliance by 30.04.2020.



4. Truing-up for FY 2018-19

4.1 Background

The Commission had issued the Tariff Order dated 21st March, 2016 approving

Multi Year Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for the control period of

FY 2016-17 to FY 2018-19 for Bihar Power Distribution Companies viz., South Bihar

Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL) and North Bihar Power Distribution

Company Limited (NBPDCL). The Commission had re-determined the ARR for

FY 2018-19 in Tariff Order dated 21.03.2018 and also reviewed the Annual

Performance (APR) for FY 2018-19 in the Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019.

The Petitioners have now submitted the present tariff petitions for FY 2020-21 on

15th November, 2019 which includes truing up for FY 2018-19.

The Regulation 8 (1) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2015

specifies that “where the aggregate revenue requirement and expected revenue

from tariff and charges of a Distribution licensee are covered under a Multi Year

Tariff frame work, such Distribution licensee shall be subject to an annual review of

performance and True-up during the control period in accordance with these

regulations.

The Regulation 14 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2015

specifies as under:

“14. True-Up Order

The Commission shall True-Up expenses of the previous year either as part of the

Tariff order or issue Order/s for True-Up of expenses preceding the Tariff order of

ensuing year.

a) An order for True-Up of expenses shall be issued on annual basis.

b) An order for True-Up of expenses shall be on the basis of expense estimates

made in the beginning of the year under consideration, actual expenses

booked in the audited books of accounts of the Distribution Licensee for the

year, and after prudence check of data by the Commission

c) Where audited books of account are not available at the time of true-

up provisional books of accounts duly approved by the Board of Directors of

the applicant company shall be used for the provisional True-up process.



d) Estimates of expenses for the ensuing year shall be on the basis of

corresponding figures in the order for True-up of expenses of the previous

year and Annual Performance Review or Tariff Order of the current year, as

the Commission may consider reasonable and deem fit.

e) Notwithstanding anything contained in regulation 4 of these Regulations,

the Revenue gap/surplus arising out of Truing up shall be considered by the

Commission while determining the ARR of ensuing year(s). While approving

adjustments towards revenue/expenses in future years, arising out of Truing

up exercises, the Commission may allow the carrying costs as determined by

the Commission of such expenses/revenues. However the revised estimated

gap/surplus as a result of APR shall not be passed in the ARR of ensuing

year”.

Accordingly, the “Truing-up” for FY 2018-19 has been undertaken by the

Commission on the basis of audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19 and BERC

(Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2015. However, wherever deemed

necessary, the Commission has considered expenses based on prudence check.

4.2 Truing-up of ARR for FY 2018-19

The Petitioners in their petitions for truing-up for FY 2018-19, have furnished the

actual energy sales, revenue, expenditure for FY 2018-19 based on the audited

annual accounts for FY 2018-19. Accordingly, the revised ARR, revenue and

consequent revenue gap for FY 2018-19 have been claimed. The Commission has

analyzed the components of actual energy sales, revenue, expenses and gap

projected by Petitioners under truing-up for FY 2018-19 in the subsequent

paragraphs.

4.3 Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Energy Sales

Petitioners’ submission

SBPDCL has submitted that they had engaged an Input based Franchisee in Gaya

and Bhagalpur area for accessing greater consumer base with prompt meter

reading, billing and collection. With effect from 26.11.2017, the Petitioner has

terminated the Distribution Franchisee Agreement with M/s.BEDCPL for

distribution of electricity in the Bhagalpur area. Similarly, the Gaya DF has also been

terminated with M/s. India Power Corporation Limited w.e.f. 04.07.2018 in view of



its poor performance.

NBPDCL has also submitted that with effect from 06.08.2018, it has also terminated

the Distribution Franchisee Agreement with M/s Essel Vidyut Vitran for distribution

of electricity in the Muzaffarpur area.

The Petitioners have submitted the category wise number of consumers,

connected load and sales for FY 2018-19 as shown in the tables 4.1 & 4.2 below:

Table 4.1: Number of Consumers, Connected Load (KW) and Sales (MU) claimed by SBPDCL for FY 2018-19

Category Number of Consumers

Connected Load (KW)

Sales (MU)

Kutir Jyoti 1422169 168129 1155.91

Domestic-I 2055959 2088730 2280.43

Domestic-II 1304286 3532042 2557.36

Non-Domestic-I 63025 70385 69.37

Non-Domestic-II 294690 971591 922.98

Street Light-I 703 5266 9.53

Street Light-II 527 6283 25.73

IAS-I 192958 394561 463.22

IAS-II 3571 38303 110.95

Public Water Works 2461 36610.928 78.08

LTIS-I 54121 452032 210.25

LTIS-II 4176 224225 129.27

HTS-I 1684 326242 628.98

HTS-II 112 193086 421.33

HTS-III 4 46350 163.28

HTSS 13 108970 773.32

Railway 3 27720 307.29

SLDC Deviation Charges - - 65.12

Distribution Franchisee - - *279.04

Total 5400462 8690528 10586.32

*The sales to DF refers to the energy sold by SBPDCL to the DF.

Table 4. 2: Number of Consumers, Connected Load (KW) and Sales (MU) claimed by NBPDCL for FY 2018-19


Connected Load (KW)

Sales (MU)

Kutir Jyoti 3,788,049 548,952 1,421

Domestic-I 3,685,829 3,754,208 2,067

Domestic-II 1,219,021 2,096,481 2,024

Non-Domestic-I 128,606 142,811 132

Non-Domestic-II 276,117 642,021 943

Street Light-I 299 3,584 4

Street Light-II 954 11,108 22

IAS-I 27,429 62,467 28

IAS-II 4,465 48,854 124




Connected Load (KW)

Sales (MU)

Public Water Works 1239 19,736 27

LTIS-I 31,626 266,175 177.01

LTIS-II 748 46,891 37.35

HTS-I 945 200,826 375.11

HTS-II 39 54,378 106.57

HTS-III 4 30,500 49.11

HTSS 5 13,687 61.80

Railway 8 69,900 223.31

Nepal 1 - 1355.16

DF - - *314.54

Total 9,165,384 8,012,578 9493.31

*The sales to DF refers to the energy sold by SBPDCL to the DF.

Commission’s analysis 4.3.1 Number of Consumers

The category-wise number of consumers shown by the Discoms in tables 4.1 & 4.2

above are in accordance with the audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19. On a

query from the Commission the Discoms have clarified that the number of

consumers shown includes that of erstwhile DFs also. The Discoms have provided

the number of consumers for unmetered and metered separately for Kutir Jyoti,

Domestic – I (Rural) and IAS-I categories in the Format – I of Petition.

The Commission approves the number of consumers for the Petitioners in truing up

for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.3 below:

Table 4. 3: Number of consumers approved for Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19

Category SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

Domestic 4782414 8692899 13475313

Kutir Jyoti 1422169 3788049 5210218

Unmetered 92582 71780 164362

Metered (0-50) 1329587 3716269 5045856

DS-I (Rural) 2055959 3685829 5741788

Unmetered 300211 455517 755728

Metered 1755748 3230312 4986060

DS-II (Urban) 1304286 1219021 2523307

Non-Domestic 357715 404723 762438

NDS-I (Rural) 63025 128606 191631

NDS-II (Urban) 294690 276117 570807

Contract Demand < 0.5 kW 7483 1081 8564

Contract Demand > 0.5 kW 287207 275036 562243

Irrigation & Agriculture Services (IAS) 196529 31894 228423

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell)) 192958 27429 220387

Unmetered 142421 4845 147266

Metered 50537 22584 73121

IAS-II (State Tubewell) 3571 4465 8036




Low Tension Industrial Supply 58297 32374 90671

LTIS-I (Contract Demand < 19 kW) 54121 31626 85747

LTIS-II (Contract Demand 19-74 kW)) 4176 748 4924

Public Services 2461 1239 3700

Public Water Works 2461 1239 3700

Har Ghar Nal 0 0 0

Street Light Services 1230 1253 2483

SS-I (Metered) 703 299 1002

SS-II (Unmetered) 527 954 1481

High Tension Supply 1813 993 2806

HTS-I (11 kV) 1684 945 2629

HTS-II (33 kV) 112 39 151

HTS-III (132 kV) 4 4 8

HTS-IV (220 kV) 0 0 0

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 13 5 18

RTS (132 kV) 3 8 11

Nepal 1 1

Grand Total 5400462 9165384 14565846

Commission therefore approved total consumers for both the DISCOMs as

14565846 in truing-up for FY 2018-19.

4.3.2 Connected Load

On a query from the Commission the Discoms have clarified that connected load

shown includes that of erstwhile DFs also. However, the connected load furnished

as shown in the Table 4.1 & 4.2 above is not included in the audited account of

DISCOMs. Discoms are directed to get the category-wise connected load also

audited by 3rd Party and exhibit in the audited annual accounts in future.

The Discoms have provided the connected load for unmetered and metered

consumers separately for Kutir Jyoti, Domestic – I (Rural) and IAS-I categories in the

Format – I of Petition.

The Commission approves the connected load for the Petitioners in truing up for FY

2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.4 below:

Table 4. 4: Connected Load (kW) approved for Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19

Category SBPDCL (kW)

NBPDCL (kW)

Total (kW)

Domestic 5788901 6399640 12188542

Kutir Jyoti 168129 548952 717080.4

Unmetered 9005 12853 21858.16

Metered (0-50) 159124 536098 695222.2

DS-I (Rural) 2088730 3754208 5842938

Unmetered 304991 462333 767324

Metered 1783739 3291875 5075614



Category SBPDCL (kW)

NBPDCL (kW)

Total (kW)

DS-II (Urban) 3532042 2096481 5628523

Non-Domestic 1041977 784833 1826809

NDS-I (Rural) 70385 142811 213196.7

NDS-II (Urban) 971591 642021 1613613

Contract Demand < 0.5 kW 4858 646 5504.61

Contract Demand > 0.5 kW 966733 641375 1608108

Irrigation & Agriculture Services (IAS) 432864 111321 544184.6

IAS-I (Pvt Tube well) 394561 62467 457027.9

Unmetered 312615 17467 330081.5

Metered 81946 45000 126946.4

IAS-II (State Tube well) 38303 48854 87156.72

Low Tension Industrial Supply (LTIS- Demand Based)

676257 313066 989323.2

LTIS-I (Contract Demand < 19 kW) 452032 266175 718207.3

LTIS-II (Contract Demand 19-74 kW)) 224225 46891 271115.9

Public Services 36611 19736 56347.02

Public Water works 36611 19736 56347.02

Har Ghar Nal 0 0 0

Street Light Services 11549 14692 26241.05

SS-I (Metered) 5266 3584 8849.96

SS-II (Unmetered) 6283 11108 17391.09

High Tension Supply 674649 299391 974039.3

HTS-I (11 kV) 326242 200826 527067.8

HTS-II (33 kV) 193086 54378 247464.3

HTS-III (132 kV) 46350 30500 76850

HTS-IV (220 kV) 0 0 0

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 108970 13687 122657.2

RTS (132 kV) 27720 69900 97620

Grand Total 8690528 8012578 16703106

The Commission, accordingly, approves combined connected load 16703106 kW

for both the DISCOMs in true-up.

4.3.3 Energy Sales

The actual energy sales shown by the Petitioners in Tables 4.1 & 4.2 above are

observed to be in line with the audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19 of the

Petitioners except that of RTS, of NBPDCL as shown in the Table 4.2 above. On a

query from the Commission, NBPDCL vide its Letter no 1476 dated 17.12.2019 has

submitted the details of breakup for 223.31 MUs shown for RTS as discussed in

subsequent Para. NBPDCL has also revised the Consumption in various slabs for

domestic and non-domestic categories but keeping the total sales at the same level

of 9493.31 MU as shown in table 4.5 below.

On a query from the Commission, SBPDCL clarified that “Post Termination of DF



Gaya on 04.07.2018, based on the last bill month of DF Gaya i.e. May 2018, the

Petitioner carried forward the billing details of the consumers by erstwhile Gaya DF

area and continued further billing”. NBPDCL also clarified that the final bill for

energy sold has been served to Muzaffarpur DF till date 31st July, 2018 and the

Petitioner carried forward the billing to the consumers of the erstwhile

Muzaffarpur DF area and continued further billing for the post termination period.

The petitioners have stated that the audited energy sales include that of erstwhile

DFs after termination of agreements.

The Discoms have provided the energy sales for un-metered and metered

consumers separately of Kutir Jyoti, Domestic-I (Rural) and IAS-I categories in the

Format – I of the Petition. On the direction of the Commission, SBPDCL & NBPDCL

have also provided the month-wise category-wise energy sales, revenue billed and

consolidated for entire FY 2018-19, vide their letters dated 06.12.2019 &

04.02.2020 respectively.

For SBPDCL

On a query from the Commission SBPDCL has clarified that the energy sold to DF

area is 213.92 MUs and 279.04 MUs shown includes 65.12 MUs of RTS in SLDC

deviation. SBPDCL has considered input energy of 213.92MUs supplied to DF area

till the date of termination of agreement as energy sale to Distribution Franchisee

which is metered and billed on the basis of input energy supplied. The Commission

has considered 213.92 MU as sales to Gaya DF as claimed by the Petitioner.

SBPDCL has shown the sales for Un-metered Kutir Jyoti for FY 2018-19 as 51.80 MU,

which on an average works out to 46.63 units/month/connection i.e., well within

the stipulated norm of 50 Units/month for Kutir Jyoti un-metered consumers.

For KJ(Metered category ), SBPDCL has shown 1104.11MU which works out to

69.20 units/month/consumer. The norm is 50 units/month/consumer. Therefore

306.36 MU (1104.11-797.75 MU) are considered under DS-I metered category

under appropriate slabs while estimating the revenue billed through energy

charges.

For DS-I category consumers which are unmetered, SBPDCL has shown the

consumption at 390.62 MU which works out to 106.73 units / KW/month and

108.43 units/month/connection. In the Tariff Order dated 24.03.2017 the



Commission had stipulated a norm of 75 units/KW/month for DS-I category.

Therefore the Commission considers 274.49 MU for Un-metered DS-I category and

rest of the 116.13 MU is disallowed and not considered as sales.

SBPDCL has shown the sales for Un-metered IAS–I category for FY 2018-19 at

359.02 MU which works out to 1148.44 Units/kW/annum, against the approved

norm of 1485 Units/kW/annum.

For other categories, the actual energy sales furnished as per meter readings and as

per audited annual accounts are considered reasonable and hence accepted.

For NBPDCL

NBPDCL has considered 314.54 MU input energy supplied to DF area till date of

termination of agreement as energy sale to Distribution Franchisee which is

metered and billed based on input energy supplied. The Commission has

considered 314.54 MU as sales to erstwhile DF as claimed by the Petitioner.

NBPDCL has shown the sales for Un-metered Kutir Jyoti for FY 2018-19 as 29.79

MU, which on an average works out to 34.58 units/month/ connection i.e., well

within the stipulated norm of 50 Units/month for Kutir Jyoti un-metered

consumers.

For Kutir jyoti (metered category) NBPDCL has shown 1391.15 MU which works out

to 31.19 units/month/consumer which is within the norm of 50 units/month/

consumer.

For DS-I category consumers which are un-metered, NBPDCL has shown the

consumption of 404.29 MU which works out to 73.96 Units/KW/Month which is

within the stipulated norm of 75 units/KW/month.

NBPDCL has shown the sales for Un-metered IAS–I category for FY 2018-19 at 6.80

MU which works out to 389.31 Units/kW/annum, against the approved norm of

1485 Units/kW/annum.

On a query from the Commission NBPDCL has submitted the SLDC deviation to

Railway is 55.47 MU, other energy sales to sugar mills is 2.90 MU and sales to RTS is

164.93 MU.

For other categories, the actual energy sales furnished as per meter readings and as

per audited annual accounts are considered reasonable and hence accepted.

The Commission considers the Category wise Energy Sales as per audited accounts



of FY 2018-19 and additional data provided for Discoms and energy input to DF

sales and approves for FY 2018-19 in truing up as shown in the Table 4.5 below:

Table 4.5: Energy Sales approved for Discoms in truing up for FY 2018-19 (MU)

Category SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU) Total (MU)

Domestic 5993.69 5511.79 11505.48

Kutir Jyoti 1155.91 1420.94 2576.85

Unmetered 51.80 29.79 81.59

Metered (0-50) 1104.11 1391.15 2495.26

DS-I (Rural) 2164.30 2066.64 4230.94

Unmetered 274.49 404.29 678.78

Metered 1889.81 1662.35 3552.16

First 50 Units/Month 1048.28 1099.68 2147.96

51 - 100 Units/Month 369.28 196.83 566.11

Above 100 Units / Month 472.25 365.84 838.09

DS-II (Urban) 2557.35 2024.21 4581.56

1-100 Units/Month 1402.11 873.80 2275.91

101 - 200 Units/Month 740.00 218.30 958.30

201 -300 Units/Month 244.80 102.44 347.24

above 300 Units/Month 170.44 829.67 1000.11

DS III (Optional) 0 0 0

Non-Domestic 992.35 1075.46 2067.81

NDS-I (Rural) 69.37 132.45 201.82

Un-Metered 2.54 2.76 5.30

Metered 66.83 129.69 196.52

1-100 Units/Month 61.90 56.03 117.93

101 - 200 Units/Month 1.00 10.38 11.38

Above 200 Units/Month 3.93 63.28 67.21

NDS-II (Demand Based) 922.98 943.01 1865.99

Contract Demand < 0.5 kW 10.65 3.43 14.08

Contract Demand > 0.5 kW 912.33 939.58 1851.91

First 100 Units/Month 215.00 339.55 554.55

101 - 200 Units/Month 106.12 64.39 170.51

Above 200 Units/Month 591.21 535.64 1126.85

Irrigation & Agriculture Services (IAS) 574.17 152.53 726.70

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell) 463.22 28.36 491.58

Unmetered 359.02 6.80 365.82

Metered 104.20 21.56 125.76

IAS-II (State Tubewell) 110.95 124.17 235.12

Unmetered 48.30 34.06 82.36

Metered 62.65 90.11 152.76

Low Tension Industrial Supply (LTIS) 339.52 214.36 553.88

LTIS-I (Contract Demand < 19 kW) 210.25 177.01 387.26

LTIS-II (Contract Demand 19-74 kW)) 129.27 37.35 166.62

Public Services 78.08 26.69 104.77

Public Water Works 78.08 26.69 104.77

Har Ghar Nal 0 0 0

Street Light Services 35.26 26.89 62.15

SS-I (Metered) 9.53 4.74 14.27



Category SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU) Total (MU)

SS-II (Unmetered) 25.73 22.15 47.88

High Tension Supply 1986.91 592.59 2579.50

HTS-I (11 kV) 628.98 375.11 1004.09

HTS-II (33 kV) 421.33 106.57 527.90

HTS-III (132 kV) 163.28 49.11 212.39

HTS-IV (220 kV) 0 0 0

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 773.32 61.80 835.12

RTS (132 kV) 307.29 164.93 472.22

SLDC Deviation of Railway 65.12 55.47 120.59

Sugar Mills 0 2.90 2.90

Nepal 0 1355.16 1355.16

DF *213.92 *314.54 528.46

Grand Total 10470.18 9493.31 19963.49

* Input energy supplied to DF area considered as energy sales in DF area.

The Commission accordingly approves combined sales of 19963.49 MUs of energy

for both the DISCOMs in the True-up of FY 2018-19.

4.4 Distribution Loss


SBPDCL has submitted that the Commission had approved 22% distribution loss for

FY 2018-19 in its Tariff Order dated 24th March 2017 and also in APR Order dated

25th February, 2019. However, the actual distribution losses for the Petitioner is

higher than the loss trajectory approved by the Commission. The actual distribution

losses v/s. approved losses for FY 2018-19 are as given in the Table 4.6 below:

Table 4.6: Distribution Loss claimed by SBPDCL for FY 2018-19

Particulars Approved in TO dated

24.03.2017

Approved in APR for FY 2018-19 in TO dated 25.02.2019

Actual for FY 2018-19

As per UDAY MoU

Distribution Loss 22.00% 22.00% 32.29% 22.00%

NBPDCL has also submitted that Commission had approved 20% distribution loss

for FY 2018-19 in its Tariff Order dated 24th March 2017 and in APR order dated

25th February 2019. The actual distribution losses v/s approved losses for FY 2017-

18 are as given in the Table 4.7 below:

Table 4.7: Distribution Loss claimed by NBPDCL for FY 2018-19

Particulars Approved in TO

Order dated 24.03.2017

Approved in APR for FY 2018-19 in TO dated 25.02.2019


As per UDAY MoU

Distribution Loss 20.00% 20.00% 26.83% 20.00%



The Petitioners have submitted that the difference in the loss target and the actual

loss levels is practically impossible to achieve in the given period, and therefore

this shall add on to the burden of the Discoms and also requested to see the

growth rates in consumer base of Discoms and consider the challenging operating

scenario of the Petitioner wherein most consumers being added are in rural and

remote areas further adding to network losses and requested the Commission to

consider the actual loss of 32.29% for SBPDCL and 26.83% for NBPDCL for

FY 2018-19.

Commission’s analysis

The Commission in the Tariff Order dated 24.03.2017 had already revised the

distribution loss trajectory for the period from FY 2017-18 to FY 2019-20 as

requested by the Discoms and also as suggested by Hon’ble APTEL in their Order

dated 25.11.2016, to align it with the agreed trajectory in the respective tripartite

MoUs of UDAY and had accordingly revised the Distribution loss target at 22% for

SBPDCL and 20% for NBPDCL for FY 2018-19. Thus, in the Tariff Order for FY 2018-

19 dated 21.03.2018, the Commission had set the revised distribution losses target

at 22% for SBPDCL and at 20% for NBPDCL. Therefore, the Commission is not

inclined to revise the Distribution trajectory again in the overall interest of the

consumers and operational efficiencies of the DISCOMs.

In view of the above, the Commission retains the distribution loss at 22% for

SBPDCL and at 20% for NBPDCL for truing up purpose for FY 2018-19. The same has

been considered for computation of energy balance and power purchase for FY

2018-19 in truing up.

The distribution loss target set by the Commission, the distribution loss level

projected by SBPDCL & NBPDCL and the loss level approved by the Commission in

truing up for FY 2018-19 is summarized in the Table 4.8 below:

Table 4.8: Distribution Loss (%) approved for Discoms in Truing up for FY 2018-19

Name of the Discom Approved

for FY 2018-19 in T.O dated 21.03.2018

Claimed as per actuals for FY 2018-19

Approved in Truing up for FY 2018-19

SBPDCL 22.00% 32.29% 22.00% NBPDCL 20.00% 26.83% 20.00%

The Commission also noted that the distribution loss of 32.29% and 26.83% claimed

by SBPDCL and NBPDCL are based on energy input to DF areas which is supplied at



33KV level. If instead of energy input to DF area, energy sales to DF area are

considered by reducing the input energy by normative distribution loss of 22% for

SBPDCL and 20% for NBPDCL the distribution loss of the DISCOMS will be as shown

below.

SI. No

Particulars Unit SBPDCL NBPDCL

1 Input energy to DF (MU) 213.92 314.54

2 Normative Loss (%) 22% 20%

3 Losses (MU) 47.06 62.91

4 Energy Sales in DF (MU) 166.86 251.63

5 Sales approved for Discom (MU) 10470.18 9493.31

6 Sales considered for loss calculation (5-3) (MU) 10423.12 9430.40

7 Less: Sales Nepal (MU) 0 1355.16

8 Net Sales (MU) 10423.12 8075.24

9 Energy input at distribution periphery (SL.8 in table 4.11)

(MU) 15637.00 11122.00

10 Distribution Losses (9-8) (MU) 5213.88 3046.76

11 Percentage of Distribution losses % 33.34% 27.39%

4.5 State Transmission Loss


SBPDCL has submitted that its state transmission loss as per actual is at 755 MU,

whereas the NBPDCL has submitted that its state transmission loss as per actual is

at 604 MU as per their audited accounts for FY 2018-19.


The Commission observed that the transmission loss as submitted by BSPTCL in the

true up petition is 3.99%. However, the transmission loss taken together from the

audited accounts of SBPDCL and NBPDCL is 4.61% as shown below.

SI. No. Particulars SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

1 Energy Input (in MU) 16389.00 13082.00 29471.00

2 Energy Output (in MU) 15633.78 12477.6 28111.38

3 Transmission Loss (in MU) 755.22 604.4 1359.62

4 Transmission Loss (%) 4.60% 4.62% 4.61%

On a query from the Commission as to how the state transmission loss mentioned

are arrived DISCOMs in their reply dated 20.01.2020 submitted the state

transmission loss as 4.81% as detailed below.

Total energy available in STU 29531.54 MU

Energy supplied to DISCOMs 28112.04 MU

Total State Transmission loss (STL) 1419.50

% STL loss 4.81%



On a query from the Commission BSPTCL vide its letter dated 23.12.2019 has

submitted the transmission system loss for FY 2018-19 as detailed below.

Energy input 29709.18 MU

Energy outgo 28527.30 MU

Transmission loss 1181.87MU

% Transmission loss 3.98%

Since there is variance in the losses indicated by DISCOMs and BSPTCL for the same

transmission system the Commission directed the DISCOMs to clarify the above

discrepancies. DISCOMs in their letter dated 20.02.2020 submitted that the

transmission licensee calculates the losses across the state including DISCOMS,

Railway, other OA consumers etc., where as DISCOMS consider overall power

purchase as the input energy in the system which is exclusive of the other power

drawee entities of the state. Therefore, there is a difference in the base considered

for calculating the percentage of transmission loss by both the entities. The base

considered by the DISCOMS is less as compared to the transmission licensee which

results in a higher percentage of transmission loss. DISCOMs further submitted the

revised calculation of transmission loss as below.

Total energy available in STU 29485.26 MU

Energy consumed in DISCOMs 28112.04 MU

Total State Transmission loss (STL) 1373.22

% STL loss 4.65%

The Commission is not satisfied with the explanation submitted by the DISCOMs.

The Commission has considered the state transmission loss at 3.92% which is for

the intra-state transmission system of Bihar as approved in truing-up for FY 2018-

19 in the Tariff Order dated 20.03.2020 of BSPTCL for FY 2020-21.

4.6 Central Transmission Loss


SBPDCL has submitted that the central transmission loss as per actual is 344 MU

and NBPDCL has submitted that the same is 274 MU as per their audited accounts

for FY 2018-19.


On prudence check, the Commission has noted that the billed energy from the

central stations is 29032.30 MU and scheduled energy is 28726.22 MU from

Regional Energy Accounting (REA) and UI deviation accounts for the period FY

2018-19 for Bihar from the ERPC website. This schedule energy includes 244.88



MU pertaining to Railways and 6.97 MU pertaining to Open Access consumers viz.,

Sri Cement & ITC. Therefore the net schedule energy is 28474.37 MU (28726.22 –

251.85) and the regional transmission loss is 557.93 MU (29032.30 – 28474.37)

which works out to 1.92%. Accordingly, the Commission considers central

transmission loss at 1.92% in truing up for FY 2018-19.

4.7 Power Purchase

Petitioners’ submission:

The Petitioners have submitted that Bihar has historically been a State with limited

natural resources which has led to an underdeveloped power generation sector in

the State. As a result, the State Power Distribution Companies rely heavily on

allocation from central generating stations and other outside State projects for

procuring power for sale to consumers within the State. Power is procured by the

central power management cell of BSP(H)CL, and this is allocated between the two

DISCOMs, NBPDCL and SBPDCL, in the proportion as determined by the board

resolution based on the demand growth requirement and consequent power

supply requirement.

Long term power purchase

The power purchase from existing sources primarily bear NTPC, NHPC, PTC, state

generating companies and IPPs has been considered based on the actual quantum

with adjustments to capture overall power purchase cost in a reasonable manner.

Medium / Short Term power purchase

The power purchase from these sources namely IEX, DEEP Portal etc. are also

considered as per actual power purchase data provided.

Renewable Power Purchase

In the additional information submitted vide letter dated 09.12.2019 SBPDCL has

submitted that it has purchased 178 MU of solar and 274 MU of non-solar during FY

2018-19 and also purchased solar RECs for 119 MU and Non-solar RECs for 443 MU.

NBPDCL has submitted that it has purchased 144 MU of solar and 219 MU of Non-

solar during FY 2018-19 and also purchased solar RECs for 87 MU and for Non-solar

RECs for 204 MU.

The details of actual power purchased from various sources in FY 2018-19 are as

shown in the Table 4.9 below:



Table 4.9: Power Purchase as per actuals claimed by the Discoms for FY 2018-19

Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

Share alloca

ted (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

Share allocated

(MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

Share allocated

(MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

Central Sector Stations 1905 11934.72 1623 9526.78 3528 21461.50

FSTPP I &II 271 1807.22 231 1442.59 502 3249.81

FSTPP III 72 475.28 61 379.39 133 854.67

KHSTPP I 190 1263.77 162 1008.79 352 2272.56

KHSTPP II 40 316.76 34 252.85 74 569.61

Barh Stage II 647 4029.72 551 3216.68 1198 7246.4

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – III

39 150.75 34 120.34 73 271.09

Korba 14 106.39 12 84.93 26 191.32

Talcher Stage I 223 1480.15 190 1181.51 413 2661.66

KBUNL Stage I & II 158 1330.06 134 1061.71 292 2391.77

Chuka 43 242.83 37 193.84 80 436.67

Rangit 11 65.09 10 51.96 21 117.05 Tala 139 360.23 118 287.55 257 647.78

Teesta 59 306.47 50 244.64 109 551.11

Adjustment of Capacity Charge

0 0 0 0 0 0

State Generating Stations

89 28.17 76 22.49 165 50.66

BSPHC 29 6.22 25 4.97 54 11.19

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59 21.95 51 17.52 110 39.47

IPP 264 1628.58 224 1300 488 2928.58

GMR 140 1048.47 120 836.93 260 1885.4

JITPL 123 580.11 105 463.07 228 1043.18

Renewable 286 312.97 245 249.8 531 562.77

M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL)

5 8.93 5 7.13 10 16.06

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata.

5 9.17 5 7.32 10 16.49

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad

3 3.24 2 2.59 5 5.83

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata.

2 2.85 1 2.28 3 5.13

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 8 17.41 7 13.9 15 31.31

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd.

3 3.58 2 2.85 5 6.43

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd.

5 7.31 5 5.84 10 13.15

Welspun Renewable Project – I

5 8.05 5 6.42 10 14.47

Welspun Renewable Project – II

8 12.27 7 9.8 15 22.07

Welspun Renewables Project – III

8 12.66 7 10.1 15 22.76

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda)

8 12.52 7 10 15 22.52

Acme Cleantech Project 5 8.89 5 7.1 10 15.99



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

Share alloca

ted (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

Share allocated

(MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

Share allocated

(MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

(Magadh)

Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India

5 10.45 5 8.34 10 18.79

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Green Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro)

108 64.1 92 51.16 200 115.26

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange)

54 2.65 46 2.11 100 4.76

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj

4 9.05 3 7.23 7 16.28

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai

5 7.9 4 6.3 9 14.2

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj

6 27.37 5 21.85 11 49.22

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran

6 43.21 5 34.49 11 77.7

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran

11 10.29 9 8.21 20 18.5

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran

11 14.02 9 11.19 20 25.21

Riga Sugar Company Ltd.

2 1.3 2 1.03 4 2.33

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd

1 1.33 1 1.06 2 2.39

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd

5 5.14 4 4.1 9 9.24

Tirupati Sugar 3 9.28 3 7.4 6 16.68

REC Purchase 0 0 0 0 0 0

Open Market Purchase 0 2828.28 0 2258.02 0 5086.3

PTC(IEX) 0 2,402.48 0 1918.09 0 4320.57

PTC (Short) 0 250.38 0 199.86 0 450.24

Kerala 0 40.55 0 32.37 0 72.92

TATA Energy Trading Ltd.

0 91.36 0 72.93 0 164.29

Manikaran 0 46.71 0 37.28 0 83.99

Mittal 0 48.79 0 38.94 0 87.73

NEA 0 10.87 0 8.68 0 19.55

UI 0 -62.8 0 -50.13 0 -112.93

Gross Power Purchase quantum

2545 16732.78 2168 13356.73 4713 30089.51

The Petitioners have requested for approving the power purchase quantum on

actual basis as shown in the above table for FY 2018-19.




The Commission has noted that as per audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19

SBPDCL has purchased 16732.78 MU and NBPDCL has purchased 13356.73 MU in

FY 2018-19 from various sources including U.I under drawals of 62.80 MU and

50.13 MU respectively.

The Commission has noted the power purchased quantum from the Central

Generating Stations and other sources from ERPC & WRPC sites and validated with

power purchase bills submitted and found to be in order.

The Commission recognizes the sources of power purchase as outlined by the

Petitioners which is based on audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19. The

Commission observes from UI report available on ERPC website and as per

verification of power purchase bills that BSPHCL had net under drawl of 112.93 MU,

combinedly for NBPDCL and SBPDCL. This UI under drawal has been considered by

NBPDCL and SBPDCL as 50.13 MU and 62.80 MU respectively and accordingly the

net power purchase units have been reduced by the same amount. The

Commission opines that the power purchase bills are issued on the scheduled

energy and hence U.I quantum should not be a part of power purchase quantity.

Summary of the approved power purchase quantum from various sources for

FY 2018-19 is given in the Table 4.10 below:

Table 4.10: Power Purchase quantum approved in truing up for FY 2018-19

Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

Power Purchase claimed

in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)

Central Sector Stations 11934.72 11934.72 9526.78 9526.78 21461.50 21461.50

FSTPP I &II 1807.22 1807.22 1442.59 1442.59 3249.81 3249.81

FSTPP III 475.28 475.28 379.39 379.39 854.67 854.67

KHSTPP I 1263.77 1263.77 1008.79 1008.79 2272.56 2272.56

KHSTPP II 316.76 316.76 252.85 252.85 569.61 569.61

Barh Stage II 4029.72 4029.72 3216.68 3216.68 7246.40 7246.40


150.75 150.75 120.34 120.34 271.09 271.09

Korba 106.39 106.39 84.93 84.93 191.32 191.32

Talcher Stage I 1480.15 1480.15 1181.51 1181.51 2661.66 2661.66

KBUNL Stage I & II 1330.06 1330.06 1061.71 1061.71 2391.77 2391.77

Chuka 242.83 242.83 193.84 193.84 436.67 436.67



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)

Rangit 65.09 65.09 51.96 51.96 117.05 117.05

Tala 360.23 360.23 287.55 287.55 647.78 647.78

Teesta 306.47 306.47 244.64 244.64 551.11 551.11


0 0 0 0 0 0


28.17 28.17 22.49 22.49 50.66 50.66

BSPHC 6.22 6.22 4.97 4.97 11.19 11.19

BTPS Stage I Unit I 21.95 21.95 17.52 17.52 39.47 39.47

IPP 1628.58 1628.58 1300 1300 2928.58 2928.58

GMR 1048.47 1048.47 836.93 836.93 1885.40 1885.40

JITPL 580.11 580.11 463.07 463.07 1043.18 1043.18

Renewable 312.97 312.97 249.8 249.8 562.77 562.77


8.93 8.93 7.13 7.13 16.06 16.06


9.17 9.17 7.32 7.32 16.49 16.49


3.24 3.24 2.59 2.59 5.83 5.83


2.85 2.85 2.28 2.28 5.13 5.13

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 17.41 17.41 13.9 13.9 31.31 31.31


3.58 3.58 2.85 2.85 6.43 6.43


7.31 7.31 5.84 5.84 13.15 13.15

Welspun Renewables Project – I

8.05 8.05 6.42 6.42 14.47 14.47

Welspun Renewables Project – II

12.27 12.27 9.8 9.8 22.07 22.07


12.66 12.66 10.1 10.1 22.76 22.76


12.52 12.52 10 10 22.52 22.52

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh)

8.89 8.89 7.1 7.1 15.99 15.99


10.45 10.45 8.34 8.34 18.79 18.79

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah &

64.1 64.1 51.16 51.16 115.26 115.26



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)


in Petition

(MU)

Approved Power

Purchase (MU)

Ostro)


2.65 2.65 2.11 2.11 4.76 4.76


9.05 9.05 7.23 7.23 16.28 16.28


7.90 7.90 6.30 6.30 14.20 14.20


27.37 27.37 21.85 21.85 49.22 49.22


43.21 43.21 34.49 34.49 77.70 77.70


10.29 10.29 8.21 8.21 18.50 18.50


14.02 14.02 11.19 11.19 25.21 25.21

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 1.30 1.30 1.03 1.03 2.33 2.33


1.33 1.33 1.06 1.06 2.39 2.39


5.14 5.14 4.1 4.1 9.24 9.24

Tirupati Sugar 9.28 9.28 7.40 7.40 16.68 16.68

REC Purchase 0 0 0 0 0 0

Open Market Purchase 2828.28 2891.14 2258.02 2308.15 5086.30 5199.20

PTC(IEX) 2,402.48 2402.48 1918.09 1918.09 4,320.57 4320.57

PTC (Short) 250.38 250.38 199.86 199.86 450.24 450.24

Kerala 40.55 40.55 32.37 32.37 72.92 72.92


91.36 91.36 72.93 72.93 164.29 164.29

Manikaran 46.71 46.71 37.28 37.28 83.99 83.99

Mittal 48.79 48.79 38.94 38.94 87.73 87.73

NEA 10.87 10.87 8.68 8.68 19.55 19.55

UI -62.8

-50.13

-112.93

Gross Power Purchase quantum

16732.78 16795.58 13356.73 13407.22 30089.51 30202.80

The Commission considers the total quantum of power purchase of 16795.58 MU

for SBPDCL and 13407.22 MU for NBPDCL for the purpose of working out the

energy balance and for further computation of the power purchase cost as part of

the truing-up exercise for FY 2018-19.



4.8 Energy Balance


The Petitioners have submitted that the energy balance is calculated based on the

actual sales, distribution losses and the power availability during FY 2018-19 as

given in the Table 4.11 below:

Table 4.11: Energy Balance claimed by Discoms for FY 2018-19 (MU)

SI. No

Particulars Unit SBPDCL


NBPDCL Actual for FY 2018-19

1 Energy Sales MUs 10,586 9,493

2 Less: Sales to Nepal MUs 1,355

3 Energy Sales excluding Sales to Nepal MUs 10,586 8,138

4 Distribution Loss % 32% 26.83%

5 Distribution Loss MUs 5048 2,985

6 Total Energy Required at Distribution Periphery

MUs 15637 11,122

7 Add: Sales to Nepal MUs 1,355

8 Total energy required at Distribution periphery including Inter-state sales

MUs 15637 12,478

9 State Transmission Loss % 5% 5%

10 State Transmission Loss MUs 755 604

11 Total energy required at State Transmission periphery

MUs 16,389 13,082

12 Regional Transmission Loss % 2% 2%

13 Regional Transmission Loss MUs 344 274

14 Total energy required at Regional periphery MUs 16,733 13,357

15 Total Energy Purchased MUs 16,733 13,357

16 Energy Surplus/(Deficit) MUs 0 0

The Petitioners have requested for approving the energy balance based on actual

calculations for FY 2018-19.


The Petitioners have computed the energy balance considering the input energy

supplied to DFs as sales. From the Tariff Order dated 21.03.2018, the Commission

has been considering the actual energy sales to the end consumers in DF area for

computing the energy balance since the distribution loss is approved on the total

sales to DISCOM. The Petitioners have considered energy sold to DF as energy

sales. Hence, after reducing the input energy of DFs at respective Discoms

normative distribution losses, the energy sales for respective DF area as shown

below is considered for computing the energy balance.



Table 4.12 : Energy Sales for DF Areas of NBPDCL & SBPDCL (MU)

SI. No.


1 Input energy to DF (MU) 213.92 314.54

2 Normative Loss (%) 22% 20%

3 Losses (MU) 47.06 62.91 4 Energy Sales in DF (MU) 166.86 251.63

5 Sales approved for Discom 10470.18 9493.31

6 Sales considered for energy balance (5-3) 10423.12 9430.40

The energy balance for FY 2018-19 has been computed based on the approved

sales in truing-up during the year, considering energy sales of DISCOMs computed

as in table 4.12 above at 10423.12 MU for SBPDCL at 9430.40 MU for NBPDCL as

against approved sales of 10470.18 MU for SBPDCL and 9493.31 MU for NBPDCL

distribution, State Transmission and Central Transmission losses and the power

purchased to meet the demand from the consumers.

The Commission has arrived at the CTU loss at 557.92 MU (1.92%) on power

purchased from Central Stations, IPPs etc. from outside the State. For estimating

the additional power purchase to be disallowed due to excess distribution loss, the

total power purchase from various sources has been worked out considering the

impact of average regional transmission loss [1.85% = (557.92 /30202.80)*100]

applicable on the total power purchase. The reason for applying the average

regional transmission loss is that the power purchase quantum also includes

sources of power on which the regional transmission losses are not applicable i.e.

State Generating Stations, Renewable Energy Sources, Nepal etc.

The details of energy requirement and energy availability during FY 2018-19 are as


Table 4.13: Energy Balance approved in Truing up for FY 2018-19 (MU)

SI. No

Particulars Unit

SBPDCL Approved in True up

for FY 2018-19

NBPDCL Approved

in True up for FY 2018-19

Total

1 Energy sales MU 10423.12 9430.40 19853.52

2 Less: sales to Nepal MU 1355.16 1355.16

3 Sales excluding Nepal MU 10423.12 8075.24 18498.36

4 Distribution Loss % 22% 20%

5 Add: Distribution Loss MU 2939.85 2018.81 4958.66



SI. No

Particulars Unit

SBPDCL Approved in True up

for FY 2018-19

NBPDCL Approved

in True up for FY 2018-19

Total

6 Energy required at Distribution periphery

MU 13362.97 10094.05 23457.03

7 Add: Inter-state sales & Nepal MU 1355.16 1355.16

8 Total energy required MU 13362.97 11449.21 24812.19

9 State Transmission Loss % 3.92% 3.92%

10 Add: State Transmission Loss MU 545.20 467.12 1012.32


MU 13908.17 11916.33 25824.51

12 Losses in Regional Transmission system

% 1.850% 1.850%

13 Losses in Regional Transmission system

MU 262.15 224.61 486.76

14 Total energy Requirement at Regional Transmission periphery

MU 14170.33 12140.94 26311.27

15 Total Energy Purchased MU 16,795.58 13,407.22 30202.80

16 Surplus energy Purchased due to excess losses (15-14)

MU 2625.25 1266.28 3891.53

As shown in the above table, the Commission has arrived at surplus energy

purchased by SBPDCL at 2625.25 MU and NBPDCL at 1266.28 MU based on the

energy sales (excluding DF losses from DF energy input) and approved Distribution

losses.

4.9 Power Purchase Cost


The Petitioners have submitted that the power purchase cost mainly comprises of

fixed charges and energy charges for two part tariff PPAs which are essentially

with NTPC, NHPC, PTC, GMR Kamalanga, sugar mills, biomass, bagasee and only

energy charges in case of single part tariff based PPAs, which are typically for

BSHPC, Solar and short term power purchase etc. The actual expenditure incurred

on power purchase is based on bills raised by the various power sellers. This actual

amount has been considered and captured accordingly as a break up of two part

tariff, wherever applicable, as per the audited accounts of the Petitioner. The

Petitioners requested the Commission to allow the actual power purchase cost

under the true-up process for FY 2018-19.

SBPDCL has claimed the total power purchase cost at Rs. 8013 Crore including intra-

state and PGCIL transmission charges and Deposit for RPO and NBPDCL has claimed



the total power purchase cost at Rs. 6389 Crore including intra-state and PGCIL

transmission charges and Deposit for RPO for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table

4.14 below.

Table 4.14: Power Purchase Cost claimed by Discoms for FY 2018-19

Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL Avg. Tariff (Rs/

kWh)

Units purchased

(MU)

Total Cost (Rs Crores)

Units purchased

(MU)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)

Central Sector Stations 11934.72 4,339.45 9526.78 3,450.85 3.63

FSTPP I &II 1807.22 592.36 1442.59 465.89 3.26

FSTPP III 475.28 191.66 379.39 150.73 4.01

KHSTPP I 1263.77 421.36 1008.79 337.11 3.34

KHSTPP II 316.76 100.15 252.85 80.12 3.16

Barh Stage II 4029.72 1,615.90 3216.68 1,288.99 4.01

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I - III

150.75 66.67 120.34 53.21 4.42

Korba 106.39 26.64 84.93 22.66 2.58

Talcher Stage I 1480.15 402.85 1181.51 324.46 2.73

KBUNL Stage I & II 1330.06 685.52 1061.71 548.32 5.16

Chuka 242.83 58.32 193.84 46.55 2.40

Rangit 65.09 26.96 51.96 20.42 4.05

Tala 360.23 77.81 287.55 62.11 2.16

Teesta 306.47 85.54 244.64 60.6 2.65


0 -12.29 0 -10.32


28.17 10.33 22.49 8.25 3.67

BSPHC 6.22 1.55 4.97 1.24 2.49

BTPS Stage I Unit I 21.95 8.78 17.52 7.01 4.00

IPP 1628.58 602.29 1300 480.67 3.70

GMR 1048.47 401.32 836.93 320.14 3.83

JITPL 580.11 201.10 463.07 160.52 3.47

Renewable 312.97 281 249.8 204.24 8.97


8.93 5.06 7.13 4.04 5.67


9.17 5.2 7.32 4.15 5.67


3.24 2.49 2.59 1.99 7.68


2.85 1.62 2.28 1.29 5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 17.41 13.71 13.9 10.94 7.87


3.58 2.85 2.85 2.28 7.98


7.31 6.13 5.84 4.9 8.39



Name of The Source


kWh)

Units purchased

(MU)


Units purchased

(MU)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)

Welspun Renewables Project - I

8.05 7 6.42 5.59 8.70


12.27 10.6 9.8 8.46 8.64


12.66 10.83 10.1 8.65 8.56


12.52 10.93 10 8.73 8.73


8.89 7.76 7.1 6.2 8.73


10.45 6.1 8.34 4.87 5.84

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro)

64.1 22.63 51.16 18.06 3.53

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) zOrange)

2.65 0.72 2.11 0.57 2.71


9.05 4.36 7.23 3.48 4.82


7.9 4.74 6.3 3.79 6.01


27.37 12.98 21.85 10.36 4.74


43.21 23.45 34.49 18.72 5.43


10.29 5.67 8.21 4.52 5.51


14.02 7.7 11.19 6.15 5.49

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 1.3 0.79 1.03 0.63 6.09


1.33 0.97 1.06 0.78 7.32


5.14 3.16 4.1 2.52 6.15

Tirupati Sugar 9.28 5.72 7.4 4.57 6.17

REC Purchase 0 98 0 58

Open Market Purchase 2828.28 1,476.85 2258.02 1,176.48 5.22

PTC(IEX) 2,402.48 1184.13 1918.09 945.22 4.93

PTC (Short) 250.38 141.80 199.86 112.84 5.66

Kerala 40.55 22.98 32.37 18.35 5.67

TATA Energy Trading Ltd. 91.36 36.86 72.93 27.73 3.93

Manikaran 46.71 21.50 37.28 16.79 4.56

Mittal 48.79 24.57 38.94 19.61 5.04

NEA 10.87 6.04 8.68 4.82 5.55



Name of The Source


kWh)

Units purchased

(MU)


Units purchased

(MU)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)

UI -62.8 38.98 -50.13 31.11

Gross Power Purchase Cost

16732.78 6,709.73 13356.73 5,320.49 4.00

SLDC 2.38 1.90

BGCL 153.51 122.53

BSPTCL 519.49 415

POSOCO 3.09 2.46

PGCIL 613.93 489.84

Transmission and Other Charges

- 1,292.39 - 1,031.73

Add: Power Purchase Adjustment of Previous Fys

6.62

Net Power Purchase Cost

16,732.78 8,002.12 13356.73 6,358.84 4.77

Add: Deposit for RPO 10.08 30

Total Power Purchase Cost

8,012.20 6,388.84

Commission analysis

The Commission observes that according to annual accounts for FY 2018-19, the

SBPDCL and the NBPDCL have incurred total power purchase cost as detailed

below:

SI. No Particulars SBPDCL NBPDCL

1 Energy Purchase (MU) 16732.78 13356.73

2 Power Purchase Cost 6612.71 5269.84

3 BSPTCL & BGCL Charges 675.37 539.11

4 PGCIL & POSCO Charges 617.02 492.31

Total 7905.10 6301.26

It is noted that SBPDCL & NBPDCL have claimed BSPTCL charges as Rs.519 Crore

and Rs.415 Crore respectively where as the amount as per bills is Rs. 664.19 Crore

(SBPDCL) and Rs. 530.18 Crore (NBPDCL) respectively. Discoms have stated that in

the month of March 2019, BSPTCL had already adjusted the issued bills by

providing credit notes for Rs. 260 Crore. As discussed in the true-up for FY 2018-19

in BSPTCL Tariff Order, the Commission has not accepted this proposal of BSPTCL to

revise the transmission charges approved for 2018-19 by giving cogent reasons.

Therefore, the BSPTCL charges for Discoms are considered as per the actual month-

wise billed amount by BSPTCL based on the approved transmission charges for FY

2018-19.



The Commission has approved BGCL transmission charges at Rs.276.24 Crore for FY

2018-19 in Tariff order dated 07.03.2018 and accordingly monthly bills were issued.

However, for the months of May 2018 and November 2018 the Discoms have

regulated the monthly bill amount based on the transmission availability factor

which is less than the target of 98% approved. Accordingly, the total amount

payable to BGCL has been considered at Rs.276.04 Crore only and the same is also

exhibited in the audited accounts of the Discoms for FY 2018-19. Therefore,

Rs.276.04 Crore is approved in the truing up for FY 2018-19.

The Commission observes that SBPDCL has considered Rs.38.98 Crore against

power purchase for (-) 62.80 MU of Net UI under drawal and NBPDCL has

considered Rs. 31.10 Crore against power purchase for (-) 50.13 MU of Net UI

under drawal in the petitions. While validation, it is observed that the Discoms have

incurred the Deviation charges on account of UI drawal as below:

1 Deviation Charges : Rs. 38.37 Crore

2 Additional Deviation Charges : Rs. 16.93 Crore

3 Additional Deviation Charges for Sign Change Violation : Rs. 14.32 Crore

4 Re-active energy charges : Rs. 0.46 Crore

UI rate is frequency dependent and its settlement is governed by Central Electricity

Regulatory Commission (Deviation Settlement Mechanism & Related Matters)

Regulations, 2014 and amendments thereon. CERC in 4th Amendment dated

20.08.2018 introduced Additional Deviation Charges for “Sign Change Violation”

applicable from 01.01.2019. The licensee while under-drawal/over drawal of UI

energy should adhere such regulation and their under drawal/over-drawal should

be strictly within the specified limit to avoid any additional deviation charges. No

over drawal of electricity by any buyer shall be permissible when grid frequency is

below 49.85 Hz. The Commission, therefore, does not approves this additional

deviation charges of Rs. 16.93 Crore. The Commission disallows the additional

deviation charges of Rs. 16.93 Cr in the ratio of 54:46 to SBPDCL & NBPDCL

respectively i.e., Rs. 9.14 Cr for SBPDCL and Rs. 7.79 Cr for NBPDCL. Since,

introduction of concept of “Sign Change Violation” requires some more maturity,

the additional deviation charges for Sign Change Violation of Rs. 14.32 Crore are

being allowed. SBPDCL & NBPDCL are directed to be cautious while scheduling so

that levy of such deviation charges are avoided.

In the Petitions, SBPDCL & NBPDCL have claimed Rs.98 Crores and Rs.58 Crore



respectively towards the cost of RECs purchased in FY 2018-19 to meet RPO. During

validation it was noted that the number of certificates purchased are in accordance

with claim made but the cost of RECs so purchased are observed to be Rs. 98.52

Crore for SBPDCL and Rs. 51.70 Core for NBPDCL.

DISCOMs Type REC

quantum (Mwh)

Price (Rs./Mwh)

GST on REC @

12% (Rs.)

Trader Fee (Rs.)

GST on

Trader Fee (Rs.)

Total Cost/REC

(Rs.)

Total Cost (Rs.)

SBPDCL

Non-Solar

111539 1395 167.4 20 3.6 1586 176900854

Solar 5984 1500 180 20 3.6 1703.6 10194342.4

Non-Solar

278394 1500 180 20 3.6 1703.6 474272018

Solar 64822 2000 240 20

2263.6 146731079

Non-Solar

53027 1395 167.4 20 3.6 1586 84100822

Solar 48247 1700 204

1927.6 93000917.2

Total 562013

985200032.6

NBPDCL

Non-Solar

95015 1395 167.4 20 3.6 1586 150693790

Solar 4395 1500 180 20 3.6 1703.6 7487322

Non-Solar

91422 1500 180 20 3.6 1703.6 155746519

Solar 47437 2000 240

2263.6 107378393

Non-Solar

17414 1395 167.4 20 3.6 1586 27618604

Solar 35307 1700 204

1927.6 68057773.2

Total 290990

516982401.2

NBPDCL submitted that amount Rs. 58 Crore includes GST amount paid for RECs

purchased in FY 2017-18. SBPDCL has also submitted that about Rs. 11.50 Crore

has paid towards GST of the earlier REC purchases. The Discoms were asked to

produce all such additional claims with necessary supporting documents.

NBPDCL, vide its letter dated 29.01.2020 has provided the claims for Rs. 61.01

Crore as below with necessary supporting documents.

SI. No.

Particulars Amount (Rs.) Remarks

(A) Details of RECs purchased by NBPDCL in FY 2018-19.

Annexure I & II

Currently claimed In Tariff petition as per annual account book

FY 2018-19.

Solar REC 182923488.2

Non-Solar REC 334058913

Amount Paid by NBPDCL on behalf of REC purchase of SBPDCL

10157312

Total 527139713.2

(B) Details of GST paid in FY 2018-19 by NBPDCL for FY 2017-18

(I) RPO GST Payment for FY 2017-18 30,499,200 Annexure III

Currently claimed in



SI. No.

Particulars Amount (Rs.) Remarks

Tariff petition as per annual account book

FY 2018-19.

(ii) RPO GST Payment for FY 2017-18 21,223,440

Annexure IV Currently claimed In Tariff petition as per annual account book

FY 2018-19.

(iii) RPO GST Payment for FY 2017-18 18,221,400 Annexure V

additional claimed

(iv) RPO GST Payment 13,080,120

Annexure VI additional claimed GST amount paid in FY 2017-18 with REC cost for REC 109001

Total Rs. 610163874

The above claims are examined and found to be acceptable except Rs. 101573.12

which is also included in the claim of SBPDCL payable to NBDPCL. Further, during

the course of examination with audited account it has been found that out of total

amount paid towards purchase of REC Certificates, Rs.1.82 Crore recorded in the

accounts have been kept as Financial Liabilities under the heading “other liabilities”

in note-23 of the audited balance sheet in spite of fact that it is an expenditure and

the same should have been charged to the statement of Profit & Loss. Accordingly

the Commission allows Rs. 60.00 Crore (including 1.82 Crore) as detailed below

with a direction to furnish proper disclosure in audited financial statement of FY

2019-20 after making rectification and inter-company adjustment with respect to

Rs.1.82 Crore and 1.02 Crore respectively.

Amount claimed Rs. 610163834

Less: amount included in SBPDCL Rs. 10157312

Net amount admissible Rs. 60.00 Crore

SBPDCL vide its letter dated 04.02.2020 has produced the necessary supporting

documents for the claim of Rs. 110.03 Cr as under.

SBPDCL- Summary of GST payment for prior years RECs

Exchange Ref. no. date No. of RECs GST amount (Rs.) Remarks

IEX 332 dated. 25.04.2018 406076 48729120 Copy of invoices

submitted as Appendix 5 to

this

IEX 572 dated. 26.07.2018 79858 9582960

PXIL 416 dated. 29.05.2018 198378 23805360

IEX 290 dated. 12.04.2018 128070 15368400

PXIL 813 dated. 15.10.2018 139437 16732440



IEX 668 dated. 30.08.2018 7243 869160 submission both in hard & soft copies

Total 959062 115087440

The details of complete cost and figures booked in accounts is depicted in Table as

hereunder :-

Total Expense on RECs of FY 2018-19 of SBPDCL (Cr.) A

Solar REC 24.99

Non-Solar REC 73.53

Total 98.52

GST Paid in FY 2018-19 by SBPDCL for RECs purchased in previous year(s)

B 11.51

Total REC expenses as per Actual in FY 2018-19 of SBPDCL C=A+B 110.03

Refund from PXIL in lieu of excess payment booked in accounts of FY17-18 but not approved by Commission due to expected refund.

D 1.78

Amount Paid by NBPDCL on behalf of REC purchase of SBPDCL E 1.01

Total Amount booked in Accounts of SBPDCL (FY18-19) F=C-D-E 107.24

SBPDCL submitted that in light of the details given in above three tables, the total

cost incurred on RECs in FY 2018-19 for SBPDCL is Rs. 110.03 (11.51 and 98.52)

Crores. Out of this total amount of Rs. 110.03 Crore, Rs. 1.01 Crore has been borne

by NBPDCL. Therefore SBPDCL has to refund Rs. 10157312 to NBPDCL as per BHPCL

the Lr. No.16 dated 20.01.2020 of BSPHCL.

The above claims have been examined with audited account and found that

amount paid towards purchase of REC Certificates Rs.107.24 Crore recorded in the

accounts have been kept as Financial Liabilities under the heading “other liabilities”

in note-21 of the audited balance sheet, considering the fact that it is an

expenditure and the same should have been charged to the statement of Profit &

Loss, the Commission allows Rs. 108.25 Crore (i.e Rs.107.24 Crore + Rs.1.01 Crore

Paid by NBPDCL on behalf of SBPDCL) as detailed below with a direction to furnish

proper disclosure in audited financial statement of FY 2019-20 after making

rectification and inter-company adjustment of Rs.108.25 Crore.

(Rs. Crore)

Total REC expenses as per Actual in FY 2018-19 of SBPDCL (as detailed above) 110.03

Less: Refund from PXIL in lieu of excess payment booked in accounts of FY17-18 but not approved by Commission due to expected refund.

1.78

Net amount Payable by SBPDCL on behalf of REC purchase 108.25

The Commission has verified the copies of power purchase bills submitted by the

Petitioner and noted that the power purchase quantum and cost shown in



the Petition and audited annual accounts are in accordance with the power

purchase bills for NBPDCL,. The Power Purchase Cost shown by SBPDCL for some

Central Stations in the Annual Accounts are in variance with that in the bills.

SBPDCL submitted that the difference is due to adjustment of prior period bills.

Details of prior period adjustments station-wise are provided by SBPDCL. Further,

the details of Power Purchase cost provided in the Format -5 are in accordance

with the Audited Annual Accounts.

The Commission has arrived at the purchases of surplus energy of 2625.25 MU for

SBPDCL and 1266.28 MU for NBPDCL while computing the energy balance (Table

4.13). The rate of power purchased from the open market is found to be on higher

side than that of the power purchased from the other sources. The power

purchase quantum and cost are regulated duly observing the merit order dispatch

principle for optimal purchase of power at least cost as shown in tables 4.15 & 4.16

below. However, power purchase from NEA which is observed to be essential

purchase and under drawal of UI are not considered for MOD.

Table 4.15 : Power Purchase Quantum Regulated for SBPDCL

SI. No

Source of Power

Purchase

Units Purchased

(MU)

Energy Rate (Rs/Kwh)

Energy Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Units Considered

by Commission

(MU)

Energy Cost Considered

by Commission

(Rs. Crs)

1 PTC (IEX) 2402.48 4.89 1175.32 68.16 33.33

2 PTC (Short) 250.38 5.68 142.23 0 0

3 Kerala 40.55 5.67 22.98 0 0

4 Tata ETL 91.36 4.28 39.11 91.36 39.11

5 Manikaran 46.71 4.70 21.96 46.71 21.96

6 Mittal (Solar)

48.79 5.04 24.57 48.79 24.57

7 Total 2880.27 1426.17 255.02 118.97

As shown above, 2625.25 MU (2880.27 – 255.02) with the cost of Rs. 1307.20 Crore

(1426.17-118.97) is not considered in the power purchase cost for FY 2018-19 for

SBPDCL.

Table 4.16 : Power Purchase Quantum Regulated for NBPDCL

Sl. No

Source of Power

Purchase

Units Purchased

(MU)

Energy Rate

(Rs/Kwh)

Energy Cost (Rs.

Crs)

Units Considered

by Commission

(MU)


by Commission

(Rs. Crs)



Sl. No

Source of Power

Purchase

Units Purchased

(MU)

Energy Rate

(Rs/Kwh)

Energy Cost (Rs.

Crs)

Units Considered

by Commission

(MU)


by Commission

(Rs. Crs)

1 PTC (IEX) 1918.09 4.89 938.19 884.04 432.29

2 PTC (Short) 199.86 5.66 113.19 0 0

3 Kerala 32.37 5.67 18.35 0 0

4 Tata ETL 72.93 4.03 29.42 72.93 29.42

5 Manikaran 37.28 4.60 17.16 37.28 17.16

6 Mittal (Solar) 38.94 5.04 19.61 38.94 19.61

7 Total 2299.47 1135.92 1033.19 498.48

As shown above, 1266.28 MU (2299.47 – 1033.19) with a cost of Rs. 637.44 Crore

(1135.92-498.48) is not considered in the power purchase cost in FY 2018-19 for

NBPDCL.

The source-wise power purchase cost from different sources, State

transmission charges (BSPTCL and BGCL), Interstate transmission charges (PGCIL

and ERLDC) approved for FY 2018-19 based on the admissible power purchase

quantum and power purchase cost keeping in view the audited annual accounts,

verification of power purchase bills and prudence check are as given in the Tables

4.17 & 4.18 below:



Table 4.17: Approved Power Purchase cost for SBPDCL in truing up for FY 2018-19

Name of The Source Share

allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)

Fixed charge (Rs Crs)

Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)

Misc. cost (Rs. Crs)

Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Central Sector Stations 1,905.44 11,934.72 1,792.91 2.13 2,536.47 10.07 4,339.45 3.64

FSTPP I &II 271.28 1,807.22 163.55 2.37 428.49 0.32 592.36 3.28

FSTPP III 71.60 475.28 78.6 2.38 112.97 0.09 191.66 4.03

KHSTPP I 189.87 1,263.77 136.34 2.25 284.8 0.22 421.36 3.33

KHSTPP II 40.34 316.76 31.68 2.16 68.42 0.05 100.15 3.16

Barh Stage II 646.77 4,029.72 745.2 2.16 869.15 1.55 1,615.90 4.01

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – III 39.33 150.75 37.49 1.93 29.16 0.02 66.67 4.42

Korba 13.50 106.39 12.78 1.19 12.63 1.23 26.64 2.50

Talcher Stage I 222.73 1,480.15 142.42 1.72 254.11 6.32 402.85 2.72 KBUNL Stage I & II 157.89 1,330.06 385.44 2.25 299.88 0.2 685.52 5.15

Chuka 43.20 242.83 2.40 58.32 58.32 2.4

Rangit 11.34 65.09 13.9 2.00 13.04 0.02 26.96 4.14

Tala 139.05 360.23 2.16 77.81 77.81 2.16

Teesta 58.55 306.47 45.51 1.30 39.98 0.05 85.54 2.79

Adjustment of Capacity Charge -12.29 -12.29

State Generating Stations 88.72 28.17 0 3.67 10.33 0 10.33 3.67

BSPHC 29.32 6.22 2.49 1.55 1.55 2.49

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59.40 21.95 4.00 8.78 8.78 4.00

IPP 263 1,628.58 342.40 2.13 174.55 85.34 602.29 3.70

GMR 140 1,048.47 199.70 1.09 114.16 87.46 401.32 3.83

JITPL 123 580.11 142.70 1.04 60.39 -2.12 201.10 3.47

Renewable 287.59 312.97 0 162.04 183.17 0 183.17 5.85

M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 5.40 8.93 5.67 5.06 5.06 5.67

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 5.40 9.17 5.67 5.2 5.20 5.67

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 2.70 3.24 7.69 2.49 2.49 7.69

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 1.62 2.85 5.68 1.62 1.62 5.68


Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 2.70 3.58 7.96 2.85 2.85 7.96

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 5.40 7.31 8.39 6.13 6.13 8.39




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Welspun Renewables Project – I 5.40 8.05 8.70 7 7.00 8.70

Welspun Renewables Project – II 8.10 12.27 8.64 10.6 10.60 8.64

Welspun Renewables Project – III 8.10 12.66 8.55 10.83 10.83 8.55

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 8.10 12.52 8.73 10.93 10.93 8.73

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 5.40 8.89 8.73 7.76 7.76 8.73

Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 5.40 10.45 5.84 6.1 6.10 5.84


108.00 64.1 3.53 22.63 22.63 3.53

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 54.00 2.65 2.72 0.72 0.72 2.72

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 3.90 9.05 4.82 4.36 4.36 4.82

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 5.18 7.9 6.00 4.74 4.74 6.00

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 5.97 27.37 4.74 12.98 12.98 4.74

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 5.97 43.21 5.43 23.45 23.45 5.43

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 10.91 10.29 5.51 5.67 5.67 5.51

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 10.91 14.02 5.49 7.7 7.70 5.49


Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 0.79 1.33 7.29 0.97 0.97 7.29 Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 5.08 5.14 6.15 3.16 3.16 6.15

Tirupati Sugar 3.24 9.28 6.16 5.72 5.72 6.16

Open Market Purchase 0 265.89 0.222 6.23 154.85 -2.694 152.38 5.73

PTC(IEX) 68.16 0.222 4.89 33.33 0.026 33.58 4.93

PTC (Short) 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 0.00

Kerala 0 0.00 0 0.00 0.00

TATA Energy Trading Ltd. 91.36 4.28 39.11 -2.25 36.86 4.03

Manikaran 46.71 4.70 21.96 -0.47 21.49 4.60

Mittal (Solar) 48.79 5.04 24.57 24.57 5.04

NEA 10.87 5.56 6.04 6.04 5.56

UI 29.84 29.84

Sub-Total Power Purchase 2,545 14,170.33 2,135.53 2.16 3,059.37 92.72 5287.62 3.73

SLDC 2.38




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

BGCL 153.51

BSPTCL 664.19

POSOCO 3.09

PGCIL 613.93

Transmission and Other Charges 1,437.10

Net Power Purchase 2,545 14,170.33 2,135.53 2.16 3,059.37 92.72 6724.72 4.74

Add: REC Purchase 108.25

Add: Deposit for RPO 0.00

Total Power Purchase Cost 2,545 14,170.33 2,135.53 2.16 3,059.37 92.72 6832.97



Table 4.18: Approved Power Purchase Cost for NBPDCL in truing-up for FY 2018-19


allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)

Misc cost (Rs

Crs)

Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Central Sector Stations 1,623.15 9,526.78 1,363.00 2.18 2,079.83 8.06 3,450.85 3.62

Farakka – I & II (1600 MW) 231.09 1,442.59 128.63 2.34 337.01 0.25 465.89 3.23

Farakka – III (500 MW) 60.99 379.39 61.82 2.34 88.85 0.07 150.73 3.97

Kahalgaon – I (840 MW) 161.74 1,008.79 109.08 2.26 227.86 0.17 337.11 3.34

Kahalgaon – II (1500 MW) 34.36 252.85 25.35 2.16 54.74 0.04 80.12 3.17

Barh-II 550.95 3,216.68 594.44 2.16 693.32 1.24 1,288.99 4.01


Korba 11.50 84.93 10.87 1.26 10.74 1.05 22.66 2.66

Talcher – I ( 2 x 500 MW) 189.73 1,181.51 114.7 1.73 204.66 5.09 324.46 2.75

KBUNL Stage I & II 134.50 1,061.71 245.42 2.85 302.82 0.08 548.32 5.16

Chukha 36.80 193.84 2.40 46.55 46.55 2.40 Rangit – HEP 9.66 51.96 10.53 1.90 9.88 0.01 20.42 3.93

Tala 118.45 287.55 2.16 62.11 62.11 2.16

Teesta – HEP 49.88 244.64 32.24 1.16 28.33 0.04 60.60 2.48

Power Purchase Capacity Charges Refund (NTPC) -10.32 -10.32

State Generating Stations 75.58 22.49 0.00 6.49 8.25 0.00 8.25 3.67

Small Hydro (BSHPCL) 24.98 4.97 2.49 1.24 1.24 2.49

BTPS 50.60 17.52 4.00 7.01 7.01 4.00

IPP 224.48 1300 273.2 1.07 139.37 68.07 480.67 3.70

GMR Kamalanga Energy 119.60 836.93 159.3 1.09 91.07 69.77 320.14 3.83

JITPL 104.88 463.07 113.9 1.04 48.3 -1.70 160.52 3.47

Renewable 244.99 249.80 5.85 146.24 146.24 5.85

M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 4.60 7.13 5.67 4.04 4.04 5.67

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 4.60 7.32 5.67 4.15 4.15 5.67

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 2.30 2.59 7.68 1.99 1.99 7.68

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 1.38 2.28 5.66 1.29 1.29 5.66


Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 2.30 2.85 8.00 2.28 2.28 8.00

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 4.60 5.84 8.39 4.9 4.90 8.39

Welspun Renewables Project – I 4.60 6.42 8.71 5.59 5.59 8.71




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)

Misc cost (Rs

Crs)

Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Welspun Renewables Project – II 6.90 9.8 8.63 8.46 8.46 8.63

Welspun Renewables Project – III 6.90 10.1 8.56 8.65 8.65 8.56

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 6.90 10 8.73 8.73 8.73 8.73 Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 4.60 7.1 8.73 6.2 6.20 8.73

Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 4.60 8.34 5.84 4.87 4.87 5.84

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro) 92.00 51.16 3.53 18.06 18.06 3.53

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 46.00 2.11 2.70 0.57 0.57 2.70

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 3.32 7.23 4.81 3.48 3.48 4.81

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 4.42 6.3 6.02 3.79 3.79 6.02

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 5.09 21.85 4.74 10.36 10.36 4.74

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 5.09 34.49 5.43 18.72 18.72 5.43

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 9.29 8.21 5.51 4.52 4.52 5.51

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 9.29 11.19 5.50 6.15 6.15 5.5


Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 0.67 1.06 7.36 0.78 0.78 7.36

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 4.32 4.1 6.15 2.52 2.52 6.15

Tirupati Sugar 2.76 7.4 6.18 4.57 4.57 6.18

Open Market Purchase 0.00 1,041.87 2.89 5.33 526.79 -1.71 527.97 5.06

PTC(IEX) 884.04 2.89 4.89 432.29 0.35 435.71 4.93

PTC (Short) 0

0 0 0 0.00

Kerala 0

0 0 0 0.00

TATA Energy Trading Ltd. 72.93 4.03 29.42 -1.69 27.73 3.80

Manikaran 37.28 4.60 17.16 -0.37 16.79 4.50

Mittal (Solar) 38.94 5.04 19.61 19.61 5.03

NEA 8.68 5.55 4.82 4.82 5.55

UI

23.31 23.31

Add: Power Purchase Adjustment of Previous FYs 6.61

Sub-Total Power Purchase 2,168.20 12,140.94 1,639.09 2.39 2900.48 74.42 4620.60 3.80

SLDC 1.90

BGCL 122.53

BSPTCL 530.18




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MU)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)

Misc cost (Rs

Crs)

Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

POSOCO 2.46

PGCIL 489.84

Transmission and Other Charges 1,146.91

Net Power Purchase 2,168.20 12,140.94 1,639.09 2.39 2900.48 74.42 5,767.51 4.75

REC Purchase 60.00

Add: Deposit for RPO 0

Total Power Purchase Cost 2,168.20 12,140.94 1,639.09 2.39 2900.48 74.42 5827.51



4.10 Additional Power Purchase cost incurred due to excess Distribution Loss


SBPDCL has submitted that in FY 2018-19, the Petitioner has added around 21%

consumers to the consumer base of FY 2017-18 with significant increase in KJY and

DS – I categories. Due to addition in the number of consumers it is imperative that

more efforts are required to control the losses. It has to ensure that the loss due to

addition of the new consumers should not exceed from the existing level. Even in

such a situation, the Petitioner was able to reduce the actual distribution loss level

to 32.29%. In compliance to the Commission’s directive to increase supply hours,

the Petitioner has increased the hours of supply in both rural and urban areas.

Currently, the utility is providing more than 18-20 hours per day to its rural

consumers and around 20-24 hours per day to its urban consumers. It has been

said that Petitioner is continuously doing efforts to reduce the loss levels by

introducing spot billing, various payment channels etc. In view of the efforts made

by the utility to reduce the losses with increased supply hours and growth in

domestic consumers, the petitioner has requested the Commission to adopt the

actual distribution loss of 32.29% for FY 2018-19 for calculation of disallowance of

power purchase cost.

Submitting the similar reasons the NBPDCL has requested the Commission to adopt

the actual distribution loss of 26.83% for FY 2018-19 for calculation of disallowance

of power purchase cost.


In the foregone paras the Commission has computed the energy requirement to be

purchased by the Discoms based on the energy sales to the end-consumers

including DF area as one entity and T&D losses approved for FY 2018-19 and

accordingly regulated the power purchase quantum and cost for FY2018-19 in

truing up. Therefore, computation of the amount of additional power purchase cost

incurred due to excess distribution losses is not required and hence not considered.

4.11 Total Power Purchase Cost

As already discussed in the Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019, the generating

companies and transmission licensees provides 2% rebate on the bills on



immediate payment through letter of credit as per CERC Tariff Regulations 2014

and BERC Tariff Regulation; 2007 and 1% rebate on payment within 30 days from

production of such bills. Since adequate amount of interest for working capital

is provided in the ARR, the Discom should make payment of the bills of Gencos’ and

Transcos’ at atleast within one month from production of such bills so as to avail

rebate and reduce their power purchase costs.

The total power purchase cost approved by the Commission in truing-up for FY

2018-19 is as shown in the Table 4.19 below:

Table 4.19: Total Power Purchase Cost approved for Discoms for FY 2018-19

SI. No.

Particulars SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

(MU) (Rs. Cr) (MU) (Rs. Cr) (MU) (Rs. Cr)


14,170.33 5,287.62 12,140.94 4,620.60 26,311.27 9908.22

2 Transmission Charges

1,437.10 1,146.91 2,584.01

3 Total Power Purchase Cost

6,724.72 5,767.51 12492.23

4 Less: Rebate at 1% 67.24 57.67 124.92

5 Net power purchase cost (3- 4)

6,657.48 5,709.84 12367.31

6 Solar and Non solar RE Certificate Purchase

108.25 60.00 168.25

8 Total Power Purchase Cost (5+6)

14,170.33 6,765.73 12,140.94 5,769.84 26,311.27 12,535.57

The Commission accordingly approves Combined Power Purchase Cost of

Rs.12535.57 Crore for both the DISCOMs for total 26311.27 MUs of energy in

true-up of FY 2018-19.

4.12 Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO)


The details of Renewable Energy based power purchased during FY 2018-19 which

includes REC purchase quantum and deposit for RPO to be made for shortfall by

SBPDCL and NBPDCL are as given in the Table 4.20 below:

Table 4.20: Renewable energy purchase submitted by Discoms in FY 2018-19

SI. No Particulars UoM SBPDCL NBPDCL

1 Conventional Power Consumed MUs 10,586 8,138

2 Target

A Solar % 3.25% 3.25%

B Non-Solar % 6.00% 6.00%



SI. No Particulars UoM SBPDCL NBPDCL

C Solar MUs 344 264

D Non-Solar MUs 635 488

E Total MUs 979 753

3 Actual/Projected Excl. REC

A Solar MUs 166 133

B Non-Solar MUs 196 156

C Total MUs 362 289

4 Purchase of Power - Off Grid/Captive Consumers/Net Metering/Mini Grid/Standalone

A Solar MUs 12 11


C Total MUs 90 74

5 Total Purchase

A Solar MUs 178 144


C Total MUs 452 363

6 REC Purchased Quantum

A Solar MUs 119 87


C Total MUs 562 291

7 Total Actual Purchase Including REC

A Solar MUs 297 231


C Total MUs 1,014 654

8 Actual Target Achieved A Solar % 86% 87%

B Non-Solar % 113% 87%

C Total % 104% 87%

9 Shortfall/(Surplus) if any

A Solar MUs 47 33

B Non-Solar MUs (82) 66

C Total MUs (34) 99

10 Surplus Non-Solar to meet the deficit of Solar (based on BERC RPO Regulation)

47 0

11 Balance 0

A Solar 0 0

B Non Solar (34) * Notes: The figures in the above Table are submitted in the additional information by Discoms

The Discoms have requested the Commission to account the net surplus / deficit of

Bihar as a whole and accordingly make the necessary adjustment of surplus / deficit

between the two Discoms and to allow carry forward of remaining deficit if any.


As per the BERC (Renewable Purchase Obligation, its compliance and REC

Framework implementation) Regulations 2010, read with amendments thereon. It

has been made obligatory for the DISCOMs to purchase the set percentage of its

total energy consumption from Renewable Energy sources during FY 2018-19 as

shown in the Table 4.21 below:



Table 4.21: Percentage of RPO for FY 2018-19

S. No.

Particulars FY 2018-19 1 Renewable power purchase obligation (RPO) 9.25% 2 % share of solar power in RPO 3.25% 3 % share of non-solar power in RPO 6.00%

In the above RPO compliance (Table 4.20) SBPDCL has shown 12 MU and NBPDCL

has shown 11 MU of solar energy under purchase of off grid / captive / net

metering /mini grid etc. vide letter dated 13.02.2020 NBPDCL has submitted the

breakup as detailed below.

Particulars SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU)

Captive Power from solar generators 2.681 2.140

Off Grid < 10 KW > 10 KW

2.24 3.16

2.49 0.379

Net Metering 0.485 0.182

DDG Mini grid 0.811 2.325

DDG Standalone 2.217 1.02

IPDS 0.425 -

Total 12.019 8.536

While validation it is observed that solar energy generated by off grid generators is

not metered and only estimated based on installed capacity, utilization factor etc.

Therefore, this normative consumption of 5.4MU (2.24+3.16 for SBPDCL) & 2.869

MU (2.49+0.379 by NBPDCL) are not considered for RPO compliance is not

considered for RPO compliance. Therefore the RE purchase of power from captive

consumers etc., will be 6.619MU (12.019-5.4) for SBPDCL and 5.667(8.536-2.869)

for NBPDCL.

It is observed that the Discoms have not considered the energy generation of

BSHPC under non-solar energy purchase in the above Table 4.20. After considering

the power purchase of 6.22 MU of BSHPC by SBPDCL and 4.97 MU of BSHPC power

by NBPDCL, the non-solar power purchase during FY 2018-19 will be 201.84 MU for

SBPDCL and 161.15 MU for NBPDCL as shown in the Table 4.22 below.

The purchase of Renewable Energy from BSPHC, solar and Co-generation plants etc.

by SBPDCL & NBPDCL during FY 2018-19 and shortfall in RPO and requirement of RE

certificate purchase/ amount to be deposited to meet shortfall in RPO are as given

in the Table 4.22 below:



Table 4.22: RE Certificate Cost for FY 2018-19

SI. No

Particulars Quantity (MU)

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

1 Energy consumption (Excluding Nepal) 10423.12 8075.24 18614.50

2 Total RPO requirement (9.25%) 964.14 746.96 1721.84

3 Solar RPO requirement (3.25%) 338.75 262.45 604.97

4 Non-solar RPO requirement (6.00%) 625.39 484.51 1116.87

5 RE Purchase during the year

a). Solar Power Purchase 166.12 132.56 298.68

b). Non-solar Power Purchase 201.84 161.15 362.99

c). Total purchase (Solar +Non-solar) 367.96 293.71 661.67

6 Purchase of Power - Off Grid/Captive Consumers / Net Metering / Mini Grid/Standalone

a). Solar 6.619 5.667 12.29

b). Non Solar 78.00 63.00 141.00

c). Total 84.619 68.667 153.29

7 RE Certificate Purchase

a). Solar 119.05 87.14 206.19

b). Non Solar 442.96 203.85 646.81

c). Total 562.01 290.99 853.00

8 Total RPO during the year

a). Solar 291.79 225.37 517.16

b). Non Solar 722.80 428.00 1150.80

9 Shortfall in RPO

a). Solar 46.96 37.08 87.81

b). Non-solar -97.41 56.51 -33.93

10 Target Achieved

a). Solar 86% 85.87%

b). Non Solar 115.58% 88.34%

11 Net Shortfall

a). Solar 0.00 37.08 37.08

b). Non Solar -50.45 56.51 6.06

It is noted from the above Table that the SBPDCL has exceeded its Non-Solar RPO

target by 97.41 MU where the NBPDCL has under achieved the Non-Solar RPO by

56.51 MU in FY 2018-19.

Meanwhile in line with the GoI guidelines, the Commission has issued 3rd

amendment to BERC (Renewable Purchase Obligation, its Compliance and REC

Framework Implementation) Regulations, 2010 and by amending Clause 4 as under:

"Provided that on achievement of Solar RPO compliance to the extent of 85 % and above in

any year, remaining shortfall, if any, may be met by purchase of excess non-solar energy

beyond the percentage specified for Non-Solar RPO for that particular year.



Provided further that on achievement of Non-Solar RPO compliance to the extent of

85 % and above in any year, remaining shortfall, if any, may be met by purchase of

excess solar energy beyond the percentage specified for solar RPO for that

particular year".

After adjusting part of the surplus non-RPO of 97.41 MU against deficit solar-RPO of

46.96 MU, SBPDCL is still left with surplus non-RPO of 50.45 MU as shown in the

above table.

BSPHCL in its letter no-403 dated 30.12.2019 requested the Commission as below:

“It is to kindly inform that BSP(H)CL has been managing purchase of power as well

as Renewable Energy Certificates(RECs) for both the DISCOMs i.e., NBPDCL and

SBPDCL for ensuring compliance of their Renewable Purchase Obligations. RECs are

purchased on the basis of estimated shortfall in RE power Purchase. There is always

possibility of shortfall/excess in estimation and this may result in shortfall/ excess

purchase of RECs. The RECs are purchased to meet the anticipated shortfall

provisionally assigned to the DISCOMs. However, such assignment of REC may result

in a scenario where after prudence check by the Hon’ble BERC, it comes out where

one DISCOM over achieves the RPO compliance and other under achieves the same.

Therefore, in the interest of the DISCOMs and consumer at large, it is prayed that, if

such situation arises where one DISCOM over achieves the RPO compliance and

other under achieve the same, the excess RECs of one DISCOM may be adjusted/

reassigned to meet the short fall of the other DISCOM in true-up for FY 2018-19

(Tariff Petition for FY 2020-21)

The DISCOMs have agreed to account for the financial implication owing to the

assignment of RECs”.

Considering the request of BS(H)PCL, the remaining surplus 50.45 MU non-Solar

RPO of SBPDCL is adjusted against shortfall non-Solar RPO of 56.51 MU of NBPDCL

as below.

1 Net Shortfall SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

a). Solar 0 37.08 37.08

b). Non Solar -50.45 56.51 6.06

2 short fall after adjustment

a) Solar 0 37.08 37.08

b) Non Solar 0 6.06 6.06



3 REC rate (Rs/kWh) (forbearance price)

a). Solar 2.50 2.50

b). Non Solar 2.90 2.90

4 Deposit of RPO (Rs. Cr)

a). Solar 0 9.27 9.27

b). Non Solar 0 1.76 1.76

c). Total 0 11.03 11.03

As shown in the above table, NBPDCL is left with solar short fall of 37.08 MU and

non-solar short fall of 6.06MU. The financial implication due to transferring of

50.45MU of non-solar RPO of SBPDCL to NBPDCL may be got adjusted in their

books of account as agreed in the above letter of BSPHCL after making inter-

company adjustment of cost of 50.45 MU non-Solar power purchase of SBPDCL

transferred/re-adjusted to NBPDCL and shall be separately exhibited by the

respective DISCOMs in their subsequent ARR petitions.

BERC (Renewable purchase Obligation, its Compliance and REC Framework

Implementation) Regulations, 2010 stipulates that “if an obligated entities does not

fulfil the renewable purchase obligation as provided in these regulations during any

year and also does not purchase the certificates, the Commission may direct the

obligated entity to deposit into a separate fund, to be created and maintained by

such obligated entity, such amount as the Commission may determine on the basis

of shortfall in units of RPO and the forbearance price decided by the Central

Commission: provided that the fund so created shall be utilised as may be directed

by the Commission, partly for the purchase of the certificates and partly for

development of transmission/sub-transmission infrastructure for evacuation of

power from generating stations based on renewable energy sources.”

Accordingly, NBPDCL is directed to deposit an amount of Rs. 11.03 Cr as a

regulatory fund in separate Bank account and intimate the Commission along with

the supporting document.

4.13 Capital Expenditure


NBPDCL and SBPDCL have submitted the details of opening CWIP, investment and

capitalisation during the year and funding of capitalisation showing details of

Grants, Equity and Loan for FY 2018-19. The Discoms have requested the



Commission to approve the CWIP, capitalisation and funding of capitalisation for FY

2018-19 as given in the Table 4.23 below:

Table 4.23: CWIP, Capitalisation and Funding of capitalisation claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Particulars Claimed in true up by NBPDCL

Claimed in true up by SBPDCL

1 Opening CWIP 6892.08 3107.80

2 Add: New Investment 3761.64 3028.35

3 Less: Capitalisation (A+B) 2722.86 1801.23

A Opening CWIP capitalization 2178.29 1440.98

B New Investment capitalization 544.57 360.25

4 Closing CWIP (1+2-3) 7930.86 4334.92

5 Funding of Capitalisation

A CWIP capitalization 2178.29 1440.98

I Grant 1279.45 717.34

Ii Equity 605.47 285.21

Iii Loans 293.37 438.43

B New Investment capitalization 544.57 360.25

I Grant 319.86 179.34

Ii Equity 151.37 71.30

Iii Loans 73.34 109.61

6 Total Grants 1599.31 896.68

7 Total Equity 756.84 356.51

8 Total Loans 366.71 548.04

Commission’s analysis:

The Discoms have considered opening CWIP, capital investment and capitalisation

for FY 2018-19 as per the audited annual accounts of FY 2018-19.

The Discoms have provided the details of scheme-wise capitalisation and source of

funding of capitalisation for FY 2018-19 in format 11 and format 14 of the petition

respectively.

NBPDCL:

As per the audited accounts of NBPDCL for FY 2018-19, the opening CWIP, closing

CWIP and capitalisation are at Rs.6891.86 Crore, Rs.7930.88 Crore and Rs.2722.86

Crore respectively.

The Commission had approved closing CWIP at Rs.6884.13 Crore in truing up for FY

2017-18 in Tariff order dated 25.02.2019 and the same shall be considered as

opening CWIP for FY 2018-19. However, the petitioner has adopted opening CWIP

at Rs.6892.08 Crore for FY 2018-19 and it is Rs.6891.86 Crore in audited account.

The Commission addressed the Petitioner to furnish the reasons for adopting



revised value of opening CWIP. It was reported by the Petitioner that difference in

opening CWIP and closing CWIP adopted in the audited accounts Rs.7.74 Crore is

due to prior period error which was subsequently noticed and corrected during FY

2018-19. The Commission has deliberated at in para 4.24 of this Order. The

Commission, based on the audited figures of opening CWIP, closing CWIP and

capitalisation, has derived the value of new investment as detailed below:

Sl. No. Particulars Amount in Crore

1 Closing CWIP 7930.88

2 Add: Capitalization 2722.86

3 Less: Opening CWIP 6884.13

4 Less: Prior period rectification 7.74

5 New Investment (1+2-3-4) 3761.87

SBPDCL:

As per the audited accounts of SBPDCL for FY 2018-19, the opening CWIP, closing

CWIP and capitalisation are at Rs.3107.91 Crore, Rs.4334.09 Crore and Rs.1801.46

Crore respectively. The Commission, based on the audited figures of opening CWIP,

closing CWIP and capitalization, has derived the value of new investment are

detailed below:

SI. No. Particulars Amount in Crore

1 Closing CWIP 4334.09

2 Add: Capitalization 1801.46

3 Less: Opening CWIP 3107.91

4 New Investment (1+2-3) 3027.64

The Commission have addressed the petitioner to clarify the differences observed

between capitalization through CWIP claimed in the Petition Vs. capitalization

shown in audited accounts, the petitioner vide its letter dated 06.12.2019 clarified

that the differences is on account of direct capitalisation.

The Commission had approved closing CWIP at Rs.3107.91 Crore in truing up for FY

2017-18 in Tariff order dated 25.02.2019 and the same shall be considered as

opening CWIP for FY 2018-19. However, the petitioner has adopted opening CWIP

at Rs.3107.80 Crore for FY 2018-19 and it is Rs.3107.91 Crore in audited account.

The Commission addressed the Petitioner to furnish the reasons for adopting

revised value of opening CWIP. The Petitioner has submitted that Ind AS – 16

Property, Plant and Equipment defines carrying cost as the amount at which an



asset is recognized after deducting any accumulated depreciation and accumulated

impairment losses. As such, the value of Property, Plant and Equipment have been

taken at their carrying value and not at the historical cost and hence, there is a

difference in the opening balance adopted in the tariff petition for FY 2018-19 with

the closing balance of 2017-18 approved in Tariff order dated 25.02.2019.

The Commission has considered opening CWIP for FY 2018-19 based on the closing

CWIP approved in truing up for FY 2017-18 in Tariff order dated 25.02.2019. The

Closing CWIP approved for NBPDCL is at Rs.6884.13 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.3107.91

Crore and the same is adopted as opening CWIP for FY 2018-19 in truing up.

The Discoms have furnished the work/project wise details of capitalization and

source of funding in Format 11 and Format 14 respectively. The Commission,

accordingly, considers the funding of capitalization in truing up FY 2018-19.

The Commission for truing up of FY 2018-19 has considered capital investment and

capitalisation based on the reported figures of audited accounts of FY 2018-19 and

funding of capitalisation is considered based on the scheme wise capitalisation

details furnished by the Discoms. The Commission, accordingly, has considered the

capitalisation of opening CWIP, new investment and funding as detailed in the

Table 4.24 below:

Table 4.24: Capitalisation and funding approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Approved in

truing for NBPDCL

Approved in truing for SBPDCL

Total

1

Opening CWIP as per closing CWIP approved in true up for FY 2017-18

6884.13 3107.91 9992.04

2 Prior period rectification (As elaborated in para 4.24) 7.74 - 7.74

3 New Investment 3761.87 3027.64 6789.51

4 Capitalisation 2722.86 1801.46 4524.32

5 Closing CWIP (1+2+3-4) 7930.88 4334.09 12264.97

6 Funding of Capitalisation

a CWIP capitalization 2178.29 1440.98 3619.27

i Grant 1279.45 717.34 1996.79

Ii Equity 605.47 285.21 890.68

iii Loans 293.37 438.43 731.80 b New Investment capitalisation 544.57 360.48 905.05

i Grant 319.86 179.34 499.20

Ii Equity 151.37 71.53 222.90

iii Loans 73.34 109.61 182.95



SI. No.


truing for NBPDCL

Approved in truing for SBPDCL

Total

7 Total Grants [6a(i)+ 6b(i)] 1599.31 896.68 2495.99

8 Total Equity [6a(ii)+ 6b(ii)] 756.84 356.74 1113.58

9 Total Loans [6a(iii)+ 6b(iii)] 366.71 548.04 914.75

The Commission accordingly approves the Opening CWIP, New Investment,

Capitalisation, Closing CWIP and funding of capitalisation for FY 2018-19 in truing

up as detailed in the Table above.

4.14 Gross Fixed Assets Petitioners’ submission

The Discoms have submitted that Opening GFA is considered as per the audited

annual accounts as on 31st March 2018 and computed the GFA based on the

capitalisation for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.25 below:

Table 4.25: Gross Fixed Assets claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Claimed in true up by NBPDCL

Claimed in true up by SBPDCL

Total

1 Opening GFA 7087.13 6626.28 13713.41

2 Additions during the year 2722.86 1801.46 4524.32

3 Less : Disposal/Sale/Transfer 0.00

4 Closing GFA (1+2-3) 9809.99 8427.73 18237.73


The Commission had approved closing GFA at Rs.8216.31 Crore for NBPDCL and

Rs.7814.13 Crore for SBPDCL in true up for FY 2017-18 in the Tariff Order dated

25.02.2019.

The Commission in Tariff order dated 25.02.2019 has explicitly deliberated the

issue of adjustments made in the books of accounts by the Discoms due to

adoption of Ind AS 101. According to the Ind AS 101, the historical value of GFA

and accumulated depreciation on GFA to end of 31.03.2016 has been netted off

and resultant net balances have been carried forward in the books of accounts and

further updated with the additions to GFA year on year. The Commission opined

that the adjustments made by Discoms in the annual accounts as per change in

accounting policy (adoption of Ind AS 101) is the presentation requirement to

depict net value of assets as on 1st April 2016 in the audited accounts and there is

no impact on the overall historical value of the GFA. Therefore opening GFA is

considered based on the closing GFA approved in true up.



The Commission, in view of the above, has adopted the opening GFA based on the

closing GFA approved in the truing up for FY 2017-18.

The Commission, accordingly, has considered the opening GFA, additions to GFA

and closing GFA as detailed in the Table 4.26 below:

Table 4.26: Gross Fixed Assets approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Particulars Approved in True up by

NBPDCL

Approved in True up by SBPDCL

Total

1 Opening GFA 8216.31 7814.13 16030.44


3 Less : Disposal/Sale/Transfer 0.00

4 Closing GFA (1+2-3) 10939.17 9615.59 20554.76

The Commission, accordingly, approves Gross Fixed Assets for FY 2018-19 in true

up as above.

4.15 Depreciation


NBPDCL and SBPDCL have submitted that depreciation is claimed as per regulation

23 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2015 after reducing the value

of grants and consumer contribution amortized in the ratio of depreciation. The

Discoms have claimed the depreciation for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.27

below:

Table 4.27: Depreciation claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Claimed in

truing up by NBPDCL

Claimed in truing up by

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening GFA 7087.13 6626.28 13713.41

2 Less: Value of land 1011.16 1536.17 2547.33

3 Net Opening GFA (1-2) 6075.97 5090.10 11166.07

4 Net Additions during the year (excl. land) 2708.52 1795.70 4504.22

5 Closing GFA (3+4) 8784.49 6885.81 15670.30

6 Average GFA{(3+5)/2} 7430.23 5987.95 13418.18

7 Weighted average rate of depreciation 5.05% 5.43%

8 Depreciation (6*7) 375.47 325.39 700.86

9 Opening Grants 4460.00 2288.06 6748.06

10 Grants during the year 1589.00 893.93 2482.93

11 Closing Grants (9+10) 6049.00 3181.99 9230.99

12 Average Grants {(9+11)/2} 5254.50 2735.02 7989.52 13 Weighted average rate of depreciation 3.91% 6.74%

14 Depreciation for GFA on Grants (12*13) 205.41 184.27 389.68

15 Net Depreciation (8-14) 170.06 141.12 311.18




The Commission has examined the computation of depreciation claimed by the

Discoms for FY 2018-19.

The Commission, in order to arrive effective weighted average rate of depreciation,

has considered the opening GFA (historical cost) for FY 2018-19 exactly the same as

closing GFA of FY 2017-18 as approved in the truing up for FY 2017-18 in Tariff

order dated 25.02.2019. The opening GFA and addition to GFA during the year

2018-19 include value of land. Land is not a depreciable asset and accordingly, the

Commission has reduced the value of land for arriving at the effective weighted

average rate of depreciation. The Commission has considered addition to GFA as

detailed in Table 4.26. The effective weighted average rate of depreciation is

worked out on the depreciable assets i.e. excluding land value for FY 2018-19 as

detailed hereunder in table 4.28 below:

Table 4.28: Effective weighted average rate of depreciation on Assets

SI. No. Particulars NBPDCL SBPDCL

1 Opening depreciable GFA 8216.31 7814.13

2 Less: Opening land value 1018.63 1536.18

3 Opening GFA (Opening depreciable assets) (1-2) 7197.68 6277.95

4 Additions during the year (Net of Assets Sold/Transfer/Disposed)

2722.86 1801.46

5 Less: Value of land added during the year 14.34 5.75

6 Closing GFA (Closing depreciable assets) (3+4-5) 9906.20 8073.66

7 Average GFA (3+6)/2 8551.94 7175.80

8 Net Depreciation as per accounts 375.47 325.39

9 Weighted average rate of Depreciation (8/7)*100 4.39% 4.53%

The Discoms have furnished the details of grants utilised for creation of assets and

depreciation charged thereon in Format No.14 and Format No.15 for truing up for

FY 2018-19 of the tariff petition. The Commission observes that Depreciation on

assets created out of grants as stated in format-15 is not in agreement with audited

account and petitioner has not clarified about such difference of amount claimed in

audited accounts and Format 15 of the tariff petition. Hence, the Commission

opines it prudent to adopt same rate of depreciation of GFA for assets created out

of grant.

The Commission has approved the closing depreciable assets at Rs.7197.68 Crore

for NBPDCL and Rs.6277.95 Crore for SBPDCL in true up for FY 2017-18 in Tariff



Order dated 25.02.2019. The Commission has also approved the closing grants

utilised for creation of assets at Rs.5816.00 Crore for NBPDCL and Rs.3589.02 Crore

for SBPDCL in true up for FY 2018-19 in Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019. Accordingly,

the Commission, for the purpose of computation of depreciation for FY 2018-19,

has considered the opening depreciable assets and opening grants for FY 2018-19

exactly the same as closing depreciable assets and closing grants of FY2017-18

approved in tariff order dated 25.02.2019.

The opening GFA, additions to GFA, closing GFA, rate of depreciation and

depreciation on assets, depreciation on assets created out of grants and net

depreciation considered as pass through in the ARR by the Commission in true up

for FY 2018-19 is as detailed in the Table 4.29 below:

Table 4.29: Depreciation approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Approved in truing up for

NBPDCL

Approved in truing up for

SBPDCL Total

1

Opening depreciable assets (as per closing depreciable assets approved in true up for FY 2017-18) 7197.68 6277.95 13475.63


3 Closing depreciable assets (1+2) 9906.20 8073.66 17979.85

4 Average depreciable assets {(1+3)/2} 8551.94 7175.80 15727.74

5 Weighted average rate of depreciation 4.39% 4.53% 6 Depreciation (4*5) 375.47 325.39 700.86

7 Opening Grants (as per closing grants approved in true up for FY 2017-18) 5816.00 3589.02 9405.02


9 Less: Grants used for Land during the year (as reported in Format 14) 10.57 2.90 13.47

10 Closing Grants for depreciable assets (7+8-9) 7404.74 4482.80 11887.54

11 Average Grants for Depreciable Assets {(7+10)/2} 6610.37 4035.91 10646.28


13 Depreciation on assets created out of grants (11*12) 290.23 183.01 473.24


The Commission, accordingly, approves depreciation for FY 2018-19 in true up as

above.

4.16 Interest on Loans


Discoms have submitted that interest on loans include loans against schemes,



Central and state Government loans, Bank overdrafts, public bonds, etc.

Repayment is considered equivalent to depreciation claimed for FY 2018-19. The

weighted average rate of interest on actual loan portfolio is calculated for

computing interest on normative loan as given in table 4.30 & 4.31 below:

Table 4.30 : Weighted Average Rate of Interest for NBPDCL

Particulars Opening

loan Rate of interest

Addition during

the year

Repayment during the

year

Closing loan

Interest

REC Project 392.14 11.00% 80.42 472.56 27.30

PFC Part A 6.55 9.00% 10.86 3.87 13.69 14.85

PFC Part B 33.82 9.00% 2.89 2.06 34.65 3.87

PFC (Counterpart)

67.68 0.69 66.99 0.01

REC (DDUGJY)

10.10% 200.00

200.00

REC (IPDS)

10.18% 99.98

99.98 ADB 59.85 10.50% 3.84 56.01 7.28

State Government 170.00 10.50% 27.31

197.10 19.01

Total 662.15 489.14 10.30 1140.98 58.37

Average loan during the year 901.56

Weighted average rate of interest 6.47%

Table 4.31: Weighted Average Rate of Interest for SBPDCL

Particulars Opening

loan Rate of interest

Addition during

the year

Repayment during the

year

Closing loan

Interest

REC – RGGVY 82.19 10.33% 62.76 144.95 14.04

REC – RAPDRP 349.26 10.40% 349.26 36.32

PFC-RAPDRP 175.71 9.00% 38.18

213.59 18.46

REC-IPDS

10.19% 100.00

100.00 0.47

REC DDUGJY

10.19% 200.02

200.02 0.95

State Govt. 29.87 10.50% 13.82

43.69 4.58

BSPHCL (ADB) Loan 2.65 10.50% 3.41

6.06 0.79

Total 639.37 418.19

1057.56 75.61

Average loan during the year 848.47

Weighted average rate of interest 8.91%

Discoms have claimed interest charges for FY 2018-19 in truing up as detailed in the

Table 4.32 below:

Table 4.32: Interest on loans claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Claimed in True up by

NBPDCL

Claimed in True up by

SBPDCL

1 Opening loan 1322.00 2553.38

2 Addition during the year 961.00 633.29

3 Less: Repayment during the year 170.06 141.12

4 Closing loan (1+2-3) 2112.94 3045.55



SI. No.

Particulars Claimed in True up by

NBPDCL

Claimed in True up by

SBPDCL

5 Average Loan (1+4)/2 1717.47 2799.47

6 Weighted average rate of Interest 6.47% 8.91%

7 Interest on loan (5*6 ) 111.22 249.47

The petitioner NBPDCL through letter no 46 dated 03.02.2020and SBPDCL through

letter no 29 dated 03.02.2020, have furnished detailed calculation of weighted

average rate of Interest loan-wise and project-wise in Annexure 4 stating that

actual weighted average rate of Interest for NBPDCL is at 10.55% and for SBPDCL is

at 10.04%


The Commission has approved closing loans at Rs.1084.95 Crore for NBPDCL and

Rs.1487.91 Crore for SBPDCL in truing up to end of FY 2017-18 in the Tariff Order

dated 25.02.2019 and the same is considered as opening loan for FY 2018-19 for

NBPDCL and SBPDCL respectively. Addition to loan is considered to the extent of

permitted Debt-equity ratio under regulation 25 of Bihar Electricity Regulatory

Commission (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2015, based on the actual

funding of capitalisation approved in para 4.24 for FY 2018-19 in truing up as given

below:

Table 4.33: Net Capitalization for NBPDCL & SBPDCL

Particulars NBPDCL SBPDCL

Net Capitalisation during FY 2018-19 2722.86 1801.46

Less: Capitalisation through Grants 1599.31 896.68

Net capitalization 1123.55 904.78

Equity @ 30% 337.07 271.43

Debt @ 70% 786.49 633.35

The Commission has considered repayment of loan equal to the depreciation

allowed for the year in terms of regulation 25 (e) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations 2015.

The Discoms have considered revised weighted average rate of interest at 10.55%

by NBPDCL and 10.04% by SBPDCL.

Regulation 25 specify interest shall be provided loan-wise, project-wise and

utilisation-wise, accordingly interest on project loans only shall be considered for

computing the weighted average rate of interest for the purpose of ARR. The



Commission has examined the weighted average rate of interest computed by the

Discoms for FY 2018-19 and observed that NBPDCL have considered rate of interest

of 11% for REC (RGGVY) despite of fact that documents furnished in support of REC

(RGGVY) loan under appendix-76 of letter dated 06.12.2019 of NBPDCL shows that

it is @10.50%. Accordingly the Commission has re-calculated the weighted average

rate of interest of SBPDCL & NBPDCL at 10.04% & 10.31% respectively are as below:

South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited - (SBPDCL)

SI. No.

Particulars Purpose of

loan Opening balance

Rate of Interest

Closing balance

Average Balance

WEROI

1 REC (RGGVY) Term Loan

Project 82.19 10.33% 144.95 113.57 1.38%

2 REC (R-APDRP) Term Loan

Project 349.26 10.40% 349.26 349.26 4.28%

3 PFC (R-APDRP) Term Loan

Project 175.41 9.00% 213.59 194.50 2.06%

4 REC (IPDS) Term Loan

Project - 10.19% 100.00 50.00 0.60%

5 REC (DDUGJY) Term Loan

Project - 10.19% 200.02 100.01 1.20%

6 State Govt.-Non-Plan Loan

Project Support

29.87 10.50% 43.69 36.78 0.46%

7 BSPHCL (ADB) Loan

Project 2.65 10.50% 6.06 4.35 0.05%

Total 639.37

1,057.56 848.47 10.04%

North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited - (NBPDCL)

SI. No

Particulars Purpose of loan

Opening balance

Rate of Interest

Closing balance

Average Balance

WEROI

1 REC (RGGVY) Term Loan Project

392.14 10.50% 472.556 432.35 5.04%

2 PFC (R-APDRP) Part -A Term Loan Project

6.55 9% 13.693 10.12 0.10%

3 PFC (R-APDRP) Part -B Term Loan Project

34 9% 34.65 34.24 0.34%

4 PFC (Counter Part) Project - 9% 66.99 33.49 0.33%

5 REC (IPDS) Project - 10.18% 99.98 49.99 0.56%

6 REC (DDUGJY) Project - 10.10% 200 100 1.12%

7 State Govt.-Non-Plan Loan

Project Support

170 10.50% 197.1 183.44 2.14%

8 BSPHCL (ADB) Loan Project 59.85 10.50% 56.01 57.93 0.67%

9 Total 662.15

1140.98 901.56 10.31%

Accordingly, the Commission has considered the rate of interest on loan for

computation of interest on normative loan for FY 2018-19 in truing up as detailed in

the Table 4.34 below:



Table 4.34:Interest on loans approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


Truing up for NBPDCL

Approved in Truing up for

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening loan balance 1084.95 1487.91 2572.86


3 Normative Repayment 85.24 142.38 227.62

4 Closing Loans (1+2-3) 1786.19 1978.88 3765.07

5 Average Loans {(1+4)/2} 1435.57 1733.39 3168.96

6 Interest rate 10.31% 10.04%

7 Interest Charges ( 5*6 ) 147.98 173.99 321.97

The Commission, accordingly, approves interest on loans for FY 2018-19 in true up

as above.

4.17 Other Interest and Finance Charges


NBPDCL and SBPDCL have submitted that other finance charges include power

factor rebate, interest to suppliers, bank charges, etc. and claimed based on

audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.35below:

Table 4.35: Other Interest and Finance Charges claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Claimed in true up by

NBPDCL

Claimed in true up by

SBPDCL Total

1 Discount/Rebate to consumers for timely payment of bills

37.38 50.64 88.02

2 Other Bank charges 0.01 2.91 2.92

3 Total 37.39 53.55 90.94


Discount/Rebate to consumers for timely payment of bills

The Commission in Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff Schedule notified through the

Tariff Order dated 21.03.2018 for FY 2018-19 has specified that Rebate for prompt

payment of energy bills on or before due date by the LT and HT consumers shall be

allowed as per the rates prescribed in the tariff order. As per the audited accounts

for FY 2018-19, the NBPDCL and SBPDCL have allowed discount to consumers for

timely payment of bills (Rebate) of Rs.37.38 Crore and Rs.50.64 Crore respectively.

The Commission, accordingly, approves rebate for prompt payment for FY 2018-

19 in truing up.



LC Commission and other Bank charges

NBPDCL has claimed Rs.0.01 Crore towards LC commission and SBPDCL has claimed

Rs.2.91 Crore towards bank charges for FY 2018-19 based on the audited accounts

for FY 2018-19. The Commission considers LC commission and bank charges as the

same represent the LC commission paid to Bank for opening LC for arranging

payment of power purchase bills and other bank charges represent bank collection

charges, other finance charges, etc. Thus the Commission considers Rs.0.01 Crore

for NBPDCL towards LC commission and Rs.2.91 Crore for SBPDCL towards bank

charges in truing up for FY 2018-19 based on the audited accounts.

NBPDCL has shown Bank/LC charges of Rs.7.18 Crore under A&G expenses in the

audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19. The Commission has considered Bank/LC

charges under other finance charges in truing up FY 2018-19 as deliberated under

A&G expenses (Para 4.21)

Thus the Commission considers other finance charges for FY 2018-19 as given in the

Table 4.36 below:

Table 4.36: Other Finance Charges approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Approved in true up for

NBPDCL

Approved in true up for

SBPDCL Total

1 Discount/Rebate to consumers for timely payment of bills

37.38 50.64 88.02

2 Other Bank charges 0.01 2.91 2.92

3 Bank/LC charges 7.18 -- 7.18

4 Total 44.57 53.55 98.12

The Commission, accordingly, approves other finance charges to the Discoms for

FY 2018-19 in true up as above.

4.18 Return on Equity


Discoms have submitted that as per regulation 27 of the BERC MYT regulations

2015, return on equity is claimed for FY 2018-19 in truing up. It is further submitted

that the actual equity infused in the company is greater than the norm of 30% of

capital base. However in line with the regulation 27, the return on equity is

calculated on 30% of the capital base.



Discoms have claimed the return on equity for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table

4.37 below:

Table 4.37:Return on Equity claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

1 Closing equity to end of 31.03.2016 608.64 574.36 1183.00

2 Rate of return on equity % 14.00% 14.00% 14.00%

3 Return on Equity 85.21 80.41 165.62

Equity with effect from 1st April 2016

4 Opening equity 347.85 474.07 821.92

5 Equity addition during the year FY 2016-17 411.75 271.41 683.16

6 Closing equity (4+5) 759.60 745.47 1505.08

7 Average equity (4+6)/2 553.73 609.77 1163.50

8 Rate of return on equity with effect from 1.4.2016 15.50% 15.50% 15.50%

9 Return on equity (7*8) 85.83 94.51 180.34

10 Total Return on equity (3+9) 171.04 174.92 345.96


The Commission has examined the computation of RoE claimed by the Discoms in

truing up for FY 2018-19.

The Commission has approved closing Equity for FY 2017-18 in truing up for

Discoms as given Table 4.38 below:

Table 4.38: Details of Closing Equity for FY 2017-18


Equity to end of 31.3.2016 440.86 638.06

Equity from 1.4.2016 to end of 31.3.2018 251.89 417.38

Accordingly, the above equity is considered as opening equity for FY 2018-19 for

computing RoE. Addition to equity is considered to the extent of permitted Debt-

equity ratio under regulation 27 of Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi

Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2015, based on the actual funding of

capitalization approved in Table 4.33 for FY 2018-19.

The Commission in terms of Regulation 84 of the BERC (Terms and conditions for

determination of Tariff) Regulations 2007 has considered Rate of Return on Equity

at 14% on closing equity as on 31.03.2016 and Rate of Return on Equity at 15.50%

in terms of Regulation 27 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations



2015. Accordingly, the Commission has computed return on equity for FY 2018-19

as detailed in the Table 4.39 below:

Table 4.39: Return on Equity approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total



3 Return on Equity 61.72 89.33 151.05


4 Opening equity 251.89 417.38 669.27

5 Equity addition during the year 337.07 271.43 608.50

6 Closing equity (4+5) 588.95 688.81 1277.77

7 Average equity (4+6)/2 420.42 553.09 973.52

8 Rate of return on equity 15.50% 15.50% 15.50%

9 Return on equity (7*8) 65.17 85.73 150.90


The Commission, accordingly, approves Return on Equity as above in true up for

FY 2018-19 for the Discoms.

4.19 Employee Costs


Discoms have submitted that the employee expenses comprises of salaries,

dearness allowance, bonus, staff welfare, medical benefits, leave travel and earned

leave encashment and the terminal benefits in the form of pension, gratuity etc.

The Discoms have claimed employee expenses, based on the audited accounts, for

FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.40 below:

Table 4.40:Employee expenses claimed by the Discoms for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

Employee expenses 261.19 433.77 694.96


The Discoms have considered the total employee expenses as per the audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19, which includes payment towards terminal benefits. The employee cost includes the Company’s contribution towards its existing

employees’ future terminal benefits. As per the transfer scheme, post unbundling

the segregated entities shall contribute towards Gratuity, Pension and Leave Salary



for existing employees to the Bihar State Electricity Employees Master Trust (BSEE

Master Trust) at the rates approved by the Board of Trustees of the BSEE Master

Trust.

The Employee expenses claimed by the Discoms is based on actual expenditure as

per audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19. Hence, the Commission has

considered the employee expenses as detailed in the Table 4.41 below:

Table 4.41:Employee expenses approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

Employee expenses 261.19 433.77 694.96

The Commission, accordingly, approves the employee expenses as above for

Discoms in true up for FY 2018-19.

4.20 Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expenses


Discoms have submitted that R&M expenses primarily include costs related to

repair of different class of fixed assets, etc. The R&M expense projected by the

Discoms is as given in the Table 4.42 below:

Table 4.42: Repairs and Maintenance expenses claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Particulars Claimed in truing up

by NBPDCL Claimed in truing up

by SBPDCL Total

R & M Cost 113.79 116.29 230.08

Commission’s analysis The Discoms have claimed R&M expenses as per the audited annual accounts for FY

2018-19. As per the annual accounts for FY 2018-19, the NBPDCL and SBPDCL have

incurred Rs.113.79 Crore and Rs.116.29 Crore respectively towards R&M expenses

during FY 2018-19. The Commission has addressed the Discoms to furnish details of

expenditure vis-à-vis new equipment if any, accounted against R&M of Plant and

machinery and Lines and Cable net works. The Discoms have clarified that the R&M

expenses do not include cost of new equipment.

The Commission, in terms of regulation 22.2 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations 2015, has approved ‘K’ factor at 1.21% for NBPDCL and 1.53%



for SBPDCL for the MYT control period of FY 2016-17 to FY 2018-19 in Tariff order

dated 24.03.2017 and considered R&M expenses on the Opening GFA for the MYT

control period. It was also specified to regulate the R&M expenses year on year in

true up of relevant year of the MYT control period of FY 2016-17 to FY 2018-19.

In view of the above, the Commission considers ‘K’ factor approved in Tariff order

dated 24.03.2017 for FY 2018-19 and allow R&M expenses on opening GFA as

detailed in the Table 4.43 below:

Table 4.43: R&M expenses approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

1 Opening GFA (Table 4.26) 8216.31 7814.13 16030.44

2 ‘K’ factor 1.21% 1.53% 3 R & M Cost (1*2) 99.42 119.56 218.97

The Commission, accordingly, approves R&M expenses in true up for FY 2018-19 as above for the Discoms.

4.21 Administrative and General (A&G) Expenses


NBPDCL and SBPDCL have submitted that Administration and General expenses

mainly comprise of rents, telephone and other communication expenses,

professional charges, conveyance and travelling expenses etc. Discoms have

projected the A&G expenses for FY 2018-19 in truing up as furnished in Table 4.44

below:

Table 4.44:Administration and General Expenses claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Particulars Claimed by NBPDCL

in truing up Claimed by SBPDCL

in truing up Total

A&G Expenses 231.17 111.39 342.56

Commission analysis:

The Commission has examined the A&G expenses claimed by the Discoms. As per

the audited annual accounts of the Discoms, the A&G expenses includes

miscellaneous losses/write-offs which represent compensation paid in accident

cases to outsiders/other than employees.

The Commission observes that the Regulation 22.3 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2015 specify; A&G expense shall be computed as per the norm escalated by wholesale price index



(WPI), adjusted by provisions for confirmed initiatives (IT etc initiatives as proposed

by the Distribution Licensee and validated by the Commission) or other expected

one-time expense and shall be governed by the following formula:

Till the norm of A&G expenses is specified by the Commission, the actual historical

cost will be considered for determination of A&G expenses.

As per Regulation 22 (a) of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations,

2015 the Commission shall stipulate a separate trajectory of norms for each of the

component of O&M expenses viz. Employee cost, R&M expense and A&G expense.

The Commission opined at paragraph 7.27.1 in Tariff order dated 21.03.2016 that

norms shall be determined for O&M expenses from the next MYT control period.

The Commission, in view of the above, has considered the A&G expense actuals

reported in the audited accounts of FY 2018-19.

NBPDCL:

NBPDCL has claimed A&G expenses of Rs.231.17 Crore in truing up for FY 2018-19

based on the audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19.

The A&G expenses include Holding tax expenses of Rs.79.98 Crore. From the

details furnished by the Petitioner, it is observed that the holding tax expenses

include prior period expenses of Rs.78.59 Crore (Muzaffarpur Municipal

Corporation) for period from FY 1994-95 to FY 2017-18. Hence, the amount of

Rs.78.59 Crore is shown under prior period expenses separately in the ARR in truing

up for FY 2018-19.

Further, the A&G expenses also include Misc. expenses of Rs.8.53 Crore. The Misc.

expenses include Bank/LC charges of Rs.7.18 Crore and accordingly, Rs.7.18 Crore is

shown under Other finance charges Table 4.45 in truing up for FY 2018-19.

The Commission, accordingly, has considered the Administration & General

Expenses for FY 2018-19 in truing up as detailed in the Table 4.45 below:

Table 4.45:Administration & General expenses approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

A&G expenses 231.17 111.39 342.56

Less: Holding Tax expenses shown under Prior period expenses 78.59 78.59

Less: Bank/LC charges shown under other 7.18 7.18




NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

finance charges

Net A&G expenses 145.40 111.39 256.79

Accordingly, the Commission approves A&G expenses for FY 2018-19 in true up.

4.22 Holding Company Expenses


Discoms have submitted that allocation of Holding Company expenses for FY 2018-

19 are as per the provisions of Transfer Scheme, 2012 and the actual claim based

on the audit accounts as furnished are given in Table 4.46 below:

Table 4.46:Holding Company Expenses claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Particulars Claimed by NBPDCL

in truing up Claimed by SBPDCL

in truing up Total

Holding company expenses 18.09 19.02 37.11


The Bihar State Electricity Reforms Transfer Scheme, 2012 Schedule ‘D’ Holding

undertaking Part-III defines the Functions and Duties of Bihar State Power (Holding)

Company Limited. As per Clause (i) of the schedule ‘D’, the Holding Company shall

handle all issues relating to the subsidiary companies in respect of business of

purchasing, importing, exporting and trading of power subject to the provision of

Electricity Act, 2003 and to supply electric power generated by other plants to

transmission companies, distribution companies, trading companies, other

generation companies and other persons, and in this regard execute agreements

with Central and State Generating authorities, departments or companies,

independent Power Producers and other persons.

Schedule ‘F’ specify, the Holding Company shall handle all issues relating to the

subsidiary companies in respect of the testing divisions, training department at

Headquarter and all the departments of the Corporate head office viz. General

Administration, Accounts and Finance, IT, Stores & Purchase, Transmission /

Distribution/Generation, Personnel, Publicity, Legal, Vigilance & Security,

Commercial, Planning, Civil Engineers, Transmission (O&M), Rural Electrification,

shall constitute “Common Services” which shall continue to provide services to all



successor entities during the interregnum period, until issue of further transfer

notifications allocating the employees to respective companies.

BSPHCL provides common services to all the segregated entities and as per the

Transfer Scheme “operating expenses incurred by the Holding Company like

administration and general expenses, legal and consulting fees, etc. would be

shared by the BSPGCL, BSPTCL, NBPDCL and SBPDCL in the ratio of their respective

equity”.

The Commission, observed that operating expenses incurred by the Holding

Company have been shared between, BSPTCL, NBPDCL and SBPDCL only leaving

Bihar State Power Generating Company Limited (BSPGCL) in violation of The Bihar

State Electricity Reforms Transfer Scheme, 2012. On a query of the Commission,

BSPHCL vide its letter no-93 dated 05.02.2020 while enclosing a copy of resolution

no -100 dated 13/06/2019 of BSPHCL has stated that w.e.f. 2018-19 and till receipt

of income by BSPGCL, the administration and general expenses, legal and

consulting fees, etc. of BSPHCL would be shared between BSPTCL, NBPDCL and

SBPDCL in the ratio of their respective equity in anticipation of revision of the

clause of Bihar State Electricity Reforms Transfer Scheme, 2012 by the Energy

Department, Government of Bihar.

The Commission, vide letter no.BERC-136 dated 03.02.2020 had addressed the

General Manager (HR/Adm.), Bihar State Power (H) Co. Ltd. to provide information/

clarification latest by 06.02.2020 whether all the assets and manpower of all the

companies have still not been allocated to the concerned company in terms of THE

BIHAR STATE ELECTRICITY REFORMS TRANSFER SCHEME, 2012. The reply from

BSPHCL to this query was awaited till the writing of this tariff order.

The Commission, vide letter no.BERC-147 dated 05.02.2020, also addressed the

Joint Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Bihar requesting him to

confirm whether “classification and transfer of property, rights, assets, liabilities

and proceedings had attained finality in-terms of Clause-9 of THE BIHAR STATE

ELECTRICITY REFORMS TRANSFER SCHEME, 2012 as notified vide notification no-17

dated 30.10.2012. This notification specifies “classification and transfer of property,

rights, assets, liabilities and proceedings shall be provisional for a period of one



year from the effective date”. Confirmation from Energy Department, Government

of Bihar was awaited till the writing of this tariff order.

The audited annual accounts of BSPHCL for FY 2018-19 (Note 6) depicts the equity

investment by BSPHCL in the subsidiaries i.e. BSPGCL, BSPTCL, NBPDCL and SBPDCL.

Further the audited accounts depicts the Employee expenses of Rs.22.83 Crore

(Note no. 26 Total expenses Rs.2249.46 Crore less Rs.2226.63 Crore Terminal

benefits) , R&M expenses and A&G expenses at Rs.34.47 Crore (Note no. 29 Total

expenses Rs.293.97 Crore less Rs.259.50 Crore interest on capital fund). The total

O&M expense (Employee cost, R&M and A&G expenses) are at Rs.57.30 Crore

(22.83+34.47) for FY 2018-19. The Commission has considered the equity holding

of BSPHCL in the subsidiary companies i.e. BSPGCL, BSPTCL, NBPDCL and SBPDCL as

reported in the audited accounts of BSPHCL for FY 2018-19 and on amount of non-

receipt of the replies to the queries as mentioned above is constrained to allocate

the O&M expenses of BSPHCL in the ratio of respective equity of the BSPGCL,

BSPTCL, NBPDCL and SBPDCL in terms of The Bihar State Electricity Reforms

Transfer Scheme, 2012 are given hereunder:

Particulars BSPHCL BSPGCL BSPTCL NBPDCL SBPDCL

Equity holding by BSPHCL in subsidiary companies 32035.93 4812.96 7245.37 9602.63 10374.97

Equity Deployed Ratio 100.00% 15.02% 22.62% 29.97% 32.39%

Allocation of O&M expenses for FY 2018-19 57.30 8.61 12.96 17.18 18.56

The Commission therefore in terms of Bihar State Electricity Reforms Transfer

Scheme 2012 has considered the holding company expenses for FY 2018-19

claimed based on audited accounts for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.47

below:

Table 4.47:Holding Company expenses approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Particulars Approved in truing

up for NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total

Holding company expenses 17.18 18.56 35.74

The Commission, accordingly, approves Holding Company Expenses for

FY 2018-19 in True up.



4.23 Summary of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses

The summary of O&M expenses considered for FY 2018-19 are as tabulated below

in 4.48:

Table 4.48:Total O&M cost approved by the Commission for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Approved for

NBPDCL in True up

Approved for SBPDCL in

True up Total

1 Employee cost 261.19 433.77 694.96

2 R&M expenses 99.42 119.56 218.97

3 A&G Expenses 145.40 111.39 256.79

4 Holding Company expenses 17.18 18.56 35.74

5 Total O& M cost 523.19 683.28 1206.46

4.24 Prior Period Credit / (Charges)


As deliberated in paragraph 4.22 above, the Commission has considered prior

period Holding Tax expenses of Rs.78.59 Crore (Muzaffarpur Municipal

Corporation) for period from FY 1994-95 to FY 2017-18 under prior period expenses

separately in the ARR in truing up for FY 2018-19 of NBPDCL.

As pointed out under NBPDCL paragraph of para 4.13, the Commission has

observed that NBPDCL has not adopted opening balance of RAPDRP-CWIP in the

annual accounts for FY 2018-19 based on closing balance of RAPDRP CWIP for FY

2017-18 and accordingly, vide letter 67 dated 20.01.2020 addressed NBPDCL to

reconcile the balances and report reasons for the difference. NBPDCL has

submitted that the difference amount of Rs.7.74 Crore is on account of prior

period error wrongly charged to Telephone charges in the previous years, which

was subsequently noticed and corrected during FY 2018-19 in compliance of Ind AS

8 “Accounting policies, Changes in Accounting estimates and errors”. The

Petitioner (NBPDCL) during the technical validation meeting held on 8-10 of January

2020 had agreed that the amount might be recovered from the ARR in truing up for

FY 2018-19. Further, Annexure-4 of additional information furnished by NBPDCL

vide their letter dated 20.01.2020 states that Opening Capital work-in-progress has

been increased by Rs.7.74 Crore by corresponding reduction of expenditure in the

earlier year. The Commission accordingly recovered the amount of Rs.7.74 Crore as

prior period income in the ARR in the truing up for FY 2018-19.



The Commission, thus, considers the net prior period expenses in the truing up for

FY 2018-19 as given in the table 4.49 below.

Table 4.49:Prior period expenses approved in truing up for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL in True up

Approved for SBPDCL in

True up Total

1 Prior period Holding Tax expenses 78.59 -- 78.59

2 Less: RAPDRP loan wrongly charged to telephone charges in earlier years 7.74 -- 7.74

3 Net Prior period expenses (1+2-3) 70.85 -- 70.85

The Commission accordingly, approves net prior period expenses of Rs.70.85

Crore in truing up for FY 2018-19.

4.25 Interest on Security Deposit


Discoms have submitted that section 47(1) (a) of the Electricity Act, 2003 specifies

that any person who requires a supply of electricity to give reasonable security in

respect of the electricity supplied to such person. BERC Supply Code Regulations

2007 specifies that the distribution licensee shall pay interest at the RBI Bank rate,

applicable on security deposits taken from the consumers. The interest amount of

previous financial year shall be adjusted in the energy bill issued in May/June of

each financial year depending on billing cycle.

The Discoms have submitted that as per the regulation interest on consumer’s

security deposit is paid to HT and LT consumers. Discoms have claimed interest on

security deposit for FY 2018-19 as details in the Table 4.50 below:

Table 4.50: Interest on security deposit claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Claimed by NBPDCL in truing up

Claimed by SBPDCL in truing up

Total

1 Opening Security Deposit 310.70 512.98 2 Addition / (Deletion) 49.02 54.04 3 Closing Security Deposit (1+2) 359.72 567.02 4 Average Security Deposit (1+3)/2 335.21 540.00 5 RBI Bank Rate 6.00% 6.00% 6 Interest on Security Deposit (5*6) 20.11 32.40 52.51


Section 47(1)(a) of the Electricity Act, 2003 specifies that any person who requires a



supply of electricity to give reasonable security in respect of the electricity supplied

to such person.

BERC Supply Code Regulations 2007 specifies that the distribution licensee shall pay

interest at the RBI Bank rate, applicable on security deposits taken from the

consumers. The interest amount of previous financial year shall be adjusted in the

energy bill issued in May/June of each financial year depending on billing cycle.

The BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2015, Regulation 26 (iii)

specifies that “Provided further that interest shall be allowed on consumer security

deposit and security deposits from Distribution system users at the Bank Rate as of

the date on which the petition for determination of tariff is accepted by the

Commission”.

The Commission has observed from the audited accounts for FY 2018-19, that the

Discoms have paid/adjusted interest on SD to the consumers as detailed hereunder

in table 4.51:

Table 4.51: Interest on SD to the consumers (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

1 Opening balance of interest payable to consumers (Note 20 (NBPDCL) & Note 18 (SBPDCL)-Other current liabilities of the annual accounts)

94.23 165.92 260.15

2 Interest payable during FY 2018-19 (Note 30 of NBPDCL and Note 28 of SBPDCL annual accounts)

24.29 33.66 57.95

3 Sub-total (1+2) 118.52 199.58 318.10

4 Closing balance of interest payable to consumers (Note 20 (NBPDCL) & Note 18 (SBPDCL)-Other current liabilities of the annual accounts)

116.19 189.15 305.34

5 Interest actually paid to consumers (3-4) 2.33 10.43 12.76

On a query, the Discoms have submitted that Security Deposit from consumers is

under reconciliation and during the year interest on security deposit to LT

consumers has been paid partly.

The Commission observes that Discoms have made provision towards interest on

security deposit to consumers in the accounts and actually not passed on to the

consumers and hence not considered as pass through in the ARR in true up for FY

2018-19. If the unpaid interest on consumers security deposit is allowed in the

ARR as pass through, it tantamount to recovery of the interest from the

consumers itself. As such, the Commission considers actual interest payout to the



consumers in true up for FY 2018-19. However, the distribution licensee may claim

interest on security deposit as and when paid to the consumers by them for FY

2018-19.

The Commission, accordingly, considers the interest on consumers’ security deposit

for FY 2018-19 in truing up as given in the Table 4.52 below:

Table 4.52: Interest on security deposit approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL in truing up

Approved for SBPDCL in truing up

Total

Interest on Security Deposit 2.33 10.43 12.76

The Commission approves interest on Consumer’s Security Deposit for FY 2018-19

in true up.

4.26 Deposit of Regulatory fund for Renewable Power Purchase Obligation


The Commission in the Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019 (read with corrigendum dated

19.08.2019) has directed the DISCOMs to deposit Regulatory fund (SBPDCL

Rs.209.89 Crore and NBPDCL Rs.147.67 Crore) towards RPO obligation to the end of

FY 2017-18 in a separate bank account and report compliance. The Commission had

directed the Discoms to furnish year wise consolidated statement of account for

deposit towards RPO Obligation.

The Discoms (SBPDCL vide letter dated 18.01.2020 and NBPDCL vide letter no.67 of

20.01.2020 have submitted the details of RECs purchased earlier (SBPDCL

Rs.149.39 Crore and NBPDCL Rs.106.50 Crore) and cost of which was already

factored into the ARR of respective Discoms till FY 2017-18 in truing up.

It is submitted by the Discoms that they have fulfilled its RPO Obligations till 2018-

19 at a cost less than what was approved by the Commission and requested to

adjudge the RPO related decisions based on Units to be purchased instead of the

cost associated to it.

The Discoms emphasize that, in recent period, they have been facing difficulty in

fulfilling their RPO due to insufficient availability of Renewable Energy generation in

the State and also due to shortfall in REC availability in the market as well. The aim

of RPO regulations is to promote green energy and purchasing RECs instead of



actual energy cannot be treated as solution. It has been further submitted that

Discoms are facing acute shortage of funds and blocking such a huge amount of

money in the name of RPO deposit is not a feasible option as it will further

aggravate the financial health of the petitioners.

It has further been emphasized that RPO deposit is considered as a huge penalty

for the petitioner which will ultimately be passed on to the consumers and defeat

the purpose of rationalization of tariff. The Petitioner reiterates that it has fulfilled

its RPO at a cost less than the cost approved by the Commission and the same may

be considered by the Commission.

The reason cited by the petitioners that, it should be exempted from the obligation

of deposit of regulatory fund of Rs.357.56 Cr. (SBPDCL- Rs.209.89 Cr and NBPDCL –

Rs.147.67 Cr.) because they have already purchased the required REC and fulfilled

its RPO till FY 2017-18 are not justifiable. It is pertinent to mention here that the

Discom`s had not purchased or fulfilled their RPO in the relevant years on their own

since FY 2010-11 onwards. They had purchased such RECs to fulfill their RPO till FY

2017-18 belatedly on the intervention of the Commission through suo-moto case

proceedings. The Obligation to deposit the Regulatory fund by the DISCOMs is in

compliance of the regulations.

Accordingly, the Commission, gives the final direction to the Discoms to deposit

the Regulatory fund (NBPDCL Rs.147.67 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.209.89 Crore) in a

separate bank account on or before 30.06.2020 positively and submit compliance

to the Commission without fail. Non compliance of it shall be taken seriously by

the Commission and failure to comply it will compel the Commission to impose

penalty along with recover of such fund in the ARR of subsequent years.

4.27 Non-Tariff Income


Discoms have claiming non tariff income for FY 2017-18 as detailed in the Table

4.53 below:

Table 4.53:Non-tariff Income claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.



1 Non-tariff income 808.43 486.19



Sl. No.



2 Less: Financing cost of DPS 141.97 89.61

3 Net Non-tariff income 666.46 396.59


The Non-Tariff income as per the audited annual accounts of NBPDCL is at

Rs.1240.12 Crore (including Amortisation of grant i.e depreciation on assets created

out of grant of Rs.205.41 Crore that have been considered separately in other

paragraphs) and non-tariff income of SBPDCL is 670.46 Cr (including Amortisation

of grant i.e depreciation on assets created out of grant of Rs. 184.27 Crores that

have been considered separately in other paragraphs) for FY 2018-19. The

Commission has considered Amortization of grant (i.e., depreciation on assets

created out of grant) in paragraph 4.15. The Commission has not considered

revenue subsidy of Rs. 400 Cr claimed by NBPDCL as non-tariff income as this is part

of revenue. Accordingly the revenue subsidy and Amortization of grant (i.e

depreciation assets created out of grant) are not considered as non tariff income.

It is observed from the audited accounts of NBPDCL for FY 2018-19, Rs.30.01 Crore

is accounted as other income received towards Terminal benefits from GoB. It is

replied that the amount is the reimbursement of contribution towards terminal

benefits by the utility and hence the same is considered as non tariff income in the

truing up for FY 2018-19.

As stated in para 2(a) of auditor’s report of SBPDCL, consumer contribution as

stated in audited account is Supervision, labour and establishment charges for

service connection have not been accounted as non tariff income. The Commission

has addressed both the petitioner to justify non recognition of Supervision, labour

and establishment charges for service connection as non tariff income but both the

petitioner through their letter dated 20.01.2020 without any supporting documents

have simply replied that “The petitioner hereby once again affirms that consumer

contribution is in the nature of grant and hence not accounted as income”. The

Commission also observes that there are separate head in audited account under

Other Non-Current Liabilities “Deposit for Electrification, Service Connection etc.”

under note-18 of SBPDCL audited account and note-20 of NBPDCL audited account



showing accumulated amount of Rs.1501.01 Cr to be utilized for creation of capital

assets. Further, information furnished by the petitioner in format-15 of the petition

states that as on FY 2018-19 no assets have been created out of consumer

contribution. It is also pertinent to mention that the Commission under para 4.27 of

tariff order dated 25.02.2019 in case no- 40/2018 & 48/2018 (NBPDCL), Case No.

41/2018 & 47/2018 (SBPDCL) have also considered it as a non tariff income for FY

2017-18. The Commission firmly believe that Supervision, labour and establishment

charges for service connection is not a grant rather it is non-tariff income. In

contrast to this, any extension of line/network from the end of consumer through

his fund is considered as consumer contribution and is treated as capital grant.

Hence, the Commission considers Rs.13.30 Crore (note-15 of SBPDCL audited

account) and Rs.14.50 Crore (note-17 of NBPDCL audited account) as non tariff

income on account of Supervision, labour and establishment charges received

during the Year 2018-19 for service connection.

The Commission under para 4.27 of tariff order dated 25.02.2019 in case no-

40/2018 & 48/2018 (NBPDCL), Case No. 41/2018 & 47/2018 (SBPDCL) have

considered entire interest earned on capital fund as on 31.03.2018, Rs.193.89 Crore

in SBPDCL and Rs.459.92 Crore in NBPDCL as non tariff income for FY 2017-18 with

a direction to the distribution licensee to keep proper record for recording of actual

interest on scheme wise grant, equity and loan fund and to claim separately the

refund or utilization made in the year in which such amount is actually refunded or

utilized. The DISCOMs have not furnished proper records of recording of actual

interest on scheme wise grant, equity and loan fund and interest earned during the

year. Based on the figures reported in Audited Account read with Annexure-4 of

additional information furnished by NBPDCL & SBPDCL vide their letter dated

20.01.2020, it has been observed that net interest of Rs.6.64 Crore have been

refunded/utilized by the NBPDCL and Rs.32.30 Crore have been earned by the

SBPDCL in FY 2018-19 as interest income and accordingly the Commission considers

Rs.6.64 Crore as expenditure of NBPDCL and Rs.32.30 Crore as non tariff income of

SBPDCL are detailed below:



SI. No

Interest accrued on Capital fund NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

a)

Interest earned on Capital, recognised as a prior period Income of FY 2017-18 in audited account of FY 2018-19 (Refer Annexure-4 of additional information furnished by NBPDCL &SBPDCL vide their letter dated 20.01.2020)

253.08 2.20 255.28

b) Opening balance as on 01.04.2018 stated in audited account of FY 2018-19 (Note-20 of NBPDCL&Note-18 of SBPDCL)

206.84 191.69 398.53

c) Total Interest earned on Capital fund as on 01.04.2018 (a+b)

459.92 193.89 653.81

d) Closing balance as on 31.03.2019 stated in audited account of FY 2018-19 (Note-20 of NBPDCL&Note-18 of SBPDCL)

200.20 223.99 424.19

e) Interest earned on Capital fund as on 31.03.2019 (c+d-b)

453.28 226.19 679.47

f) Interest earned on Capital fund already recognised in Regulatory Accounts as on 31.03.2018

459.92 193.89 653.81

g) Net Interest earned/(refunded) on Capital fund during FY 2018-19 (e-f)

-6.64 32.30 25.66

The APTEL in Appeal no.153 of 2009 between North Delhi Power Ltd. Vs Delhi

Electricity Regulatory Commission has adjudged that rebate only to the extent of

1% is to be considered as non-tariff income.

According to the audited accounts for FY 2018-19 of NBPDCL and SBPDCL, the

rebate received for timely payment of power purchase bills is Rs.75.99 Crore and

Rs.80.26 Crore respectively.

The total power purchases (including transmission charges) for NBPDCL is at

Rs.5767.51 Crore for FY 2018-19 and the rebate @ 1% works out to Rs.57.67 Crore

similarly for SBPDCL the rebate works out to Rs.67.24 Crore @1% on the total

power purchase of Rs.6724.72 Crore. Accordingly, the Commission has considered

rebate @1% of the total power purchases (including transmission charges) for FY

2018-19 in the true up.

The Discoms have considered the financing cost on DPS and adjusted the same

against the non-tariff income and net non-tariff income claimed in truing up for FY

2018-19 which is in line with the methodology considered by the Commission for

financing of outstanding dues in line with the judgment of the Hon’ble Appellate

Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) dated 12.07.2011 in case No.142 & 147 of 2009.



As per the audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19, the Non-tariff income includes

Delayed Payment Surcharge (DPS) from consumers. The Discoms charge DPS @

18% per annum (1.5% per month). The Commission has allowed 13.45% being the

prevailing SBAR (SBI PLR) as on 1st April 2018 towards the financing cost for DPS.

The Commission accordingly computed and allowed the financing cost as shown in

the Table 4.54 below:

Table 4.54:Financing cost of DPS (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL Approved for

SBPDCL

DPS as per audited accounts (@1.5% pm) 196.57 119.92

Principal amount on which DPS charged 1092.06 666.22

Interest rate for funding Principal of DPS 13.45% 13.45%

Interest on funding of Principal DPS 146.88 89.61

Accordingly, the non-tariff income is computed for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the

Table 4.55 below:

Table 4.55: Non-tariff income approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL in Truing up

Approved for SBPDCL in Truing up

Total

1 Meter Rent/Service line rental 185.17 100.88 286.05

2 Delayed Payment Surcharge from consumers 196.57 119.92 316.49

3 Miscellaneous Recoveries from Consumers 11.10 35.65 46.75

4 Rebate received 75.99 80.26 156.25

5 Incentive on REC purchase 0.30 0.30

6 Supervision charges 17.37 10.50 27.87

7 Interest from Banks 108.71 132.28 240.99

8 Income from Sale of tender paper 1.89 1.89

9 Interest on advance to suppliers/contractors 6.57 0.17 6.74

10 Misc. Receipts 1.03 6.53 7.56

11 Revenue Subsidy - - -

12 Sub-total 604.70 486.19 1090.89

13 Less: Financing cost of DPS 146.88 89.61 236.49

14 Less: Rebate as per audited accounts for FY 2018-19 75.99 80.26 156.25

15 Add: Rebate @1% on total power purchase (incl. transmission charges) for FY 2018-19 57.67 67.24 124.90

16 Terminal benefits from GoB (reimbursement) 30.01 30.01

17 Add: Supervision, labour and establishment charges etc 13.30 14.50 27.80

18 Add: Interest income on capital funds lying unutilized in the Bank (6.64) 32.30 25.66

19 Non-tariff income 476.16 430.37 906.53



The Commission, accordingly, approves non-tariff income as above for FY 2018-19

in true up.

4.28 Contingency Reserve


Regulation 24 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2015 specify that

‘’if the distribution licensee has made an appropriation to the contingency reserve,

a sum not less than 0.25% and not more than 0.50% of the original cost of fixed

assets shall be allowed annually towards such appropriation in the calculation of

ARR’’.

The Commission in Tariff order dated 24.03.2018 had approved Rs.36.25 Crore for

NBPDCL and Rs.31.68 Crore for SBPDCL towards contribution to contingency

reserve in FY 2018-19. It is observed from the audited accounts for FY 2018-19 that

Discoms have not made any appropriation towards contingency reserve for FY

2018-19.

Further, Para 5(ii) of the Auditors Report of NBPDCL states out of Rs.2.09 Crore

received from Power Grid Corporation of India towards reimbursement of

expenditure incurred on rehabilitation work in Nepal, Rs.1.08 Crore has been kept

as Capital Grant in lieu of crediting the same to the statement of profit & loss. The

Commission believes that this amount received on account of rehabilitation work is

neither a non tariff income nor capital grant rather it is a receipt for nature of work

defined under regulation 24 as contingency. Hence, the Commission directs the

NBPDCL to treat Rs.1.08 Crore as Contribution to Contingency Reserve in terms of

Regulation 24 of Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations, 2015 and for the purpose of regulation 24(b) invest this Rs.1.08

Crore in securities authorized under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 within a period of

six months of close of the financial year 2019-20.

The Commission has been allowing contingency reserve in the tariff orders year on

year to facilitate the Discoms to meet such charges as may be approved by the

Commission, such as expenses or loss of profits arising out of accidents, strikes or

circumstances which the management could not have prevented, expenses on

replacement or removal of plant or works other than expenses required for normal



maintenance or renewal and compensation payable under any law for the time

being in force for which no provision is made.

Hence, in absence of appropriation to the contingency reserve, the Commission

does not consider any new contribution towards contingency reserve for FY 2018-

19 in truing up except as directed above for appropriation from capital grant

Rs.1.08 Crore received on account of rehabilitation work.

The Discoms are also directed to make proper appropriation towards contingency

reserve in subsequent years.

4.29 Interest on working capital


Discoms have submitted that it has arrived at the working capital requirement

according to applicable norms for Distribution function provided in the BERC (Multi

Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2015.

It is submitted that the Commission vide Notification dated 30.06.2017 has

amended the formula for calculation of interest on working capital and is applicable

from the date of notification i.e. 30.06.2017.

Discoms have claimed interest on working capital for FY 2018-19 computed as per

norms as detailed in the Table 4.56 below:

Table 4.56: Interest on working capital claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.



1 Maintenance spares 40% of R&M expenses for one month 4 3.88

2 Receivables - 2 months 1147 1496.13

3 Total working capital (1+2) 1152 1500.78

4 Less: a. Power purchase cost, transmission charges and load dispatch charges of one month 530 666.88

b. Depreciation, RoE and contingency reserve 57 52.67

c. Security deposit from consumers 360 567.02

d. Grant received from State Govt. for purchaser of power and other O&M expenses

Sub-total (a+b+c+d) 946 1286.58

5 Net working capital requirement (3-4) 205 213.42

6 Rate of interest % 13.45% 13.45%

7 Interest on working capital (5*6) 28 28.71




The Discoms have computed the interest on working capital as per the norms

prescribed in Regulation 26 of the BERC Regulations, 2015 read with amendment

vide Notification dated 30.06.2017.

Maintenance spares is considered @40% of the R&M expenses for FY 2018-19 and

rate of interest as per SBAR (SBI PLR) as on 1st April 2018. The rate of interest applied

on the working capital is @13.45% as per the SBAR as on 1st April 2018.

The Commission has considered the rate of interest as per the SBAR (SBI PLR)

@13.45% as on 1st April 2018 and based on the expenses/costs approved, has

computed the working capital and interest on working capital for FY 2018-19 as


Table 4.57: Interest on working capital approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Particulars Approved

for NBPDCL in Truing up

Approved for SBPDCL in Truing up

1 Maintenance spares 40% of R&M expenses for one month 3.31 3.99

2 Receivables - 2 months 1063.00 1275.78

3 Total working capital (1+2) 1066.32 1279.76

4

Less:

480.63 560.39 a. Power purchase cost, transmission charges and load dispatch charges of one month

b. Depreciation, RoE and contingency reserve 35.36 52.91

c. Security deposit from consumers 359.73 567.03

d. Grant received from State Govt. for purchaser of power and other O&M expenses -- --

Sub-total (a+b+c+d) 875.71 1180.33

5 Net working capital requirement (3-4) 190.61 99.43


7 Interest on working capital (5*6) 25.64 13.37

The Commission, accordingly, approves interest on working capital as above for FY

2018-19 in true up.

4.30 Revenue from sale of power

Petitioners’ submission Discoms have submitted the category wise revenue based on the existing tariff for FY


mailto:@1%25

mailto:@14.45%25

mailto:@14.45%25



Table 4.58: Revenue from sale of power claimed by Discoms for FY 2018-19

SI. No.

Consumer Category SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

Sales (MU)

Revenue Sales (MU)

Revenue Sales (MU)

Revenue

1 Domestic Service

Kutir Jyoti - BPL Consumers 1155.91 686.35 1421 890.98 2576.91 1577.33

Domestic – I 2280.43 1375.79 2067 1292.65 4347.43 2668.44

Domestic - II (Demand Based) 2557.36 1788.09 2024 1332.36 4581.36 3120.45

2 Non Domestic Service

NDS-I 69.37 43.06 132 82.83 201.37 125.89

NDS-II (Demand Based) 922.98 834.97 943 654.44 1865.98 1489.41

3 Street Light Service

SS-I 9.53 6.64 4 3.57 13.53 10.21

SS –II 25.73 14.84 22 22.16 47.73 37

4 Irrigation And Agricultural Service

IAS-I 463.22 297.02 28 18.74 491.22 315.76

IAS-II 110.95 48.09 124 103.07 234.95 151.16

5 Public Water Works 78.08 69.87 27 27.87 105.08 97.74

6 Industrial LT

LTIS – I 210.25 171.66 177.01 141.09 387.26 312.75

LTIS – II 129.27 105.08 37.35 27.85 166.62 132.93

7 Industrial HT

HTS – I 628.98 537.46 375.11 323.47 1004.09 860.93

HTS – II 421.33 348.37 106.57 91.42 527.9 439.79

HTS – III 163.28 122.97 49.11 44.86 212.39 167.83

HTSS 773.32 433.75 61.8 39.93 835.12 473.68

8 Railway 307.29 238.44 164.93 134.16 472.22 372.6

9 SLDC Deviation Charges 65.12 27.76 55.47 23.64 120.59 51.4

10 DF 213.92 166.77 314.54 142.01 528.46 308.78

11 Subsidy Billed to DF Consumers 16.47 23.65 0 40.12

12 Sugar Mills 2.9 1.62 2.9 1.62

13 Nepal 1355.16 798 1355.16 798

Total 10586.32 7333.47 9493.31 6220.82 20078.27 13553.82


The Petitioner under format-30A of the petition has furnished slab-wise/sub-

category wise/ category wise, number of consumers, connected load, energy sales,

energy charges billed and fixed charges billed etc. The Commission has observed

huge deviation in the figures reported in the format-30A vis-vis figures stated in

audited account and directed the DISCOMs to furnish the details of month-wise

revenue billed in FY 2018-19 duly furnishing the details of slab-wise/sub-category



wise/ category wise, number of consumers, connected load, energy sales, energy

charges billed and fixed charges billed etc. The Discoms have submitted the revised

format 30A vide their letter no.BERC-Case No.30 & 31/2019-100 dated 21.01.2020. It

is observed that slab-wise details of energy sales are provided but slab-wise number

of consumers and connected load are not provided. During validation the

representatives of DISCOMs submitted that the details of slab-wise number of

consumers are not available as they are dynamic in nature and will be changing

month to month. On perusal of the revenue billed statements for FY 2018-19, many

discrepancies were noticed. On verification of category wise slab wise sales of energy

furnished by the DISCOMs, the Commission has observed that average billing rate

was much below the tariff rate approved by the Commission which clearly reflects

that prior period sale of power has been adjusted in year 2018-19 revenue.

The Commission vide letter no 1441 dated 11.12.2019 directed the DISCOMs to

justify with supporting data for billing at a rate different from approved tariff in FY

2018-19. NBPDCL and SBPDCL have submitted their reply vide their letter dated

31.12.2019 that “some of the consumers of the lower slab in their respective

categories were un-billed in previous years i.e., in FY 2017-18 and were billed in FY

2018-19. Hence, while calculating the energy charges for that slab, the rate of energy

billed is coming out to be lower than approved ABR”.

SBPDCL further submitted that total adjustment from collection is approximately

2071.09 Cr where INR 1939.74 Cr is against government connections reducing the

ABR in IAS-II and SS categories. The DISCOMs during the course of validation have

also furnished category-wise, slab-wise revenue separately for revenue billed during

the year without incorporating bill correction and revenue adjustment on account of

bill correction, saying that bill corrections made during the year are on account of

billing error of FY 2018-19 itself and while making bill correction fixed charges are

also adjusted in energy due to software constraints. Information with respect to

slab-wise bill corrections made during the year on account of billing error of FY 2018-

19 have not been furnished expressing their inability due to programming in existing

billing software. On perusal of the category-wise, slab-wise revenue billed

statements of FY 2018-19 furnished during validation, it has been observed that

average billing rate are still below the tariff rate approved by the Commission. On



enquiry of the Commission, the DISCOMs have stated that the reason of lower

average billing rate below approved tariff rate of the Commission is that “some of

the consumers of the lower slab in their respective categories were un-billed in

previous years were billed in FY 2018-19” but DISCOMs expressed their inability to

furnish category-wise, slab-wise billing made during the year on account of sales

related to previous years.

The Commission opines that the revenue billed against sales of energy for the

financial year under consideration should be exclusively for the financial year under

consideration and any revenue billed or corrections done for the period prior to the

financial year under consideration should be separately claimed as the distribution

losses for the financial year under consideration is computed as the difference

between the total energy sales out of the total energy purchased during the financial

year under consideration and any adjustment in revenue of the financial year on

account of billing relating to the consumption of prior period is not correct as it also

impacts distribution losses of financial years under consideration. Any correction in

consumer sale relating to previous year would result into corresponding change in

distribution losses of the relevant year.

The Annual requirement of the FY 2018-19 has been arrived taking all expenses

incurred during the year as per audited annual accounts and prudence check which

includes quantum of power purchase. Therefore the revenue billed for the year has

to be considered for sale of power of all units during the year without any

adjustment/ reduction of units of sale of power pertaining to previous years.

Therefore the Commission, for those category of consumers where average billing

rate are below the tariff rate approved by the Commission, have calculated the

revenue on account of energy charges, applying the tariff rate of FY 2018-19

approved by the Commission in Tariff order dated 21.03.2018 on the slab-wise/sub-

category wise units sold. For the purpose of calculation of energy charges, the

Commission has relied on additional information furnished by the DISCOMs during

validation for slab-wise, sub-category wise units sold (enclosed as Annexure III & IV).

Table 4.59: Under reported Energy charges computed for FY 2018-19 for SBPDCL for those category of consumers where average billing rate are below the tariff rate approved by the

Commission



Category

Actual for FY 18-19 As furnished by the

SBPDCL Tariff rate i.e. Energy

Charges (Rs./kWh or kVAh)

Total Energy Charges (Rs. Cr)

Under reported Energy

Charges of the year 2018-19 (Rs. Cr)

Sales (MkWh)

Sales (MkVAh)

Energy Charges

ABR as per energy charge

A B C D E F G=B*F or

C*F H= G-D

Kutir Jyoti

Metered (0-50) 1,147.64 701.21 6.11 6.15 713.46** 12.25

DS-I (Rural) -

First 50 Units 1028.23 627.22 6.10 6.15 632.36 5.14

51 - 100 Units 396.85 249.22 6.28 6.40 253.99 4.76

Above 100 Units 551.16 358.81 6.51 6.70 369.28 10.47

DS-II (Demand Based) -

1-100 U/Month 1137.19 692.55 6.09 6.15 699.37 6.82

101 - 200 U/Month 551.88 379.14 6.87 6.95 383.56 4.42

201 -300 U/Month 325.58 245.82 7.55 7.80 253.96 8.14

above 300 U/Month 676.21 570.73 8.44 8.60 581.54 10.82

NDS-I (Rural) -

1-100 U/Month 33.31 20.89 6.27 6.40 21.32 0.43

101 - 200 U/Month 9.92 6.83 6.89 6.95 6.89 0.06

above 200 U/Month 29.77 21.43 7.20 7.50 22.33 0.89

Demand < 0.5 kW 7.78 4.95 6.36 6.40 4.98 0.03

Demand > 0.5 kW

First 100 Units 215.07 136.79 6.36 6.40 137.65 0.86

101 - 200 Units 106.12 73.44 6.92 6.95 73.76 0.32

Above 200 Units 665.07 494.14 7.43 7.50 498.80 4.66

Street Light -

SS-I (Metered) 10.29 7.70 7.48 7.50 7.72 0.02

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell) -

Metered 109.75 60.52 5.51 5.60 61.46 0.94

IAS-II (State Tubewell) -

Metered 65.10 43.27 6.65 6.65 43.29 0.02

Public Water Works 97.78 108.64 77.83 7.96 8.05 87.46 9.63

LTIS-I (Demand < 19 kW) 217.51 241.68 140.82 6.50 157.09 16.27

LTIS-II (Demand 19-74 kW)) 136.42 151.58 89.39 6.55 6.50 98.53 9.14

HTS-I (11 kV) 625.30 694.78 427.54 6.84 6.65 462.03 34.49

HTS-II (33 kV) 421.33 468.14 281.66 6.68 6.60 308.98 27.32

HTS-III (132 kV) 163.28 181.42 106.95 6.55 6.55 118.83 11.89

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 773.32 859.24 330.59 4.27 4.15 356.59 26.00

RTS (132 kV) 307.29 341.43 209.99 6.80 232.17 22.19

Grand Total 9809.17 6359.40 6587.38 227.97

* Petitioner has not furnished sales in kVAh for consumers billed based on kVAh tariff.

Therefore kWh units are converted into kVAh units by assuming power factor = 0.9

** As deliberated in Paragraph 4.3.3, 306.36 MUs are considered under DS-I metered

category, accordingly energy total charges has been calculated @ of Rs. 6.15/kWh for

306.36MU and @ Rs. 6.40/kWh for remaining 848.28MUs.



Table 4.60: Under reported Energy charges computed for FY 2018-19 for NBPDCL for those category of consumers where average billing rate are below the tariff rate approved by the

Commission

Category

Actual for FY 18-19 As furnished by the

NBPDCL Tariff rate i.e. Energy

Charges (Rs./kWh or kVAh)

Total Energy Charges (Rs. Cr)

Under reported Energy

Charges of the year 2018-19 (Rs. Cr)

Sales (MkWh)

Sales (MkVAh)

Energy Charges

ABR as per energy charge

A B C D E F G=B*F or C*F

H= G-D

Kutir Jyoti

Metered (0-50) 1498.86 915.80 6.11 6.15 921.80 6.00

DS-I (Rural) -

First 50 Units 1215.44 743.90 6.12 6.15 747.50 3.60

51 - 100 Units 209.08 131.42 6.29 6.40 133.81 2.39

Above 100 Units 290.55 192.58 6.63 6.70 194.67 2.09

DS-II (Demand Based)

1-100 U/Month 1080.87 658.25 6.09 6.15 664.73 6.49

101 - 200 U/Month 270.04 184.98 6.85 6.95 187.68 2.70

201 -300 U/Month 126.72 97.21 7.67 7.80 98.84 1.64

above 300 U/Month 1027.52 866.11 8.43 8.60 883.66 17.55

NDS-I (Rural)

1-100 U/Month 63.30 40.20 6.35 6.40 40.51 0.32

101 - 200 U/Month 11.73 8.07 6.88 6.95 8.15 0.08

above 200 U/Month 71.49 52.83 7.39 7.50 53.62 0.79

NDS-II (Demand Based)

Demand < 0.5 kW 4.00 2.54 6.35 6.40 2.56 0.02

Demand > 0.5 kW

First 100 Units 374.87 237.29 6.33 6.40 239.91 2.62

101 - 200 Units 71.08 48.98 6.89 6.95 49.40 0.43

Above 200 Units 591.35 420.23 7.11 7.50 443.52 23.28

Street Light

SS-I (Metered) 7.60 5.65 7.43 7.50 5.70 0.05

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell)

Metered 21.75 12.09 5.56 5.60 12.18 0.09

IAS-II (State Tubewell)

Metered 130.46 85.19 6.53 6.65 86.75 1.57

Public Water Works 46.06 51.18 36.45 7.91 8.05 41.20 4.74

LTIS-I (Demand < 19 kW) 201.49 223.87 130.14 6.46 6.50 145.52 15.38

LTIS-II (Demand 19-74 kW)) 39.94 44.38 25.25 6.32 6.50 28.85 3.60

HTS-I (11 kV) 375.11 416.79 265.05 7.07 6.65 277.17 12.12

HTS-II (33 kV) 106.57 118.41 74.43 6.98 6.60 78.15 3.73

HTS-III (132 kV) 49.11 54.56 34.72 7.07 6.55 35.74 1.02

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 61.80 68.66 29.38 4.75 4.15 28.50 -0.89

RTS (132 kV) 164.93 183.25 112.38 6.81 6.80 124.61 12.23

Grand Total 8111.70 5411.12 5534.72 123.61

* Petitioner has not furnished sales in kVAh for consumers billed based on kVAh tariff.

Therefore kWh units are converted into kVAh units by assuming power factor = 0.9

The Commission considers the fixed charges, energy charges and other charges as

per the audited annual accounts of FY 2018-19 except under reported Energy charges

computed for FY 2018-19 for that category of consumers where average billing rate

are below the tariff rate approved by the Commission. The Commission, in view of



the above, has considered the revenue from sale of energy during FY 2018-19 as

given below.

SI. No

Particulars SBPDCL (Rs. Cr)

NBPDCL (Rs. Cr)

Total (Rs. Cr)

1 Fixed Charges 1205.14 848.31 2053.45

2 Energy Charges 6096.33 5347.24 11443.57

3 PF Charges 0.43 1.62 2.05

4 Other Charges 31.57 23.65 55.22

5 Under reported Energy charges computed above 227.97 123.61 351.58

Total Revenue 7561.44 6344.43 13905.87

4.31 Government Subsidy

On a query with respect to subsidy from Government of Bihar, the Discoms have

furnished documents along with a copy of letter no.45 dated 28.02.2019 of Energy

Department, GoB wherein it has been stated that subsidy amount has been revised

to Rs.5070 Crore which was originally sanctioned at Rs.4137 Crore on the estimated

consumption of 20912 MU of energy for FY 2018-19. Discoms have also furnished

Energy Department, GoB letter no.2466 dated 10.09.2019 wherein it has been

stated that Rs.50 Crore additional subsidy has also been sanctioned against per unit

consumption of DS-I (Rural) consumers under Har Ghar Nal Yojana.

From the details furnished by the petitioner in annexure-22 of their letter dated

20.01.2020, it has been observed that both the Discoms have received Rs.5089.07

Crore in FY 2018-19 (Rs.2636.07 Crore for SBPDCL and Rs.2453.00 Crore for

NBPDCL) from State Govt on account of per unit consumer subsidy.

Petitioners in their audited account have shown subsidy booked at Rs.1887.12

Crore in NBPDCL (Note-50 of audited account) and at Rs.1956.21 Crore in SBPDCL

(Note-51 of audited account). Further, subsidy received reported in their audited

account are at Rs.2453.00 Crore in NBPDCL (Rs.2053 Crore in Note-50 and Rs.400

Crore in Note-27 of audited account) and at Rs.2636.07 Crore in SBPDCL (Note-51

of audited account). Based on audited accounts, it is found that out of total subsidy

received Rs.5089.07 Crore, Rs.1245.74 Crore remains unutilised with the Discoms in

FY 2018-19 as detailed below:

Sl. No




Sl. No


1 Subsidy Sanctioned by GoB (Rs.5070 crs plus Rs.50 crs subsidy to DS-I (Rural) consumers under Har Ghar Nal Yojana)

- - 5120.00

2

Subsidy received in advance as per accounts (incl. Rs.50 crs subsidy to DS-I (Rural) consumers under Har Ghar Nal Yojana)

2636.07 2453.00 5089.07

3 Subsidy booked as per audited account of petitioner

1956.21 1887.12 3843.33

4 Unutilized subsidy (2-3) 679.86 565.88 1245.74

The Commission, in view of the above, directs the DISCOMs to take up the matter

with Government of Bihar, reconcile the figures and take appropriate action for

unutilized subsidy leftovers in audited account of FY 2018-19.

4.32 Annual Revenue Requirement and Revenue Gap for FY 2018-19


Discoms have submitted that the gross ARR consists of the power purchase costs,

interest and finance cost; O&M cost, depreciation and interest on working capital

duly adjusted for non-tariff income and other income. The Discoms have computed

the total revenue requirement for FY 2018-19 as detailed in the Table 4.61 below:

Table 4.61: ARR and Revenue Gap/ (Surplus) claimed for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.



Total

1 Purchase of power 5328.00 6711.00 12039.00

2 PGCIL & Other transmission charges 492.00 617.00 1109.00

3 BSPTCL & BGCL transmission charges and SLDC charges 539.00 675.00 1214.00

4 O & M Expenses (A+B+C+D) 545.65 680.47 1226.12

A Employee expenses 261.19 433.77 694.96

B R&M expenses 113.79 116.29 230.08

C A&G expenses 231.17 111.39 342.56

D Holding company expenses 18.09 19.02 37.11

5 Depreciation 170.06 141.12 311.18

6 Interest on loan 111.22 249.47 360.70

7 Other finance charges 37.39 53.55 90.94

8 Return on equity 171.04 174.92 345.95

9 Interest on SD 20.11 32.40 52.51

10 Deposit for RPO obligation 30.00 10.00 40.00

11 Efficiency gains -- -- 0.00

12 Interest on working capital 27.54 28.71 56.25

13 Total Revenue requirement (1 to 12) 7550.60 9373.64 16924.24

14 Less:: Non-tariff income 666.00 396.58 1062.58



SI. No.



Total

15 Net Revenue requirement (13-14) 6884.60 8977.06 15861.66

16 Revenue from Existing tariff 6221.00 7333.00 13554.00

17 Subsidy 258.00 710.00 968.00 18 Gross Gap / (Surplus) (15-16-17) 405.60 934.06 1339.66

19

Add: Trued up Gap/(Surplus) carried forward for FY 2016-17 as per TO dated 21.03.2018 (8.00) (0.18) (8.18)

20 Net Gap / (Surplus) for FY 2018-19 (18+19) 397.60 933.88 1331.48


The Commission has computed the net annual revenue requirement based on the

costs approved in the preceding paragraphs as detailed in the Table 4.62 below:

Table 4.62: ARR and Revenue Gap / (Surplus) approved for FY 2018-19 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL


SBPDCL Total



3 BSPTCL & BGCL transmission and SLDC charges 654.61 820.08 1474.69

4 RE certificates purchased 60.00 108.25 168.25

5 O & M Expenses (A+B+C+D) 523.19 683.28 1206.46


B R&M expenses 99.42 119.56 218.97

C A&G expenses 145.40 111.39 256.79


6 Depreciation 85.24 142.38 227.63

7 Interest on loan 147.98 173.99 321.97


9 Return on equity 126.89 175.06 301.95

10 Interest on SD 2.33 10.43 12.76

11 Prior period expenses 70.85 -- 70.85 12 Interest on working capital 25.64 13.37 39.01





17 Revenue Subsidy 0.00

18 Gross Gap / (Surplus) (15-16-17) 33.60 93.22 126.82

19 Add: Recovery of (Surplus) FY 2016-17 (8.00) (0.18) (8.18)

20 Net Gap / (Surplus) for FY 2018-19 (17+18+19) 25.60 93.04 118.64

The Commission approves the net revenue gap of Rs.118.64 Crore (NBPDCL

Rs.25.60 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.93.04 Crore) for FY 2018-19 in true up, as against

revenue gap of Rs.1261.41 Crore claimed by the Discoms in the truing up petition

for FY 2018-19.



5. Review for FY 2019-20 [

5.1. Background

The Commission had issued the MYT Order dated 25.02.2019 approving Aggregate

Revenue Requirement for the control period FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 to the Bihar

Distribution Companies. The distribution licensees viz., SBPDCL and NBPDCL have

filed the present tariff petitions on 15th November, 2019 which includes Annual

Performance Review (APR) for FY 2019-20. Discoms have stated that while

projecting the APR for FY 2019-20 actual figures for 6 months (i.e. April 2018 to

September 2019) for power purchase and pro-rata projections and escalation over

previous year has been considered, keeping in mind the guiding principles defined

by the Commission.

Review for FY 2019-20 is to be done according to the Regulation 8.1 of the Bihar

Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018.

Accordingly, the “Review” exercise for FY 2019-20 has been undertaken by the

Commission on the basis of audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19 and revised

estimates for FY 2019-20 submitted by the Petitioners and as per BERC (Multi Year

Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018.

However, as per Regulation 14 (e) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations, 2018 the revised estimated gap/surplus as a result of Review shall not

be passed in the ARR of ensuing year.

5.2. Number of Consumers, Sales and Connected Load


The category-wise number of consumers, energy sales and connected load

projected by the Petitioners in review for FY 2019-20 (RE) are as shown in the

Tables 5.1 & 5.2 below:

Table 5.1: Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Sales projected by SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Category Number

of Consumers

Connected Load (KW)

Energy Sales (MU)

Domestic 5493375 6482546 7495

Kutir Jyoti- BPL Consumers 1634112 208177 1461

Domestic – I 2517542 2604618 3351

Domestic – II 1341721 3669751 2683



Category Number

of Consumers

Connected Load (KW)

Energy Sales (MU)

Domestic – III 0 0 0

Commercial 386497 1093777 1101

Non-Domestic – I 77320 93416 123

Non-Domestic – II 309177 1000362 978

Public Lighting 1367 13541 40

Street Light – I 778 5828 11

Street Light – II 589 7713 29

Irrigation 199530 598978 732

IAS – I 194888 544080 585

IAS – II 4642 54898 147

Public Service Connections 7597 67784 91


Har Ghar Nal 5000 29151 7

Industrial LT 58922 685262 344

LTIS – I 54662 456553 212

LTIS – II 4260 228709 132

Industrial HT 1726 741380 2055

HTS – I 1595 337039 625

HTS – II 113 219684 430

HTS – III 4 52015 167

HTSS 14 132642 833

Railway 3 30800 298

Nepal 0 0 0

Total 6149016 9714069 12156

Table 5.2: Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Sales projected by NBPDCL

for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Category Number

of Consumers

Connected Load (KW)

Energy Sales (MU)

Domestic 9381669 6373494 6457

Kutir Jyoti 3911149 566867 1540

Domestic – I 4189583 4252176 2765

Domestic – II 1280937 1554451 2152


Commercial 532728 975800 1611

NDS-I 196684 217878 203

NDS-II 336044 757922 1408


Street Light – I 281 3031 5

Street Light – II 964 7857 29

Irrigation 64328 163054 234

IAS – I 58449 124729 70

IAS – II 5879 38325 164



Category Number

of Consumers

Connected Load (KW)

Energy Sales (MU)



Har GharNal 6038 8405 32

Industrial LT 37655 357399 246

LTIS – I 36863 310250 206

LTIS – II 792 47149 40


HTS – I 1090 231661 437

HTS – II 46 64563 128

HTS – III 4 30500 50

HTSS 5 13687 64

Railway 10 87375 251

Nepal 1 0 1355

Total 10026613 *8345403 10938

* Sum Corrected


The details of number of consumers, connected load and energy sales approved for

FY 2019-20 in the Multi Year Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019 and projected by

Discoms in the review for FY 2019-20 are as given in the tables 5.3 to 5.5 below:

Table 5.3: Number of consumers approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Vs. Projected in the Review by Discoms

Category

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Approved in Tariff Order

date 25.02.2019

Projected in Review for FY 2019-20 (RE)


date 25.02.2019


Domestic 5908344 5493375 10019414 9,381,669

Kutir Jyoti 1907531 1634112 4678428 3,911,149

Domestic – I 2465895 2517542 3901845 4,189,583

Domestic – II 1534918 1341721 1439141 1,280,937

Domestic – III 0 0 0 0

Commercial 394290 386497 401758 532,728

NDS-I 65899 77320 137352 196,684

NDS-II 328391 309177 264406 336,044

Public Lighting 1402 1367 1132 1,245

Street Light – I 1018 778 821 281

Street Light – II 384 589 311 964

Irrigation 153028 199530 109778 64,328

IAS – I 148883 194888 103920 58,449

IAS – II 4145 4642 5858 5,879

Public service 16896 7597 13367 1,794



Category

SBPDCL NBPDCL


date 25.02.2019



date 25.02.2019


connections

PWW 3896 2597 1367 0

Har Ghar Nal 13000 5000 12000 6,038

Industrial LT 87540 58922 41300 37,654

LTIS – I 80652 54662 40583 36,863

LTIS – II 6888 4260 717 792

Industrial HT 2063 1726 1101 1,145

HTS – I 1915 1595 1046 1,090

HTS – II 127 113 45 46

HTS – III 8 4 5 4

HTSS 13 14 5 5

Railway 15 3 9 10

Nepal 0 0 0 1

Total 6563577 6149016 10587861 10,026,613

Table 5.4: Connected load approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Vs. Projected in

the Review by Discoms

Category

SBPDCL NBPDCL


date 25.02.2019

(kW)


(kW)


date 25.02.2019

(kW)


(kW)

Domestic 7069563 6482546 12049446 6,373,494

Kutir Jyoti 190753 208177.3 5084515 566,867

Domestic – I 2501492 2604618 4336212 4,252,176

Domestic – II 4377318 3669751 2628719 1,554,451


Commercial 1278953 1093777 851267 975,800

Non-Domestic – I 73031 93415.52 158291 217,878

Non-Domestic – II 1205922 1000362 692976 757,922

Public Lighting 16468 13541.27 16984 10,888

Street Light – I 12331 5828.14 11761 3,031

Street Light – II 4137 7713.13 5223 7,857

Irrigation 422926 598978 388550 163,054

IAS – I 367578 544080 325994 124,729

IAS – II 55348 54898 62556 38,325

Public Service Connections

102031 67784 52236 36,982

Public Water Works 72950 38633 25392 28,577

Har Ghar Nal 29081 29151 26844 8,405

Industrial LT 1097780 685262 390999 357,399

LTIS – I 715883 456552.5 343583 310,250

LTIS – II 381897 228709.5 47416 47,149

Industrial HT 918392 741380.2 362047 340,411



Category

SBPDCL NBPDCL


date 25.02.2019

(kW)


(kW)


date 25.02.2019

(kW)


(kW)

HTS – I 397952 337039.1 223894 231,661

HTS – II 231994 219684.1 59834 64,563

HTS – III 169101 52015 67582 30,500

HTSS 119345 132642 10737 13,687

Railway 170200 30800 88074 87,375

Total 11076313 9714069 14199603 8,345,403

Table 5.5: Energy Sales approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Vs. Projected in the Review by Discoms

Category

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Approved in Tariff

Order date 25.02.2019

(MUs)


(MUs)


date 25.02.2019

(MUs)

Projected in Review for FY 2019-20

(RE) (MUs)

Domestic 8457 7495.25 8703 6457.56

Kutir Jyoti 1145 1461 2797 1,540

Domestic – I 3379 3351 4444 2,765

Domestic – II 3933 2683 1462 2,152


Commercial 1359 1101 888 1,611

Non-Domestic – I 59 123 163 203

Non-Domestic – II 1300 978 725 1,408

Public Lighting 42 40 33 33

Street Light – I 16 11 22 5

Street Light – II 26 29 11 29

Irrigation 577 732 456 234

IAS – I 435 585 282 70

IAS – II 142 147 174 164

Public Service Connection

243 91 91 72

Public Water Works 180 84 33 39

Har Ghar Nal 63 7 58 32

Industrial LT 1043 344 556 246

LTIS – I 612 212 534 206

LTIS – II 431 132 22 40

Industrial HT 2167 2055 689 678

HTS – I 736 625 407 437

HTS – II 426 430 141 128

HTS – III 215 167 97 50

HTSS 790 833 44 64

Railway 579 298 127 251

Nepal 0 0 1503 1355

Total 14467 12156 13045 10937



The Commission reviewed the category wise number of consumers, connected load

and energy sales projected by the Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE) and has observed as

below:

SBPDCL has projected 61,49,017 and NBPDCL has projected 100,26,613 number of

consumers for FY 2019-20 (RE) as against 65,63,577 and 105,87,861 number of

consumers approved in the Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019,except for DS-I and NDS-I

categories, less numbers of consumers are projected in many of the other

categories. For IAS-I, SBPDCL has projected more consumers than the approved

ones in Tariff Order.

Similarly, SBPDCL has projected 12,156 MU and NBPDCL has projected 10,937 MU

of energy sales for FY 2019-20 (RE) as against 14,467 MU and 13,045 MU sales

approved in the Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019. SBPDCL has projected more sales

than the approved ones for KJ, NDS-I, IAS-I and HTSS category and NBPDCL has

projected more sales than the approved one for DS-I, NDS-I, NDS-II, HT-I, HTSS and

RTS categories.

The methodology followed for projecting the category-wise number of consumers,

connected load and energy sales stated by the Discoms is as follows:

5.2.1. Number of Consumers

The Discoms have submitted that for projecting the number of consumers for FY

2019-20 the impact due to Central schemes like Saubhagya and UDAY were

considered. The successful implementation of these schemes ensured that all the

willing households are connected to the grid, leaving little scope for addition of

new consumers from KJY, DS-I and DS-II categories. These initiatives aim for the

overall development of the power sector in the State. These plans are mainly

targeted for rural consumers in KJ, DS-I and IAS-I category and growth rate

projected under these category is above normal CAGR, as large number of

connections are to be released in ensuing years. Six months provisional data for

revising the growth in number of consumers for FY 2019-20 is also considered.

5.2.2. Energy Sales

The Discoms have submitted that the category-wise sales are projected based on

the CAGR of previous years data and considering factors like available average

consumption per consumer per month, new consumers to be added etc. Also, six



months provisional figures were also used for revising the category-wise sales for

the above projected number of consumers for FY 2019-20. The units sold are

projected by taking average consumption per consumer per year and multiplying

the same by the projected number of consumers to arrive at units sold for the year.

Table 5.6: Growth rates considered by SBPDCL for projecting consumers and sales for FY 2019-20

Consumer Category

Number of Consumers Sales (MU)

FY 18-19 (Actual)

Growth Rate

FY 19-20 (APR)

FY 18-19 (Actual)

Growth Rate

FY 19-20 (APR)

Domestic 4782414 15% 5493375 4837.78 25% 7495.24

Kutir Jyoti 1422169 15% 1634112 *1155.91 26% 1460.99

Domestic – I 2055959 22% 2517542 2280.43 47% 3350.89

Domestic – II 1304286 3% 1341721 2557.35 5% 2683.36

Commercial 357715 8% 386497 992.35 11% 1101.03

NDS-I 63025 23% 77320 69.37 77% 122.99

NDS-II 294690 5% 309177 922.98 6% 978.04

Public Lighting 1230 11% 1367 35.26 158% *39.98

Street Light – I 703 11% 778 9.53 12% 10.65

Street Light – II 527 12% 589 25.73 14% 29.33

Irrigation 196529 1% 199530 574.17 27% 732.00

IAS – I 192958 1% 194888 463.22 65% 585

IAS – II 3571 30% 4642 110.95 33% 147

Public Service Connections

2461 209% 7597 78.08 17% 91.01

Public Water Works

2461 6% 2597 78.08 8% 84.04

Har Ghar Nal 0 5000 0 - 6.97

Industrial LT 58297 1% 58922 339.52 1% 344.21

LTIS – I 54121 1% 54662 210.25 1% 212.35

LTIS – II 4176 2% 4260 129.27 2% 131.86

Industrial HT 1813 -5% 1726 1986.91 3% 2054.61

HTS – I 1684 -5% 1595 628.98 -1% 625.44

HTS – II 112 1% 113 421.33 2% 429.8

HTS – III 4 1% 4 163.28 2% 166.56

HTSS 13 8% 14 773.32 8% 832.81

Railway 3 0% 3 307.29 -3% 298.07

DF 279.04

Total 5400462 14% 6149017 9430.40 12156.15

* Figures are corrected




Consumer Category


FY 2018-19 (Actual)

Growth Rate

FY 19-20 (APR)

FY 2018-19 (Actual)

Growth Rate

FY 19-20 (APR)

Domestic 8692899 8% 9381669 5512 17% 6457

Kutir Jyoti 3788049 3% 3911149 1421 8% 1540

DS-I 3685829 14% 4189583 2067 34% 2765

DS-II 1219021 5% 1280937 2024 6% 2152

DS III

Commercial 404723 32% 532728 1075 50% 1611

NDS-I 128606 53% 196684 132 53% 203

NDS-II 276117 22% 336044 943 49% 1408

Irrigation 31894 102% 64328 152 53% 234

IAS-I 27429 113% 58449 28 147% 70

IAS-II 4465 32% 5879 124 32% 164

LTIS 32374 16% 37654 214 15% 246

Public Water Works 1239 532% 7832 27 168% 72

Street Light Services 1253 -1% 1245 27 24% 33

High Tension Supply 993 15% 1145 593 14% 677

HTS-I 945 15% 1090 375 17% 437

HTS-II 39 19% 46 107 20% 128

HTS-III 4 0% 4 49 1% 50

HTS-IV

HTSS 5 0% 5 62 1% 64

RTS 8 25% 10 223 13% 251

Nepal 1 0% 1 1355 0% 1355

DF 315

Total 9165384 9% 10026612 9493 15% 10936

5.2.3. Connected Load

The Discoms have submitted that the category-wise connected load is calculated

considering average connected load per consumer as per actual CAGR of past years

and multiplying it by projected number of consumers to arrive at the connected

load.

The Commission has noted that most of the connections under RTS category are

moving to avail supply under open access. On a query from the Commission,

SBPDCL vide its letter dated 04.02.2020 has stated that out of the existing three (3)

RTS connections, two (2) have opted for open access and only one connection with

CMD of 10,000 KVA (9000kW) is remaining. They have also projected sales of



112.47 MkVAh (101.22 MU) and revenue of Rs. 87.21 Crore for FY 2019-20. NBPDCL

also in its letter dated 04.02.2020 stated that out of existing 10 numbers RTS

connections 9 numbers have gone to open access and only one connection with

CMD of 7500 KVA (6750 kW) is remaining. They have also projected sales of

153.83MkVAh (138.44 MU) and revenue of Rs. 124.88 Crore for FY 2019-20.

The Commission finds that the methodology considered by the Discoms for other

categories is acceptable and therefore considers the number of consumers,

connected load and sales as projected for further estimating the energy

requirement and power purchase cost etc for FY 2019-20 (RE).

The details of number of consumers, connected load and energy sales considered

in Review for FY 2019-20 are as given table 5.8 to 5.10 below.

Table 5.8: Number of Consumers considered in Review for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Sl. No.


1 Domestic 5493375 9381669 14875044

2 Kutir Jyoti 1634112 3911149 5545261

3 Domestic – I 2517542 4189583 6707125

4 Domestic – II 1341721 1280937 2622658

5 Commercial 386497 532728 919225

6 NDS-I 77320 196684 274004

7 NDS-II 309177 336044 645221

8 Public Lighting 1367 1245 2612

9 Street Light – I 778 281 1059

10 Street Light – II 589 964 1553

11 Irrigation 199530 64328 263858

12 IAS – I 194888 58449 253337

13 IAS – II 4642 5879 10521

14 Public service connections 7597 7832 15429

15 PWW 2597 1794 4391

16 Har Ghar Nal 5000 6038 11038

17 Industrial LT 58922 37655 96577

18 LTIS – I 54662 36863 91525

19 LTIS – II 4260 792 5052

20 Industrial HT 1726 1145 2871

21 HTS – I 1595 1090 2685

22 HTS – II 113 46 159

23 HTS – III 4 4 8

24 HTSS 14 5 19

25 Railway 1 1 2

26 Nepal 0 1 1

27 Total 6149015 10026604 16175619



Table 5.9: Connected load considered in Review FY 2019-20 (RE)

SI. No

Category SBPDCL

(KW) NBPDCL

(KW) Total (KW)

1 Domestic 6482546 6373494 12856040

2 Kutir Jyoti 208177 566867 775044

3 Domestic – I 2604618 4252176 6856794

4 Domestic – II 3669751 1554451 5224202

5 Commercial 1093778 975800 2069578

6 NDS-I 93416 217878 311294

7 NDS-II 1000362 757922 1758284


9 Street Light – I 5828 3031 8859

10 Street Light – II 7713 7857 15570

11 Irrigation 598978 163054 762032

12 IAS – I 544080 124729 668809

13 IAS – II 54898 38325 93223


15 PWW 38633 28577 67210

16 Har Ghar Nal 29151 8405 37556

17 Industrial LT 685262 357399 1042661

18 LTIS – I 456553 310250 766803

19 LTIS – II 228709 47149 275858

20 Industrial HT 741380 340411 1081791

21 HTS – I 337039 231661 568700

22 HTS – II 219684 64563 284247

23 HTS – III 52015 30500 82515

24 HTSS 132642 13687 146329

25 Railway 9000 6750 15750

26 Nepal 0 0 0

27 Total 9692269 8264778 17957047

Table 5.10: Energy Sales considered in Review for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Sl. No

Category SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU) Total (MU)

1 Domestic 7495 6457 13952

2 Kutir Jyoti 1461 1540 3001

3 Domestic – I 3351 2765 6116

4 Domestic – II 2683 2152 4835

5 Commercial 1101 1611 2712

6 NDS-I 123 203 326

7 NDS-II 978 1408 2386


9 Street Light – I 11 5 16

10 Street Light – II 29 29 58

11 Irrigation 732 234 966

12 IAS – I 585 70 655

13 IAS – II 147 164 311


15 PWW 84 39 123



Sl. No

Category SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU) Total (MU)

16 Har Ghar Nal 7 32 39

17 Industrial LT 344 246 590

18 LTIS – I 212 206 418

19 LTIS – II 132 40 172

20 Industrial HT 2055 679 2734

21 HTS – I 625 437 1062

22 HTS – II 430 128 558

23 HTS – III 167 50 217

24 HTSS 833 64 897

25 Railway 101.22 138.44 239.66

26 Nepal 0 1355 1355

27 Total 11959.24 10824.70 22783.94

The above category-wise number of consumers, connected load and energy sales

considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) are provisional and while truing up for FY 2019-20,

the actual figures based on Audited Annual Accounts and prudence check will be

considered.

The Discoms are directed to get the category-wise connected load also audited by

a 3rd party and exhibit the same in the audited annual accounts of FY 2019-20

along with category-wise number of consumers and energy sales.

5.3. Distribution Loss


The Discoms have submitted that in FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20 they have planned

addition of large number of rural consumers in view of Chief Minister Seven

Resolution Scheme and Saubhagya Scheme. The Discoms in a letter to Ministry of

Power in July, 2019 have expressed their inability to achieve the losses of 15% as

agreed under UDAY and requested for revision of the UDAY targets for FY 2019-20

from the present 15% to 20%. Discoms further submitted that due to addition in

the number of consumers, especially in rural and remote areas, it is expected that

the Distribution Licensee may not be able to achieve the target for distribution

loss and requested to consider losses as per the projected distribution loss shown


Table 5.11: Distribution Loss projected by Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Particulars Approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20 Projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)

SBPDCL 15% 29.29%

NBPDCL 15% 23.83%




The Commission had revised the earlier approved distribution loss trajectory for FY

2017-18, FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20 as requested by the Discoms in line with that

of UDAY, and approved the revised losses in the Tariff Order dated 24.03.2017 as

under.

DISCOM FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20

SBPDCL 30.00% 22.00% 15.00%

NBPDCL 24.00% 20.00% 15.00%

Therefore, the Commission does not consider it appropriate to again revise the

earlier agreed distribution loss trajectory and accordingly decides to retain the

distribution loss for FY 2019-20 (RE) at the same level as approved in the Tariff

Orders dated 24.03.2017 and also in MYT order dated 25.02.2019.

Table 5.12: Distribution Loss trajectory considered by the Commission for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Particulars

Approved by the Commission for FY

2019-20 in T.O dated 25.02.2019

Projected by Discoms for

FY 2019-20 in Review

Considered by the Commission for FY 2019-20 (RE)

SBPDCL 15.00 % 29.29 % 15.00 %

NBPDCL 15.00% 23.83% 15.00%

(A) Collection Efficiency:

As per UDAY scheme, the Discoms have agreed to achieve the collection efficiency

of 100% in FY 2019-20. The Commission has approved 100% collection efficiency

for FY 2019-20 for the Discoms in the MYT Order dated 25.02.2019. Therefore, the

collection efficiency is retained at 100% for FY 2019-20 (RE).

(B) AT&C Losses:

In the Tariff Petition for FY 2019-20 the Discoms have submitted that they are

endeavouring to bring down AT&C loss to below 15% by FY 2019-20. From the

UDAY MOU, the Commission has also noted that the AT&C loss target for FY 2019-

20 is agreed by the Discoms at 15%. The Commission has approved the AT&C losses

for the Discoms for FY 2019-20 at 15% in the MYT Order dated 25.02.2019.

Therefore, the AT&C loss is retained at 15% for FY 2019-20 (RE).

The Commission has explained with an example the methodology to be followed

for computation of AT&C loss in the Regulation 18.5 of BERC (Multi Year



Distribution Tariff) Regulations,2018 which is reproduced below for ready

reference.

Formula and methodology for computation of AT&C Loss

The formula and methodology for calculation of Aggregate Technical and

Commercial Loss shall be as under:

AT&C Loss (%) = {Energy Input- Energy Realised)*100/Energy Input Where; Energy Realised = Energy Billed*Collection Efficiency Collection Efficiency (%) = Amount Realised*100/Amount Billed

Methodology for Computation of AT&C Loss

A Gross Energy Purchased at State Periphery (Mus) **

B Transmission Loss (Mus) **

C Net Energy at Distribution Periphery (Mus) A-B

D Distribution Loss (Mus) C-E

E Energy Sold (Mus) **

F Revenue from sale of power without subsidy (Rs. in Crore) **

G Tariff Subsidy actually received(Rs. in Crore) **

H Net Revenue from sale of energy on subsidy received basis (Rs. in Crore)

F+G

I Tariff Subsidy booked(Rs. in Crore) **

J Revenue from sale of energy on subsidy booked basis (Rs. in Crore) F+I

K Opening Debtors for Sale of Energy(Rs. In Crore) **

L Closing Debtors for Sale of Energy(Rs. in Crore) **

M Any amount written off during the year directly from “L” above(Rs. in Crore)

**

N Adjusted closing Debtors for Sale of Energy (Rs.in Crore) L+M

O Collection Efficiency (%) [H+K-N]*100/J

P Units Realized (Mus) E*O/100

Q Units Un-Realized (Mus) C-P

R AT&C Loss (%) Q*100/C

** Note:- To be filled up by the petitioner based on available records.

The Discoms are directed to compute the AT&C losses as per the above formula

and methodology in the true-up for FY 2019-20.

5.4. State Transmission loss


The Discoms submitted that they have proposed the State Transmission Loss for FY

2019-20 at 3.92% as approved by the Commission in its previous Tariff Order. The

Discoms have stated that the basis for this figure is the approved normative loss, as

the actual loss incurred during the period between April 2019 and September 2019

is still in the process of getting reconciled.




The Commission has approved State Transmission loss at 3% for FY 2019-20 for

BSPTCL in Tariff Order dated 20.03.2020 and accordingly considers the State

Transmission loss at 3% for FY 2019-20 (RE).

Discoms are directed to reconcile the monthly energy input into the state

transmission system and output to the Discoms network at all the interface

points in coordination with SLDC and BSPTCL to avoid any difference between the

state transmission losses reported by DISCOMs and by BSPTCL.

5.5. Central Transmission Loss


The Discoms submitted that they have considered transmission loss of 1.78% as per

latest 52 weeks moving percentage average loss provided by ERLDC and requested

to consider the Central transmission loss at 1.78%.


The Commission considers the CTU loss at 1.78% for FY 2019-20 (RE) as proposed

by the Petitioners.

5.6. Power Purchase


The Discoms have submitted that they rely on allocation from central generating

stations and state projects for procuring power for sale in the state. This power has

been proposed to be allocated between North and South Bihar in the proportion as

determined by the following resolution of the BSPHCL board.

“RESOLVED THAT Power Purchase & Transmission charges bills are to be admitted

and payment by both Discoms i.e NBPDCL and SBPDCL in the ratio 46:54

respectively w.e.f. 1-4-2017 subjected to the final reconciliation of actual

consumption”.

The Petitioners have given following further details in this respect:

a) NHPC, NTPC & PTC: The power purchase from existing sources i.e., from

NTPC, NHPC and PTC are considered based on the 24 X 7 Power for All

(PFA) projection and recent trends of the power plant. The power purchase

is further segregated between NBPDCL and SBPDCL as per allocation ratio.



b) Medium/Short Term Sources: The power purchase from GMR (Kamalanga) and

PTC fall under this category. An agreement with PTC and PFCCL has been

executed under pilot scheme for medium term through PFC consulting limited

as Nodal agency and PTC India Limited as an aggregator for 200 MW.

c) The Petitioner shall purchase power through short term from MSTC

(DEEP Portal/IEX) during the year as and when the quantum and rate of this

short term power purchase would be within the limit of total quantum and

rate of power approved by the Commission.

d) New Sources: The power purchase for the new sources has been considered

based on the commissioning status received from generators and CEA reports.

Further the allocation of power from the new projects is in the ratio of 46:54 for

NBPDCL & SBPDCL as per the Board Resolution.

Taking a realistic, currently 265 MW from Mangdechu HEP and 2/3rd of

Contracted capacity (1,035 MW in FY 2019 out of 1,552 MW) from NPGCL,

Darlipalli Unit I – 80 MW, 360 MW from BTPS Stage I & II and 300 MW from

SECI Phase III Wind to be added power will be added to the allocation of the

respective DISCOMs as per latest information on Commercial Operational Date

(COD) for FY 2019-20.

e) Open Market Purchase: Petitioner is currently procuring power from IEX, DB

power, GMR ETL and TATA ETL on the basis of Demand.

The Petitioners have also submitted that for projecting the power purchase

quantum for FY 2019-20, the actual power purchase quantum for the period

from April, 2019 to June, 2019 is considered and projected for remaining months

based on the following methodology.

(i) Share allocation has been considered as per ERPC. Further, PPA with Korba

has expired in September 19, so power purchase from October 19 has been

shown as nil from the said source. While arriving at the allocated capacity to

Bihar for FY 2019-20, maintenance schedule of all the applicable plants

has also been considered.

(ii) Normative Plant Load Factor (PLF) as provided by Central Electricity

Regulatory Commission (CERC) for the thermal and hydro plants and the

auxiliary consumptions specified for plants will be considered.



For the state plants PLF highest among the PLF norms specified by BERC and

the plant wise auxiliary consumption determined by BERC for thermal, and

biomass has been considered.

For the solar plants highest among the CUF of 19%.

(iii) Considering the PLF as mentioned above and using the power purchase

allocation data mentioned in the above table total number of units

purchased were calculated from every source/ plant for every month

separately.

(iv) The month-wise estimated data from July, 2019 to March, 2020 is added to

the actuals of April, 2019 to July, 2019.

The Power (MW) and Energy (MU) purchase projected in review for FY 2019-

20 by the Discoms are as shown in the Table 5.13 below:

Table 5.13: Total power purchase projected in review by DISCOMs for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Share allocated

for FY 2019-20

(MW)

Units purchase

for FY 2019-20

(MU)

Share allocated

for FY 2019-20

(MW)

Units purchase

for FY 2019-20

(MU)

Central Sector Stations 2,511 12,364 2,139 11,100

FSTPP I &II 257 1,593 219 1,396

FSTPP III 65 325 55 308

KHSTPP I 182 1,191 155 1,036

KHSTPP II 39 258 33 220

Barh Stage II 569 3,986 485 3,845

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I to III 39 191 33 163

Korba 14 50 12 43

Talcher Stage I 207 1,512 177 1,288

KBUNL Stage II 143 692 121 616

NPGCL Unit I 279 980 238 835

NPGCL Unit II 279 70 238 60

Darlipali STPS Unit I 43 81 37 69

Chuka 43 253 37 215

Rangit 11 68 10 58

Tala 139 460 118 392

Teesta 59 364 50 310

Mangdechu 143 290 122 247

State Generating Stations 402 857 342 730

BSPHC 29 25 25 22

KBUNL Stage I 119 496 101 422

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59 120 51 102

BTPS Stage I Unit II 59 11 51 9



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Share allocated

for FY 2019-20

(MW)

Units purchase

for FY 2019-20

(MU)

Share allocated

for FY 2019-20

(MW)

Units purchase

for FY 2019-20

(MU)

BTPS Stage II Unit I 135 205 115 175

IPP 250 1,790 213 1,524

GMR 133 925 113 788

JITPL 117 864 100 736

Renewable 450 873 383 743


5 9 5 8


5 9 5 8


3 4 2 4

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 2 3 1 2

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 8 15 7 12

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 3 4 2 4

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 5 9 5 7

Welspun Renewables Project – I 5 9 5 8

Welspun Renewables Project – II 8 13 7 11

Welspun Renewables Project – III 8 14 7 12

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 8 13 7 11

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 5 9 5 8


5 9 5 8


108 252 92 215


54 150 46 128

SECI Phase-III Wind 162 144 138 123

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 4 13 3 11

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 5 19 4 16


6 24 5 21


6 25 5 21


11 38 9 32


11 37 9 32

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 2 6 2 5

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 1 4 1 3

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 5 28 4 23

Tirupati Sugar 3 12 3 11

Sub Total 3,613 15,883 3,077 14,097

PTC(IEX) 1,961 589

PTC(Except IEX) 153 143



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Share allocated

for FY 2019-20

(MW)

Units purchase

for FY 2019-20

(MU)

Share allocated

for FY 2019-20

(MW)

Units purchase

for FY 2019-20

(MU)

DB Power 15 14

TATA Energy Trading Ltd. 72 61

Manikaran 25 21

NEA - 3

UI 3 3

Others - 2,228 - 834

Total Power Purchase 3,613 18,112 3,077 14,931

Less: Surplus Energy Sale 0 229

Net Power Purchase Cost 3,613 18,112 3,077 14,702


The Commission has reviewed the power purchase projected by DISCOMs from

various sources for FY 2019-20(RE) and Power Purchase approved for FY 2019-20 in

MYT Order dated 25.02.2019 and observed as below:

Name of the Discom Power Purchase approved in T.O dated 25.02.2019 (MU)

Power Purchase now projected in APR (MU)

SBPDCL 18040 18112

NBPDCL 15989 14702

Total 34030 32814

The Discoms have submitted that for projecting the power purchase quantum for

FY 2019-20, the actual power purchase quantum for the period from April, 2019 to

June, 2019 has been considered and the month-wise estimated data from July,

2019 to March, 2020 has been added to the actual of April, 2019 to June, 2019.

Regulation 14.1(D) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018

stipulates that” The Commission shall under take review of the expenses of the

current year as part of the Tariff Order on the basis of actual expenses incurred

during the period April to September of the current year and corresponding figures

in the order for ARR of current year approved by the Commission”.

DISCOMs are directed to consider actual power purchase during the first 6

months of the current year and projections for next 6 months i.e., 2nd half of

current year for estimating the power purchase quantum and cost for current

year for the purpose of Annual Performance Review in the tariff petition.



BSP(H)CL has signed a PPA with NTPC for a capacity of 25 MW for Korba STPS

Stage-III on 25.09.2017 for a period of 2 years and the PPA with Korba has expired

in September, 2019

New Sources: Discoms have shown power procurement from the following new

sources in FY2019-20:-

SI. No

Station Capacity (MW) Month from which

available SBPDCL NBPDCL

1 NPGCL Unit – I 279 238 August, 2019

2 NPGCL Unit – II 279 238 March, 2020

3 Darlipalli Unit – I 43 37 December, 2019

4 Mangdechu HEP 143 122 October, 2019

5 BTPS Stage – I Unit – I 59 51 October, 2019

6 BTPS Stage – I, Unit – II 59 51 March, 2020

7 BTPS Stage – II Unit – I 135 115 November, 2019

8 SECI Phase III (Wind) 162 138 December, 2019

The Commission has also noted that SBPDCL & NBPDCL has shown 2228 MUs 834

MU respectively, to be purchased from IEX and other short term power purchase

from open market. NBPDCL has also projected to sale 229 MUs observing as

surplus.

The Commission vide order dated 10.01.2019 (Case No. 46/2018) has approved for

procurement of 200 MW off taking 100% power for 3 years on RTC basis through

PFC consulting as nodal agency and PTC India Ltd as aggregator, at a tariff of Rs.

4.195 per kWh arrived at considering a discount of 1% for every increase of 5% off

take on the price of Rs. 4.24 per kWh for minimum off take of 55% subject to

adoption by appropriate Commission CERC. CERC vide its order dated 24.05.2019

has approved the tariff of Rs. 4.24 per kWh. Power purchase from PFC-Medium

term (200 MW) is not projected by the DISCOMs as the same was subjudice in

APTEL. The Commission has noted that Hon’ble APTEL in its interim order dated

13.11.2019 has permitted the purchase 55% (110 MW) of contracted power at

Rs.4.195/unit. However, the purchase of power from this source will be considered

based on actuals while truing-up for FY 2019-20.

The Commission has noted from the Energy Requirement Table 5.17 considering

the power purchase as projected by DISCOMs, there will be a surplus of power

available at 3359.33 MU for SBPDCL and at 1830.89 MU for NBPDCL.

DISCOMs have provided details of power purchase cost from various sources



showing fixed costs, energy rate, energy costs and miscellaneous costs in the

Format-5 of the petition. It is noted that for the following stations different energy

rates are considered by SBPDCL and NBPDCL.

SI. No Stations SBPDCL (Rs/kWh) NBPDCL (Rs/kWh)

1 KBUNL-I 3.81 3.70

2 Barh-II 2.23 2.26

3 Talcher stage-I 1.97 1.98

4 Korba 1.27 1.28

Therefore, common average energy rate for the above four stations has been

arrived as shown below:

Sl. No

Stations SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU) Total MU

SBPDCL Energy

Cost (Rs. Cr)

NBPDCL Energy

Cost (Rs. Cr)

Total Cost

(Rs. Cr)

Energy Rate

(Rs/kWh)

1 KBUNL-I 495.69 422.25 917.94 188.68 156.4 345.08 3.76

2 Barh-II 3985.94 3845.05 7830.99 888.45 868.39 1756.84 2.24

3 Talcher stage-I 1511.54 1287.61 2799.15 298.23 254.85 553.08 1.98

4 Korba 50.17 42.74 92.91 6.39 5.49 11.88 1.28

The power purchase quantum is reduced to the requirement at the regional

periphery duly following Merit Order Principle (MOD), treating Hydro projects and

Renewable generators as Must Run. Short term power purchase which is costlier, is

not considered in view of the available surplus energy situation. Following are the

details of regulated power considering Merit order principle.

Table 5.14: Power Purchase quantum regulated for DISCOMs

SI. No

Station Energy

rate (Rs/kWh)

SBPDCL NBPDCL MOD Rank Projected

(MU) Considered

(MU) Projected

(MU) Considered

(MU)

1 BTPS Stage I Unit I 4.16 119.68 65.82 101.95 56.0725 16

2 BTPS Stage I Unit II 4.16 11.12 6.12 9.47 5.2085 16

3 KBUNL-I 3.76 495.69 272.63 422.25 232.24 15

4 Darlipalli Unit-I 3.21 81.1 44.61 69.08 37.99 14

5 KBUNL Stage II 2.78 692.03 380.62 615.57 338.56 13

6 FSTPP III 2.42 324.67 178.57 308.31 169.57 12

7 FSTPP I &II 2.40 1593.09 1236.01 1396.34 1083.47 11

8 BTPS Stage II Unit I 2.30 205.12 205.12 174.73 174.73 10

9 KHSTPP I 2.27 1191.06 1191.06 1035.69 1035.69 9

10 Barh Stage II 2.24 3985.94 3985.94 3845.05 3845.05 8

11 Nabinagar (BRBCL) 2.17 190.77 190.77 162.51 162.51 7



SI. No

Station Energy

rate (Rs/kWh)

SBPDCL NBPDCL MOD Rank Projected

(MU) Considered

(MU) Projected

(MU) Considered

(MU)

Unit I – III

12 KHSTPP II 2.16 257.9 257.9 219.69 219.69 6

13 Talcher Stage I 1.98 1511.54 1511.54 1287.61 1287.61 5

14 NPGCL Unit-I 1.79 979.99 979.99 834.81 834.81 4

15 NPGCL Unit-II 1.79 70.29 70.29 59.88 59.88 4

16 Korba 1.28 50.17 50.17 42.74 42.74 3

17 GMR 1.18 925.46 925.46 788.36 788.36 2

18 JITPL 1.09 864.08 864.08 736.07 736.07 1

19 Open Market 2226.32 0 834.01 2.97

20 Renewable 872.92 872.92 742.72 742.72

21 Hydro Stations 1460.52 1460.52 1244.17 1244.17

Total 18109.46 14750.13 14931.01 13100.12

As shown in the Table above, 3359.33MU (18109.46-14750.13) for SBPDCL and

1830.89MU (14931.01-13100.12) have been reduced from the Power purchase

quantum projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) for SBPDCL & NBPDCL respectively.

The power purchase cost is also, accordingly, reduced from the power purchase

cost projected by the petitioners, as shown in subsequent Tables 5.20 & 5.21.

The station/source-wise Power Purchase projected and considered by the

Commission for FY 2019-20 (RE) are as shown in the table 5.15 below:

Table 5.15: Power Purchase projected by Discoms and Considered by Commission for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Projected for

FY 2019-20 (MU)

Considered by

Commission for FY 2019-

20 (RE) (MU)

Projected for FY

2019-20 (MU)

Considered by


20 (RE) (MU)

Central Sector Stations 12363.59 11512.50 11099.71 10340.01

FSTPP I &II 1593.09 1236.01 1396.34 1083.47

FSTPP III 324.67 178.57 308.31 169.57

KHSTPP I 1191.06 1191.06 1035.69 1035.69

KHSTPP II 257.90 257.90 219.69 219.69

Barh Stage II 3985.94 3985.94 3845.05 3845.05

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – III 190.77 190.77 162.51 162.51

Korba 50.17 50.17 42.74 42.74

Talcher Stage I 1511.54 1511.54 1287.61 1287.61

KBUNL Stage II 692.03 380.62 615.57 338.56



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Projected for

FY 2019-20 (MU)

Considered by


20 (RE) (MU)

Projected for FY

2019-20 (MU)

Considered by


20 (RE) (MU)

NPGCL Unit I 979.99 979.99 834.81 834.81

NPGCL Unit II 70.29 70.29 59.88 59.88

Darlipali STPS Unit I 81.10 44.61 69.08 37.99

Chuka 252.82 252.82 215.36 215.36

Rangit 68.48 68.48 58.33 58.33

Tala 460.37 460.37 392.16 392.16

Teesta 363.70 363.70 309.82 309.82

Mangdechu 289.67 289.67 246.76 246.76

State Generating Stations 857.09 575.17 730.14 489.99

BSPHC 25.48 25.48 21.74 21.74

KBUNL Stage I 495.69 272.63 422.25 232.24

BTPS Stage I Unit I 119.68 65.82 101.95 56.07

BTPS Stage I Unit II 11.12 6.12 9.47 5.21

BTPS Stage II Unit I 205.12 205.12 174.73 174.73

IPP 1789.54 1789.54 1524.43 1524.43

GMR 925.46 925.46 788.36 788.36

JITPL 864.08 864.08 736.07 736.07

Renewable 872.92 872.92 742.72 742.72


8.99 8.99 7.65 7.65


9.05 9.05 7.71 7.71


4.37 4.37 3.72 3.72


2.74 2.74 2.34 2.34

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 14.51 14.51 12.36 12.36


4.43 4.43 3.77 3.77

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 8.73 8.73 7.43 7.43

Welspun Renewables Project – I 9.07 9.07 7.73 7.73

Welspun Renewables Project – II 13.49 13.49 11.49 11.49

Welspun Renewables Project – III 13.60 13.60 11.58 11.58


13.22 13.22 11.26 11.26


9.01 9.01 7.67 7.67


9.31 9.31 7.93 7.93


252.07 252.07 214.73 214.73

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II 149.80 149.80 127.61 127.61



Name of The Source

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Projected for

FY 2019-20 (MU)

Considered by


20 (RE) (MU)

Projected for FY

2019-20 (MU)

Considered by


20 (RE) (MU)

(SECI) (Orange)

SECI Phase-III Wind 144.00 144.00 122.67 122.67


13.16 13.16 11.21 11.21


19.26 19.26 16.40 16.40


24.40 24.40 20.78 20.78


24.66 24.66 21.01 21.01


37.81 37.81 32.20 32.20


37.09 37.09 31.60 31.60

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 6.04 6.04 5.15 5.15


4.08 4.08 3.41 3.41

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 27.95 27.95 22.59 22.59

Tirupati Sugar 12.08 12.08 10.72 10.72

Gross Total 15883.14 14750.13 14097.00 13097.15

PTC(IEX) 1958.73 0.00 588.72 0.00

PTC(Except IEX) 152.59 0.00 143.31 0.00

DB Power 15.06 0.00 13.88 0.00

TATA Energy Trading Ltd. 71.79 0.00 61.15 0.00

Manikaran 24.72 0.00 21.06 0.00

NEA - 0.00 2.97 2.97

UI 3.43 0.00 2.92

Others 2226.32 0.00 834.01 2.97

Total Power Purchase 18109.46 14750.13 14931.01 13100.12

Less: Surplus Energy Sale 0.00 0.00 229.00 0.00

Net Power Purchase 18109.46 14750.13 14702.01 13100.12

The Commission directs the Discoms to control the distribution loss to the level

as considered by the Commission in Table 5.12 and to purchase the power strictly

observing Merit Order Dispatch Principles to optimize the power Purchase Cost.

5.7. Energy Balance


The Petitioners have projected the energy Balance for FY 2019-20 as shown in the

Table 5.16 below:



Table 5.16: Energy Balance projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)

SI. No

Particulars Unit

SBPDCL SBPDCL Approved

for FY 2019-20 in T.O dated

25.02.2019

Projected FY 2019-20 (APR)

Approved for FY

2019-20 in T.O dated

25.02.2019


A Energy Requirement

1 Energy sales MU 14,467 12,156 13,045 10,937

2 Less: Inter-state sales, DF & Nepal if any

MU - - 1,503 1,355

3 Energy sales excluding Inter-state sales, if any

MU 14,467 12,156 11,542 9,582

4 Distribution Loss excluding Nepal and DF

% 15.00% 29.29% 15.00% 23.83%

5 Add: Distribution Loss MU 2,553 5,035 2,037 2,999

6 Total energy required at Distribution periphery

MU 17,021 17,191 13,579 12,581

7 Add: Inter-state sales, DF & Nepal if any

MU - - 1,503 1,355


MU 17,021 17,191 15,082 13,936

9 State Transmission Loss % 3.92% 3.92% 3.92% 3.92%

10 Add: State Transmission Loss

MU 69 701 615 569


MU 17,715 17,892 15,698 14,505

B Energy Available - - - -

1 Total Power Purchase from CGS,IPPS,JV's, SGS etc.

MUs 18,040 18,112 15,989 14,931

2 Power Purchase from CGS and Others From Outside the State

MUs 14,399 16,382 12,902 13,458

3 Central Transmission Loss % 2.26% 1.78% 2.26% 1.78%

4 Central Transmission Loss MUs 325 220 292 197

5 Power Purchase from SGS, RE's, etc., within the State

MUs 3,641 1,730 3,087 1,473

6 Net Power Purchase Available

MUs 17,715 17,892 15,698 14,734

7 Energy Surplus/(Deficit) at State Transmission Periphery

MUs 0 0 0 229


The Commission observes that in the above Table the DISCOMs have computed the

energy requirement considering the distribution loss at 29.29% and 23.83% for

SBPDCL and NBPDCL respectively as against 15% approved. State Transmission loss

is also considered which was provisionally approved for FY 2019-20 in BSPTCL Tariff

Order dated 15.02.2019. The same is now considered at 3.0% for FY 2019-20(R.E)



for BSPTCL in APR. It is also observed that the DISCOMs have considered CTU loss at

1.78% but they have not actually calculated CTU loss applying this percentages.

They have arrived at CTU loss by deducting the energy requirement computed at

State transmission periphery form the power purchase.

The Commission has arrived at the CTU losses as 549.41 MU on power purchase

from Central Stations, IPPs etc from outside the state as given below:

SI. No


1 Total power purchase projected(MU) 18109.46 14931.01 33040.47

2 Power Purchase from outside state(MU) 16934.63 13931.09 30865.72

3 Power purchase from within the state(MU) 1174.83 999.92 2174.75

4 CTU losses considered (%) 1.78% 1.78%

5 CTU losses (MU) 301.44 247.97 549.41

For estimating the additional power purchase projected due to excess T&D loss, the

total power purchase from various sources has been worked out considering the

impact of average regional transmission loss (1.663% = 549.41/33040.47 *100)

applicable on total power purchase. The reason for applying the average regional

transmission is that the power purchase quantum also includes sources of power

on which the regional transmission loss are not applicable i.e., State Generating

Stations, Renewable energy sources excluding those sources from outside state,

Nepal etc., The details of energy requirement, energy purchase projected and

resultant surplus energy projected during FY 2019-20 (R.E) are as give in the table

5.17 below.

Table 5.17: Energy Requirement and Surplus Energy Available Computed with approved losses for FY 2019-20 (RE)

SI. No



1 Energy sales MU 11959.24 10824.70 22783.94

2 Less: Sales to Nepal MU 0.00 1355.16 1355.16

3 Energy sales excluding Sales to Nepal MU 11959.24 9469.54 21428.78

4 Distribution Loss % 15% 15%



MU 14069.69 11140.64 25210.33

7 Add: Sales to Nepal MU 0.00 1355.16 1355.16


MU 14069.69 12495.80 26565.49

9 State Transmission Loss % 3% 3%



SI. No




MU 14504.84 12882.26 27387.10

12 Losses in regional Tr. System % 1.66% 1.66%

13 Losses in regional Tr. System (MU) 245.29 217.85 463.15

14 Energy requirement at regional Tr. Periphery

(MU) 14750.13 13100.12 27850.25

15 Total energy purchased (MU) 18109.46 14931.01 33040.47

16 Surplus energy purchased due to excess losses

(MU) 3359.33 1830.89 5190.22

It is noted from the above table that there will be purchase of surplus energy of

3359.33MU for SBPDCL and 1830.89MU for NBPDCL when the energy requirement

is computed based on the approved energy sales and T&D losses.

5.8. Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO)


The Petitioners have submitted that Commission has notified the (BERC Renewable

Purchase Obligation, its Compliance and REC Framework Implementation)

Regulations, 2010. Further, there were amendments in the Regulations wherein the

RPO was modified. The details of the RPO to be met during FY 2019-20 are as given


Table 5.18: RPO to be met for FY 2019-20 (RE) projected by Discoms

SI. No.


1 Energy consumption MU 12,156 10,937

Hydro Power Purchase Mus 1,461 1,244

Losses

Inter-State Transmission Loss % 2% 2%

Inter-State Transmission Loss Mus 26 22

Intra-State Transmission Loss % 4% 4%

Intra-State Transmission Loss Mus 56 48

Distribution Loss % 29% 24%

Distribution Loss Mus 404 280

Hydro Power Consumed Mus 975 894

2 Conventional Power Consumed Mus 11,181 10,043

3 Target

Solar % 4.75% 4.75%

Non-Solar % 6.75% 6.75%

Solar Mus 531 477

Non-Solar Mus 755 678

Total Mus 1,286 1,155



SI. No.



Solar Mus 120 103


Total Mus 873 743

5 Purchase of Power - Off Grid/Captive Consumers

Solar Mus 5 3

Non-Solar Mus 13 16

Total Mus 19 19

6 Total Purchase

Solar Mus 126 106


Total Mus 891 762

7 (Surplus)/Shortfall

Solar Mus 405 371

Non-Solar Mus - 22

Total Mus 405 393


Solar Unit 405,298 371,383

Non-Solar Unit - 21,537

Total Unit 405,298 392,919

9 Average Rate of REC

Solar Per Unit 2,488 2,488

Non-Solar Per Unit 1,762 1,972

10 Cost

Solar Rs Crores 101 92

Non-Solar Rs Crores - 4

Total Rs Crores 101 97

Discoms submitted that they are already drawing solar power from few sources like

SECI, Welspun, ACME Clean Tech, Avantika and Azure Power. The Discoms have

also made PPA with SECI, NTPC and PTC for purchase of renewable power

(Solar and Non Solar) to the tune of 2000 MW till FY 2020-21. The Petitioner is

also taking further efforts to tie-up solar power through competitive bid process.

The Petitioner would try to purchase REC for shortfall as mentioned above.

The Petitioner submits that the shortfall if any on actuals may please be allowed

to carry forward to next year so as to meet the total RPO on cumulative basis. As

has been the practice in the past, in case the Petitioner fails to achieve the Solar

and Non-solar RPO, it shall maintain a separate account where the cost of purchase

of solar and non-solar power, equivalent to the quantum of shortfall shall be

maintained.




The Renewable Energy (RE) to be procured as per RPO Regulations, projected

to be procured in the Petition and the balance RE to be procured by the Discoms

are as given in the Table 5.19 below:

Table 5.19: RPO Considered for DISCOMS for FY 2019-20 (RE)

SI. No


1 Energy Sales MUs 11959.24 10824.70

2 Less: Sales to Nepal MUs 0.00 1355.16

3 Energy consumption MUs 11959.24 9469.54

4 Hydro Power Purchase MUs 1460.52 1244.17

5 Less: Losses

6 Inter-State Transmission Loss % 1.78% 1.78%

7 Inter-State Transmission Loss MUs 26.00 22.15

8 Intra-State Transmission Loss % 3.00% 3.00%

9 Intra-State Transmission Loss MUs 43.04 36.66

10 Distribution Loss % 15.00% 15.00%

11 Distribution Loss MUs 208.72 177.80

12 Hydro Power Consumed MUs 1182.76 1007.56

13 Conventional Power Consumed MUs 10776.48 8461.98

14 RPO Target

Solar % 4.75% 4.75%

Non-Solar % 6.75% 6.75%

a)Solar MUs 511.88 401.94

b)Non-Solar MUs 727.41 571.18

Total MUs 1239.29 973.13

15 Actual RE Projected (Excl. REC)

a)Solar MUs 120.52 102.64


Total MUs 898.40 764.46


a)Solar MUs 5.00 3.00


Total MUs 18.00 19.00

17 Total Purchase

a)Solar MUs 125.52 105.64


Total MUs 916.40 783.46


a)Solar MUs 386.36 296.30

b)Non-Solar MUs -63.47 -106.64

19 Target achieved

a)Solar % 24.52% 26.28%

b)Non-Solar % 108.73% 118.67%



The Discoms have requested to for allowing to carry forward the shortfall solar and

non-solar RPO target in next year so as to meet total RPO on cumulative basis. The

Commission finds that the existing RPO Regulations envisages carry forward only

when the REC is not available in the market. Presently, there is no such case and

solar as well as non-solar RECs are available in the exchange and hence the request

of the petitioners is untenable.

The DISCOMs are directed to put forth more efforts to procure the balance solar

energy required to meet the RPO requirements as detailed in the Table above or

otherwise to purchase solar RECs to meet the stipulated RPO of FY2019-20.

5.9. Power Purchase Cost


The Discoms have submitted that the power purchase cost mainly comprises of

fixed charges and energy charges for two part tariff stations i.e. NTPC, NHPC & PTC

in case of Petitioner. The Petitioner has considered the actual energy charges

and fixed cost for these power stations based on actual 3 months data for FY

2019-20.The average power purchase cost as mentioned below.

i. Petitioner has considered the new plants as per information available

with the Petitioner.

ii. The power purchase cost projections have been undertaken by

considering the average of actual fixed cost and fuel costs respectively for the

previous 3 months.

The Petitioners have requested to approve the power purchase costs in ARR for

FY 2019-20 as provided in the Tables 5.20 & 5.21 below:

Table 5.20: Power Purchase cost projected by SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE)


Allocated (MW)

Units Purchased

(MU)

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)

Avg. Tariff (Rs/kWh)

Central Sector Stations

2,511 12,364 1,812 2,701 29 4,543 3.67

FSTPP I &II 257 1,593 166 382 0 548 3.44

FSTPP III 65 325 66 79 9 154 4.73

KHSTPP I 182 1,191 129 270 0 400 3.36

KHSTPP II 39 258 28 56 0 84 3.24

Barh Stage II 569 3,986 698 888 12 1,598 4.01

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit ( I – III)

39 191 46 41 0 88 4.59




Allocated (MW)

Units Purchased

(MU)

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)


Korba 14 50 6 6 1 13 2.66

Talcher Stage I 207 1,512 152 298 4 455 3.01

KBUNL Stage II 143 692 195 192 3 390 5.64

NPGCL Unit I 279 980 192 175 - 367 3.75

NPGCL Unit II 279 70 14 13 - 26 3.75

Darlipali STPS Unit I 43 81 13 26 - 39 4.77

Chuka 43 253 - 61 - 61 2.4

Rangit 11 68 14 13 0 27 3.94

Tala 139 460 - 99 - 99 2.16

Teesta 59 364 35 42 0 78 2.14

Mangdechu 143 290 58 58 - 116 4


402 857 133 297 - 430 5.01

BSPHC 29 25 - 6 - 6 2.49

KBUNL Stage I 119 496 72 189 - 261 5.26

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59 120 14 50 - 64 5.31

BTPS Stage I Unit II 59 11 1 5 - 6 5.31 BTPS Stage II Unit I 135 205 46 47 - 93 4.55

IPP 250 1,790 435 204 60 698 3.9

GMR 133 925 176 109 73 359 3.88

JITPL 117 864 258 94 -13 339 3.92

Renewable 450 873 - 377 - 377 4.32


5 9 - 5 - 5 5.67


5 9 - 5 - 5 5.67


3 4 - 3 - 3 7.69


2 3 - 2 - 2 5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd.

8 15 - 11 - 11 7.87


3 4 - 4 - 4 7.98


5 9 - 7 - 7 8.39


5 9 - 8 - 8 8.7


8 13 - 12 - 12 8.64


8 14 - 12 - 12 8.56


8 13 - 12 - 12 8.73




Allocated (MW)

Units Purchased

(MU)

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)



5 9 - 8 - 8 8.73


5 9 - 5 - 5 5.5


108 252 - 89 - 89 3.53


54 150 - 41 - 41 2.72

SECI Phase-III Wind 162 144 - 36 - 36 2.52


4 13 - 6 - 6 4.87


5 19 - 12 - 12 6.22


6 24 - 12 - 12 4.81


6 25 - 14 - 14 5.63


11 38 - 21 - 21 5.63


11 37 - 21 - 21 5.63

Riga Sugar Company Ltd.

2 6 - 4 - 4 6.08


1 4 - 3 - 3 7.41


5 28 - 18 - 18 6.37

Tirupati Sugar 3 12 - 7 - 7 6.17

Total 3,613 15,883 2,380 3,579 89 6,048 3.81

PTC(IEX)

1,959 - 813 - 813 4.15

PTC(Except IEX)

153 - 101 - 101 6.59

DB Power

15 - 9 - 9 5.86


72 - 37 - 37 5.17

Manikaran

25 - 12 - 12 4.83

NEA

- - - - - - UI

3 - -19 - -19

-55.24

Others - 2,228 - 954 - 954 4.28

Gross Total 3613 18112 2380 4533 89 7002 3.87

SLDC

3 - - 3

BGCL

270 - - 270

BSPTCL

855 - - 855




Allocated (MW)

Units Purchased

(MU)

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)

Total Cost (Rs

Crores)


POSOCO

1 - - 1

PGCIL ULDC CHG

1 - - 1

PGCIL

614 - - 614

GMR_Transmission charges

15 - - 15

Transmission Charges

- - 1,757 - - 1,757


3613 18112 4137 4533 89 8,759 4.84

Less: Surplus Energy Sale

0 0 0

Net Power Purchase Cost

3613 18112 4137 4533 89 8,759 4.84

Add: REC 101 101


3613 18112 4237 4533 89 8859

Table 5.21: Power Purchase cost projected by NBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE)

Name of The Source

Share Allocated

MW

Units Purchased

MUs

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)


Avg. Tariff

(Rs/kWh)

Central Sector Stations 2,139 11,100 1,655 2,453 13 4,122 3.71

FSTPP I &II 219 1,396 148 335 -7 477 3.41

FSTPP III 55 308 63 75 6 143 4.64

KHSTPP I 155 1,036 115 235 - 350 3.38

KHSTPP II 33 220 24 47 - 71 3.24

Barh Stage II 485 3,845 673 868 11 1,553 4.04

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – III 33 163 38 35 - 73 4.49

Korba 12 43 5 5 0 11 2.61

Talcher Stage I 177 1,288 130 255 - 385 2.99

KBUNL Stage II 121 616 174 171 3 347 5.65

NPGCL Unit I 238 835 164 149 - 313 3.75

NPGCL Unit II 238 60 12 11 - 22 3.75


Chuka 37 215 - 52 - 52 2.4 Rangit 10 58 19 22 0 41 7.03

Tala 118 392 - 85 - 85 2.16

Teesta 50 310 30 36 0 66 2.14

Mangdechu 122 247 49 49 - 99 4

State Generating Stations 342 730 113 248 - 362 4.95

BSPHC 25 22 - 5 - 5 2.49

KBUNL Stage I 101 422 61 156 - 218 5.15


BTPS Stage I Unit II 51 9 1 4 - 5 5.31

BTPS Stage II Unit I 115 175 39 40 - 80 4.55

IPP 213 1,524 370 173 19 563 3.69



Name of The Source

Share Allocated

MW

Units Purchased

MUs

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)


Avg. Tariff

(Rs/kWh)

GMR 113 788 150 93 28 272 3.45

JITPL 100 736 220 80 -9 291 3.96

Renewable 383 743 - 320 - 320 4.31

M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 5 8 - 4 - 4 5.67

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 5 8 - 4 - 4 5.67

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 2 4 - 3 - 3 7.69

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 1 2 - 1 - 1 5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 7 12 - 10 - 10 7.87

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 2 4 - 3 - 3 7.98

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 5 7 - 6 - 6 8.39

Welspun Renewables Project – I 5 8 - 7 - 7 8.7

Welspun Renewables Project – II 7 11 - 10 - 10 8.64

Welspun Renewables Project – III 7 12 - 10 - 10 8.56

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 7 11 - 10 - 10 8.73

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 5 8 - 7 - 7 8.73

Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 5 8 - 4 - 4 5.5 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah&Ostro) 92 215 - 76 - 76 3.53

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 46 128 - 35 - 35 2.72


New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 3 11 - 5 - 5 4.44

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 4 16 - 10 - 10 6.22



Name of The Source

Share Allocated

MW

Units Purchased

MUs

Fixed Charge

(Rs Crores)

Energy Charge

(Rs Crores)

Other Cost (Rs

Crores)


Avg. Tariff

(Rs/kWh)

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 5 21 - 10 - 10 4.8

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 5 21 - 12 - 12 5.63

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 9 32 - 18 - 18 5.63 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 9 32 - 18 - 18 5.63

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 2 5 - 3 - 3 6.08

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 1 3 - 3 - 3 7.41

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 4 23 - 14 - 14 6.37


Total 3,077 14,097 2,138 3,195 33 5,367 3.81

PTC(IEX) 589 - 245 - 245 4.15

PTC(Except IEX) 143 - 89 - 89 6.23

DB Power 14 - 8 - 8 5.88

TATA Energy Trading Ltd. 61 - 32 - 32 5.17

Manikaran 21 - 10 - 10 4.83

NEA 3 - 2 - 2 6.18

UI 3 - -16 - -16 -55.24 Others - 834 - 369 - 369 4.43

Gross Total 3077 14931 2138 3565 33 5736 3.84

SLDC 2 - - 2

BGCL 230 - - 230

BSPTCL 728 - - 728

POSOCO 0 - - 0

PGCIL ULDC CHG 0 - - 0

PGCIL 490 - - 490 GMR_Transmission charges 13 - - 13 Transmission Charges - - 1,464 - - 1,464 Power Purchase Cost 3,077 14,931 3,602 3,565 33 7,200 4.82

Less: Surplus Energy Sale 229 108 108 4.69

Net Power Purchase Cost 3,077 14,702 3,602 3,457 33 7,092 4.82

Add: REC 97 97 Total Power Purchase Cost 3,077 14,702 3,699 3,457 33 7,189 4.89




DISCOMs have provided detailed estimate of power purchase cost from various

sources showing fixed charges, energy rates, energy cost, other cost from various

sources in Format-5 of the petition.

The power purchase cost has been considered only for required quantum and

following Merit Order Dispatch (MOD) principle as arrived in Table 5.14. The fixed

charges, variable charges and other charges have been considered as projected by

the petitioner. However, wherever the power purchase quantum has been reduced

as deliberated in Paragraph 5.6 above, energy cost has also been reduced on pro-

rata basis.

The details of power purchase cost from various sources considered for DISCOMs

for FY 2019-20 (RE) are as given in the Tables 5.22 & 5.23 below:



Table 5.22: Power Purchase Cost considered for SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE)


allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MUs)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)

Miscellaneous cost (Rs Crs)

Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Central Sector Stations 2511.12 11512.50 1811.87 2.16 2487.34 23.95 4323.16 3.76

FSTPP I &II 256.92 1236.01 165.52 2.40 296.64 0.21 462.37 3.74

FSTPP III 64.70 178.57 65.76 2.42 43.21 4.96 113.94 6.38

KHSTPP I 182.07 1191.06 129.15 2.27 270.37 0.06 399.58 3.35

KHSTPP II 38.86 257.90 27.97 2.16 55.71 0.01 83.69 3.25

Barh Stage II 568.95 3985.94 697.74 2.24 892.85 12.07 1602.65 4.02

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I - III 38.59 190.77 46.13 2.17 41.40 0.02 87.54 4.59

Korba 13.50 50.17 6.43 1.28 6.42 0.51 13.37 2.66

Talcher Stage I 207.47 1511.54 152.19 1.98 299.28 4.46 455.93 3.02

KBUNL Stage II 142.53 380.62 195.24 2.78 105.81 1.62 302.66 7.95

NPGCL Unit I 279.42 979.99 192.08 1.79 175.42 0.00 367.50 3.75

NPGCL Unit II 279.42 70.29 13.78 1.79 12.58 0.00 26.36 3.75

Darlipali STPS Unit I 43.20 44.61 12.65 3.21 14.32 0.00 26.97 6.05

Chuka 43.20 252.82 0.00 2.40 60.68 0.00 60.68 2.40

Rangit 11.34 68.48 13.90 1.91 13.08 0.01 26.99 3.94

Tala 139.05 460.37 0.00 2.16 99.44 0.00 99.44 2.16

Teesta 58.55 363.70 35.40 1.16 42.19 0.03 77.62 2.13

Mangdechu 143.35 289.67 57.93 2.00 57.93 0.00 115.87 4.00


BSPHC 29.32 25.48 0.00 2.49 6.34 0.00 6.34 2.49

KBUNL Stage I 118.80 272.63 71.90 3.76 102.51 0.00 174.41 6.40

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59.40 65.82 13.76 4.16 27.38 0.00 41.14 6.25

BTPS Stage I Unit II 59.40 6.12 1.28 4.16 2.54 0.00 3.82 6.25

BTPS Stage II Unit I 135.00 205.12 46.15 2.30 47.18 0.00 93.33 4.55

IPP 249.91 1789.54 434.59 1.14 203.39 60.02 698.00 3.90

GMR 132.69 925.46 176.45 1.18 109.20 73.20 358.85 3.88

JITPL 117.22 864.08 258.14 1.09 94.18 -13.18 339.14 3.92




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MUs)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Renewable 449.60 872.92 0.00 4.32 377.28 0.00 377.28 4.32

M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 5.40 8.99 0.00 5.67 5.10 0.00 5.10 5.67

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 5.40 9.05 0.00 5.67 5.13 0.00 5.13 5.67

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 2.70 4.37 0.00 7.69 3.36 0.00 3.36 7.69

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 1.62 2.74 0.00 5.67 1.55 0.00 1.55 5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 8.10 14.51 0.00 7.87 11.42 0.00 11.42 7.87

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 2.70 4.43 0.00 7.98 3.54 0.00 3.54 7.98

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 5.40 8.73 0.00 8.39 7.32 0.00 7.32 8.39

Welspun Renewables Project - I 5.40 9.07 0.00 8.70 7.89 0.00 7.89 8.70

Welspun Renewables Project – II 8.10 13.49 0.00 8.64 11.66 0.00 11.66 8.64

Welspun Renewables Project – III 8.10 13.60 0.00 8.56 11.64 0.00 11.64 8.56

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 8.10 13.22 0.00 8.73 11.54 0.00 11.54 8.73

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 5.40 9.01 0.00 8.73 7.87 0.00 7.87 8.73

Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 5.40 9.31 0.00 5.50 5.12 0.00 5.12 5.50

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro) 108.00 252.07 0.00 3.53 88.98 0.00 88.98 3.53

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 54.00 149.80 0.00 2.72 40.75 0.00 40.75 2.72

SECI Phase-III Wind 162.00 144.00 0.00 2.52 36.29 0.00 36.29 2.52

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, 3.90 13.16 0.00 4.87 6.41 0.00 6.41 4.87




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MUs)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost (Rs

Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Narkataganj

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 5.18 19.26 0.00 6.22 11.98 0.00 11.98 6.22

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 5.97 24.40 0.00 4.81 11.74 0.00 11.74 4.81

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 5.97 24.66 0.00 5.63 13.88 0.00 13.88 5.63

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 10.91 37.81 0.00 5.63 21.29 0.00 21.29 5.63

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 10.91 37.09 0.00 5.63 20.88 0.00 20.88 5.63

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 1.83 6.04 0.00 6.08 3.67 0.00 3.67 6.08

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 0.79 4.08 0.00 7.41 3.02 0.00 3.02 7.41

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 5.08 27.95 0.00 6.37 17.80 0.00 17.80 6.37

Tirupati Sugar 3.24 12.08 0.00 6.17 7.45 0.00 7.45 6.17

Others 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

PTC(IEX) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

PTC(Except IEX) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

DB Power 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00


Manikaran 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

NEA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

UI 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total Power purchase Cost 3612.55 14750.13 2379.56 2.21 3253.96 83.97 5717.49 3.88



Table 5.23: Power Purchase Cost considered for NBPDCL for FY 2019-20 (RE)


allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MUs)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost

(Rs Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Central Sector Stations 2139.09 10340.01 1654.76 2.18 2250.64 11.20 3916.60 3.79

FSTPP I &II 218.86 1083.47 148.13 2.40 260.08 -5.06 403.15 3.72

FSTPP III 55.11 169.57 62.59 2.42 41.11 3.17 106.87 6.30

KHSTPP I 155.09 1035.69 115.13 2.27 235.13 0.00 350.26 3.38

KHSTPP II 33.11 219.69 23.78 2.16 47.38 0.00 71.16 3.24

Barh Stage II 484.66 3845.05 673.11 2.24 861.29 11.46 1545.86 4.02


Korba 11.50 42.74 5.48 1.28 5.49 0.19 11.16 2.61

Talcher Stage I 176.73 1287.61 130.08 1.98 254.85 0.00 384.93 2.99

KBUNL Stage II 121.42 338.56 173.91 2.78 94.05 1.42 269.38 7.96

NPGCL Unit I 238.02 834.81 163.62 1.79 149.43 0.00 313.05 3.75

NPGCL Unit II 238.02 59.88 11.74 1.79 10.72 0.00 22.46 3.75

Darlipali STPS Unit I 36.80 37.99 10.78 3.21 12.20 0.00 22.97 6.05

Chuka 36.80 215.36 0.00 2.40 51.72 0.00 51.72 2.40

Rangit 9.66 58.33 19.14 3.74 21.84 0.01 40.99 7.03

Tala 118.45 392.16 0.00 2.16 84.71 0.00 84.71 2.16

Teesta 49.88 309.82 30.16 1.16 36.03 0.02 66.21 2.14

Mangdechu 122.11 246.76 49.35 2.00 49.35 0.00 98.70 4.00


BSPHC 24.98 21.74 0.00 2.49 5.41 0.00 5.41 2.49

KBUNL Stage I 101.20 232.24 61.25 3.76 87.32 0.00 148.57 6.40

BTPS Stage I Unit I 50.60 56.07 11.72 4.16 23.33 0.00 35.05 6.25

BTPS Stage I Unit II 50.60 5.21 1.09 4.16 2.17 0.00 3.26 6.25

BTPS Stage II Unit I 115.00 174.73 39.31 2.30 40.19 0.00 79.50 4.55

IPP 212.88 1524.43 370.20 1.14 173.26 19.37 562.83 3.69

GMR 113.03 788.36 150.31 1.18 93.03 28.19 271.53 3.44

JITPL 99.85 736.07 219.89 1.09 80.23 -8.82 291.30 3.96




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MUs)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost

(Rs Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Renewable 382.98 742.72 0.00 4.31 320.30 0.00 320.30 4.31

M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 4.60 7.65 0.00 5.67 4.34 0.00 4.34 5.67

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 4.60 7.71 0.00 5.67 4.37 0.00 4.37 5.67

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 2.30 3.72 0.00 7.69 2.86 0.00 2.86 7.69

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 1.38 2.34 0.00 5.67 1.33 0.00 1.33 5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 6.90 12.36 0.00 7.87 9.73 0.00 9.73 7.87

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 2.30 3.77 0.00 7.98 3.01 0.00 3.01 7.98

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 4.60 7.43 0.00 8.39 6.23 0.00 6.23 8.39

Welspun Renewables Project – I 4.60 7.73 0.00 8.70 6.73 0.00 6.73 8.70

Welspun Renewables Project – II 6.90 11.49 0.00 8.64 9.93 0.00 9.93 8.64

Welspun Renewables Project – III 6.90 11.58 0.00 8.56 9.91 0.00 9.91 8.56

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 6.90 11.26 0.00 8.73 9.83 0.00 9.83 8.73

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 4.60 7.67 0.00 8.73 6.70 0.00 6.70 8.73

Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 4.60 7.93 0.00 5.50 4.36 0.00 4.36 5.50

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro) 92.00 214.73 0.00 3.53 75.80 0.00 75.80 3.53

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 46.00 127.61 0.00 2.72 34.71 0.00 34.71 2.72

SECI Phase-III Wind 138.00 122.67 0.00 2.52 30.91 0.00 30.91 2.52

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 3.32 11.21 0.00 4.44 4.98 0.00 4.98 4.44

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 4.42 16.40 0.00 6.22 10.20 0.00 10.20 6.22

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 5.09 20.78 0.00 4.80 9.97 0.00 9.97 4.80

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 5.09 21.01 0.00 5.63 11.83 0.00 11.83 5.63

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 9.29 32.20 0.00 5.63 18.13 0.00 18.13 5.63

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 9.29 31.60 0.00 5.63 17.79 0.00 17.79 5.63

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 1.55 5.15 0.00 6.08 3.13 0.00 3.13 6.08




allocated (MW)

Units purchased

(MUs)


Energy Cost

(Rs/kWh)

Energy cost (Rs

Crs)


Total Cost

(Rs Crs)

Average Cost

(Rs./kWh)

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 0.67 3.41 0.00 7.41 2.53 0.00 2.53 7.41

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 4.32 22.59 0.00 6.37 14.39 0.00 14.39 6.37

Tirupati Sugar 2.76 10.72 0.00 6.17 6.61 0.00 6.61 6.17

Others 2.97

PTC(IEX) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

PTC(Except IEX) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

DB Power 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00


Manikaran 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

NEA 2.97 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

UI 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total Power Purchase Cost 3077.33 13100.12 2138.33 2.22 2902.62 30.57 5071.53 3.87



5.10 Transmission Charges


The Discoms have submitted that they have to pay transmission charges to PGCIL

for use of transmission facilities to enable power drawl from the Eastern Region.

Actual PGCIL charges as incurred in FY 2018-19 has been considered. Further, they

have to pay BSPTCL, SLDC & BGCL charges also, as approved by the Commission for

the FY 019-20. Further, actual GMR Transmission Charges, POSOCO charges and

Open Access charges incurred in first three months of FY 2019-20 has been shown.

The Discoms have requested to approve the transmission and related charges for

inter-state as well as intra-state transmission transactions for FY 2019-20 as shown

in the table 5.24 below.

Table 5.24: Transmission Charges projected by Discoms for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore)

Utilities SBPDCL NBPDCL

Total Projected for FY 2019-20

Projected for FY 2019-20

PGCIL 614 490 1104

POSOCO & ULDC charges 2 0 2

BSPTCL charges 855 728 1583

SLDC 3 2 5

BGCL 270 230 500

GMR transmission charges 15 13 28

Total transmission charges 1759 1463 3222


SBPDCL & NBPDCL have submitted that PGCIL charges are considered as actually

incurred in FY 2018-19.SBPDCL and NBPDCL have projected PGCIL charges at Rs.614

Cr and Rs.490 Cr respectively where as the actual PGCIL charges incurred in FY

2018-19 are Rs.613.93 Cr and Rs.489. 84 Cr. Similarly SBPDCL & NBPDCL have

projected POSOCO & ULDC charges at Rs.2 Cr and Rs.‘0’ Cr respectively where as

the actual POSOCO & ULDC charges incurred in FY 2018-19 are Rs.3.09 Cr and

Rs.2.46 Cr respectively

PGCIL and POSCO charges for FY 2019-20(R.E) are considered as per actual of FY

2018-19. BGCL, BSPTCL and SLDC charges are considered based on those approved

in their Tariff Orders dated 15.02.2019 for FY 2019-20 as the same are being billed

during FY 2019-20. GMR transmission charges are already considered under the

power purchase cost as other charges.



The transmission charges considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) are as given in the Table

5.25 below:

Table 5.25: Transmission Charges considered by Commission for Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE)

(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


1 PGCIL & ULDC Charges 613.93 489.84 1103.77

2 POSOCO Charges 3.09 2.46 5.55

3 BSPTCL Charges 541.25 461.07 1002.32

4 SLDC Charges 2.07 1.76 3.83

4 BGCL Charges 112.26 95.62 207.88

5 Total Transmission Charges 1272.60 1050.75 2323.35

5.11 Total Power Purchase Cost

As already discussed in the Tariff Order dated 21.03.2018 and 25.02.2019, the

generating companies and transmission licensees provide 2% rebate on the bills on

immediate payment through Letter of Credit as per CERC Tariff Regulations 2014

and BERC Tariff Regulation; 2007 and 1% rebate on payment within 30 days from

production of such bills. Since adequate interest for working capital is

provided in the ARR, the Discom shall endeavour to make payment of the bills of

Gencos and Transcos at atleast within one month from production of such bills so

as to avail this opportunity and reduce their power purchase costs.

The total power purchase cost considered by the Commission for FY 2019-20 (RE) is

as shown in the Table 5.26 below:

Table 5.26: Total Power Purchase Cost considered by Commission for Discoms for FY 2019-20 (RE)

SI. No.

Particulars

SBPDCL Approved by Commission for

FY 2019-20 (RE)

NBPDCL Approved by Commission for

FY 2019-20 (RE)

Total Approved by Commission for FY

2019-20 (RE)

(MU) (RS. Cr) (MU) (RS. Cr) (MU) (RS. Cr)

1 Power Purchase Cost 14750.13 5717.49 13100.12 5071.53 27850.25 10789.02

2 Transmission Charges 1272.60 1050.75 2323.35

3 Total Power Purchase Cost

6990.09 6122.28 13112.37

4 Less: Rebate at 1% 69.90 61.22 131.12

5 Net power purchase cost (3- 4)

6920.19 6061.05 12981.24

The power purchase cost, including transmission charges provisionally considered

in the above Table will be reviewed while truing up the ARR for FY 2019-20 in the



next Tariff Order based on the actuals as per Audited Annual Accounts for FY 2019-

20 and prudence check.

5.12 Capital Expenditure


Discoms have submitted that it has estimated capital expenditure, capitalisation

and funding taking into account the recent developments and targets to be

achieved under various schemes during the forthcoming years.

Discoms have projected capitalisation and funding of capitalisation under various

schemes for FY 2019-20 as given in the table 5.27 below:

Table 5.27: Scheme-wise capitalisation and source of funding projected for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Name of the scheme Name of the

funding agency NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

1 BRGF

280.92 238.59 519.51

2 R-APDRP

4.50 126.55 131.05

3 NABARD Phase VIII

8.39 19.92 28.31

4 NABARD Phase XI

1.57 5.50 7.07 5 MP/CM LAD

9.29 0.81 10.10

6 Deposit schemes

4.90 2.40 7.30

7 ADB

73.14 87.15 160.29

8 ACA State Plan

1.29 16.54 17.83

9 Burnt DTR - State Plan

90.77 90.77

10 State Plan – others

205.00 99.12 304.12

11 APL Connection (Saubhagya)

165.26 204.56 369.82

12 CM Seven Resolution (Har Ghar Bijili)

109.29 109.29

13 IPDS

174.29 289.07 463.36

14 RGGVY

263.43 641.60 905.03

15 DDUGJY

485.59 79.34 564.93

16 Own sources

10.00 10.00

17 Reconductoring 283.14 388.08 671.22

18 Total 2070.00 2300.00 4370.00

Discoms have submitted the details of opening CWIP, investment during the year,

capitalisation and funding of capitalisation for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table

5.28 below:

Table 5.28: CWIP, Capitalisation and Funding of capitalisation projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)

(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Projected

by NBPDCL Projected by SBPDCL

Total

1 Opening CWIP 7930.86 4334.92 12265.78

2 New Investment 2858.13 4522.47 7380.60

3 Less: Capitalisation (4+5) 2070.00 2300.00 4370.00

4 Opening CWIP 1656.00 1840.00 3496.00

5 New Investment 414.00 460.00 874.00



SI. No.



Total

6 Closing CWIP (1+2-3) 8718.99 6557.39 15276.38

7 Funding

8 CWIP Capitalisation (9+10+11) 1656.00 1840.00 3496.00

9 Grant 657.94 825.34 1483.28

10 Equity 756.50 703.95 1460.45

11 Loan 241.56 310.71 552.27

12 New Investment (13+14+15) 414.01 460.01 874.02

13 Grant 164.49 206.34 370.83

14 Equity 189.13 175.99 365.12

15 Loan 60.39 77.68 138.07

16 Total Grant (9+13) 822.43 1031.68 1854.11

17 Total Equity (10+14) 945.63 879.94 1825.57

18 Total Loan (11+15) 301.95 388.38 690.34


The Commission has approved the capital investment plan and capitalisation in the

Business plan for the control period FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22. As per the Business

plan, the approved capex and capitalisation for FY 2020-21 relating to NBPDCL and

SBPDCL is as given hereunder:

Name of the Discom Capital investment Capitalisation

NBPDCL (Table 6.38 of Business plan) 2676.59 3453.82

SBPDCL (Table 6.35 of Business plan) 2967.62 3794.09

Discoms have furnished the scheme-wise details of capital expenditure and

capitalisation for FY 2019-20 in Format 11 enclosed to the petition. As per the

details, the projected capex and capitalisation for FY 2019-20 is as under:


Capital investment 2858.13 4522.47

Capitalisation 2070.00 2300.00

The Commission observes that petitioner has not furnished Capital expenditure

and Capitalization in line with figures approved in business plan and accordingly

address the petitioners vide its Letter No 1375 dated 27.11.2019. The petitioner,

without furnishing any information in support of deviation in figures of capital

expenditure and capitalization from Business Plan, have simply replied that

Business plan is an estimate which is prepared under various assumptions keeping

in mind factors like government preferences, write of way, man power

requirement, land issues, general elections etc., which are important factors in

determination of progress of work and due to change in assumptions on account of



these factors capex filed is not in line with figures approved in business plan. The

Commission finds that capital expenditure approved in Business Plan are at

Rs.2676.59 Crore for NBPDCL and Rs.2967.62 Crore for SBPDCL. However, it has

been proposed by the petitioner to approve capex of Rs.2858.13 Crore for NBPDCL

and Rs.4522.47 Crore for SBPDCL. This simply shows that these excessive capital

expenditure projected by the petitioner are for new capital work that has to be

undertaken in FY 2019-20, which have not been approved by the Commission yet,

accordingly the Commission restricts the capital expenditure of FY 2019-20 to the

extent it was approved in Business Plan. In case of SBPDCL, the Commission also

observed that petitioner had undertaken work of Rs.406 Crore under CM-7

Resolution (Har Ghar Bijili), but the same has not been disclosed in projection of

capital expenditure in FY 2019-20. Further, the Commission, opines that the

Discoms shall be in a better position to monitor the projects/works implementation

and their completion and in view of strengthening of distribution network to

provide quality and uninterrupted 24x7 power to all, has subject to true up based

on audited accounts provisionally considered the capitalisation for FY 2019-20 as

projected by the Discoms, except the following works of Rs.285.33 Crore of SBPDCL

that relates to unapproved capital investment plan.

Name of the scheme Opening

CWIP

Capital expenditure

during FY 2019-20

considered by the

Commission

Capitalization during FY 2019-20

considered by the

Commission

Capitalization during FY 2019-20

projected by SBPDCL

Excess Capitalization projected by

SBPDCL

1 2 3 4=2+3 5 6=(5-4)

NABARD VIII 0.88 - 0.88 19.92 19.04

ADB 76.24 3.09 79.33 87.15 7.82

Re-conductoring 213.21 - 213.21 388.08 174.87

Burnt DTR state plan 7.16 - 7.16 90.77 83.61

Total 297.50 3.09 300.59 585.92 285.33

Discoms have projected funding of capitalisation in respect of opening CWIP and

new investment made during FY 2019-20 through Grants, Equity and Loans based

on the funding of the schemes.

The Commission has considered funding of capitalisation, based on the scheme-

wise details furnished by the Discoms in Format 11, as given in the table 5.29



below:

Table 5.29: Funding of Capitalisation considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No

Name of scheme / Project

Source of Capitalization

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Loan Grant Equity Loan Grant Equity

1 BRGF - - 238.59 - - 280.92

2 R-APDRP 126.55 - - 4.50 - -

3 NABARD Phase VIII - 0.88 - - 8.39 -

4 NABARD Phase XI - 5.50 - - 1.57 -

5 MP/CM LAD - 0.81 - - 9.29 -

6 Deposit Scheme - 2.40 - - 4.90 -

7 ADB 79.33 - - 73.14 - -

8 ACA State Plan - - 16.54 - - 1.29

9 Burnt DTR State Plan - - 7.16 - - -

10 State Plan –Others - - 99.12 - - 205.00

11 Re-conductoring - - 213.21 - - 283.14

12 IPDS 86.72 173.44 28.91 52.29 104.57 17.43

13 RGGVY 64.16 577.44 - 26.34 237.10 -

14 CM Seven Resolution - - - - - 109.28

15 DDUGJY 23.80 47.60 7.93 145.68 291.35 48.56

16 APL Connection - 204.56 - - 165.26 -

17 Own Sources - - 10.00 - - -

Total 380.56 1,012.64 621.46 301.95 822.43 945.62

The Commission has considered opening CWIP at Rs.7930.88 Crore for NBPDCL and

Rs.4334.09 Crore for SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 based on the closing CWIP approved in

true up for FY 2018-19. The Commission has considered capitalisation for FY 2019-

20 in review as given in the table 5.30 below:

Table 5.30: Plan-wise Capitalisation considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Name of the Scheme/Project NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

1 BRGF 280.92 238.59 519.51 2 R-APDRP 4.50 126.55 131.05 3 NABARD Phase VIII 8.39 0.88 9.27 4 NABARD Phase XI 1.57 5.50 7.07 5 MP/CM LAD 9.29 0.81 10.10 6 Deposit Scheme 4.90 2.40 7.30 7 ADB 73.14 79.33 152.47 8 ACA State Plan 1.29 16.54 17.83 9 Burnt DTR State Plan - 7.16 7.16

10 State Plan –Others 205.00 99.12 304.12 11 CM Seven Resolution 109.29 0.00 109.29 12 Re-conductoring 283.14 213.21 496.35 13 IPDS 174.29 289.07 463.36



SI. No.

Name of the Scheme/Project NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

14 RGGVY 263.43 641.60 905.03 15 DDUGJY 485.59 79.34 564.93 16 APL Connection/Saubhagya 165.26 204.56 369.82 17 Own Sources 10.00 10.00 Total 2,070.00 2,014.67 4,084.66

Accordingly, the Commission considers the capitalisation of opening CWIP, new

investment and funding as detailed in the Table 5.31 below:

Table 5.31: CWIP, Capitalisation and funding of capitalization considered for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Particulars Considered for NBPDCL

in review

Considered for SBPDCL in review

Total

1 Opening CWIP 7930.88 4334.09 12264.97

2 New Investment 2676.59 2967.62 5644.21

3 Less: Capitalisation (4+5) 2070.00 2014.67 4084.67

4 Opening CWIP 1656.00 1611.74 3267.736

5 New Investment 414.00 402.93 816.934

6 Closing CWIP (1+2-3) 8537.47 5287.04 13824.51

7 Funding

8 CWIP Capitalisation (9+10+11) 1656.00 1611.74 3267.74

9 Grant 657.94 810.11 1468.06

10 Equity 756.50 497.18 1253.68

11 Loan 241.56 304.45 546.01

12 New Investment (13+14+15) 414.00 402.93 816.94

13 Grant 164.49 202.53 367.01

14 Equity 189.13 124.29 313.42

15 Loan 60.39 76.11 136.50

16 Total Grant (9+13) 822.43 1012.64 1835.07

17 Total Equity (10+14) 945.63 621.47 1567.10

18 Total Loan (11+15) 301.95 380.56 682.51

5.13 Gross Fixed Assets


Discoms have submitted the computation of GFA based on the opening GFA and

capitalisation schedule for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table 5.32 below:

Table 5.32: Gross Fixed Assets projected for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Projected by

NBPDCL Projected by

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening GFA 9809.99 8427.80 18237.79


3 Closing GFA (1+2) 11879.99 10727.80 22607.79




The Commission has considered opening GFA at Rs.10939.17 Crore for NBPDCL and

Rs.9615.59 Crore for SBPDCL based on the closing GFA approved in true up for FY

2018-19. Addition to the GFA during FY 2019-20 is considered as considered in

Table 5.31 above.

The opening GFA, additions to assets during the year and closing GFA for FY 2019-

20, arrived at by the Commission is as detailed in the Table 5.33 below:

Table 5.33: Gross Fixed Assets considered for FY 2019-20 in review (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Particulars Considered for

NBPDCL in review

Considered for SBPDCL in

review Total

1 Opening GFA 10939.17 9615.59 20554.76


3 Closing GFA (1+2) 13009.17 11630.26 24639.43

5.14 Depreciation


Discoms have submitted that depreciation is computed as per regulation 23 of

BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018 on the GFA reduced by value

of land and Grants for FY 2019-20.

Discoms have projected the depreciation for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table

5.34 below: Table 5.34: Depreciation projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)

(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


by NBPDCL in review

Projected by SBPDCL in

review Total

1 Opening GFA 8784.49 6885.81 15670.30


3 Closing GFA (1+2) 10649.17 8780.65 19429.82

4 Average GFA {(1+3)/2} 9716.83 7833.23 17550.06


6 Depreciation (4*5) 424.63 375.27 799.90

7 Opening Grants 6049.00 3181.99 9230.99

8 Grants during the year (net of land) 730.93 847.08 1578.01

9 Closing Grants for depreciable assets 7+9) 6779.93 4029.06 10809.00








The Commission has considered opening value of depreciable assets for FY 2019-20

based on the closing value of depreciable assets approved in truing up for FY 2018-

19. The opening grants (net of land) for FY 2019-20 is considered based on the

closing grants (net of land) approved in truing up for FY 2018-19

Capitalisation and Grants during the year FY 2019-20 are considered based on the

capitalisation and funding for FY 2019-20 as considered as given in the Table 5.35

below:

Table 5.35: Funding of capitalisation for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore)


Capitalisation during FY 2019-20 2070.00 2014.67

Less: Capitalisation through Grants 822.43 1012.64

Net capitalization 1247.57 1002.03

Equity 329.88 212.23

Debt 917.69 789.80

Regulation 23 (d) of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018,

specifies that “Freehold land shall not be treated as a depreciable asset and its

cost shall be excluded from the capital cost” accordingly for the purpose of

computation of depreciation, the addition to assets is considered excluding value of

land as projected by the Discoms in Format 14 submitted along with the tariff

petitions.

The Commission has considered the opening depreciable assets and opening grants

for FY 2019-20 based on the closing GFA and Grants approved in the truing up for

FY 2018-19 as given hereunder:


Opening Depreciable Assets 9906.20 8073.66

Opening Grants 7404.74 4482.80

The Commission has considered weighted average rate of depreciation on assets

and grants for Discoms (NBPDCL and SBPDCL) in line with the weighted average

rate of depreciation considered in true up for FY 2018-19.

The opening GFA, additions to GFA, closing GFA, rate of depreciation and

depreciation on assets created out of grants and depreciation considered by the

Commission for FY 2019-20 in review is as detailed in the Table 5.36 below:

Table 5.36: Depreciation considered for FY 2019-20 (RE)



(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars

Considered for NBPDCL

in review


Total

1 Opening GFA 9906.20 8073.66 17979.86


3 Closing GFA (1+2) 11770.88 9683.17 21454.05

4 Average GFA {(1+3)/2} 10838.54 8878.415 19716.955


6 Depreciation (4*5) 475.81 402.55 878.36

7 Opening Grants 7404.74 4482.80 11887.54


9 Less: Grants used for Land during the year(as reported in Format 14) 90.58 184.60 275.18

10 Net Closing Grants for depreciable assets (7+8-9) 8136.59 5310.84 13447.43





The Commission, accordingly, considers the depreciation in review for FY 2019-20.

5.15 Interest on Loans


Discoms have submitted that addition to debt is considered at 70% of the addition

to GFA excluding contribution from grants. The weighted average rate of interest is

considered for FY 2019-20 @ 9.11% for NBPDCL and 9.40% for SBPDCL as given

below.

SI. No.


Opening loan

Closing Loan

Average loan

Interest paid

Opening loan

Closing Loan

Average loan

Interest paid

1 REC – RGGVY 472.56 472.56 472.56 51.98 0.00

2 REC – RAPDRP 349.26 349.26 349.26 36.32

3 PFC – RAPDRP 13.69 13.69 13.69 1.23 213.59 360.82 287.21 22.53

4 PFC – RAPDRP 34.65 50.87 42.76 3.77 0.00

5

PFC – Counter part 66.99 89.39 78.19 7.98 0.00

6 REC - DDUGJY 200.00 1018.00 609.00 43.14 144.95 136.88 140.92 14.61

7 REC - DDUGJY 0.00 200.02 770.02 485.02 44.97

8 REC – IPDS 99.98 199.98 149.98 12.67 100.00 200.00 150.00 13.67

9 ADB / BSPHCL 56.01 56.01 56.01 5.88 6.06 6.06 6.06 0.64



SI. No.


Opening loan

Closing Loan

Average loan

Interest paid

Opening loan

Closing Loan

Average loan

Interest paid

10

State Government - Non plan 197.10 223.10 210.10 22.06 43.69 66.38 55.04 5.78

11 Working capital loan 0.00 0.00

12 Total 1140.98 2123.60 1632.29 148.71 1057.57 1889.42 1473.50 138.52

Weighted average rate of interest 9.11% 9.40%

Discoms have projected the interest charges for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table

5.37 below:

Table 5.37: Interest on loans projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.



Total

1 Opening loan 2109.00 3186.67 5295.67

2 Addition to loan 873.30 887.82 1761.12

3 Less: Repayment 192.82 202.62 395.44

4 Closing loan 2789.48 3871.88 6661.35

5 Average loans 2449.24 3529.27 5978.51

6 Interest rate/weighted average rate 9.11% 9.40%

7 Interest Charges 223.14 331.58 554.72


The Commission has considered opening loan for FY 2019-20 in review based on

the closing loan approved for NBPDCL Rs.1786.19 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.1978.87

Crore in true up for FY 2018-19.

The Commission has considered the addition to loan based on the funding of

capitalisation and grants in terms of regulation 25(j) as considered in the table 5.35

above.

The Commission, in terms of regulation 25(e) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations 2015, has considered repayment of loan equal to the

depreciation allowed for the year 2019-20.

The Commission has considered weighted average rate of interest at 10.31% for

NBPDCL and 10.04% for SBPDCL in true up as elaborated in paragraph 4.16 above.

Accordingly, the Commission provisionally considers the weighted average rate of

interest for FY 2019-20 in line with the interest rate considered in true up for FY



2018-19, subject to true up based on audited accounts for FY 2019-20.

The Commission, considering the above, has computed interest on loans in review


Table 5.38: Interest on loan considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


in review


review Total

1 Opening loan 1786.19 1978.87 3765.06

2 Additions during the year 917.69 789.80 1707.49 3 Normative repayment 134.68 180.53 315.21 4 Closing loan (1+2-3) 2569.20 2588.15 5157.35

5 Average loans (1+4)/2 2177.70 2283.51 4461.21 6 Interest rate/weighted average rate 10.31% 10.04%

7 Interest Charges (5x6) 224.48 229.22 453.70

The Commission, accordingly, has considered interest on loans for FY 2019-20 in

review.

5.16 Other finance charges


Discoms have projected other finance charges for FY 2019-20 based on the charges

claimed in true up for FY 2018-19 with escalation by 10% as given in the Table 5.39

below:

Table 5.39: Other finance charges projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars

Projected by NBPDCL in

review


review Total

1 Other finance charges as approved in truing up for FY 2018-19

37.39 53.55 90.94

2 Escalation percentage 10.00% 10.00%

3 Add: increase in finance charges 3.74 5.36 9.09

4 Total Other finance charges 41.13 58.91 100.03


The Commission has approved other finance charges at Rs.44.57 Crore for NBPDCL

and Rs.53.55 Crore for SBPDCL in true up for FY 2018-19 based on the audited

accounts for FY 2018-19 as deliberated in Para 4.17. The Commission has

considered escalation at 10% year on year in respect of other finance charges for

the MYT control period in Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019 and accordingly, the

escalation is considered at the same level for FY 2019-20 in review. The



Commission, accordingly, has considered other finance charges for FY 2019-20 as


Table 5.40: Other finance charges considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL in review


review

Total

1 Other finance charges as approved in true up for FY 2018-19

44.57 53.55 98.12

2 Escalation percentage 10.00% 10.00%

3 Add: increase in finance charges 4.46 5.35 9.81


The Commission, accordingly, has considered other finance charges in review for

FY 2019-20.

5.17 Return on Equity


Discoms have submitted that RoE is calculated on the basis of closing balance of

fixed assets as claimed in true up for FY 2018-19 and 30% of addition in GFA is

added which is further reduced by 30% of the grant contributing to addition to

fixed assets.

Discoms have computed the return on equity for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the

Table 5.41 below:

Table 5.41: Return on Equity projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


by NBPDCL in review


review Total

1 Equity to the end of 31.3.2016 608.64 574.36 1183.00


3 Return on equity (1x2) 85.21 80.41 165.62

4 Opening Equity w.e.f.1.4.2016 759.60 745.47 1505.07

5 Additions 374.27 380.50 754.77

6 Closing equity (4+5) 1133.87 1125.97 2259.84

7 Average equity (4+6)/2 946.74 935.72 1882.46

8 Rate of Return on Equity 15.50% 15.50% 0.31

9 Return on Equity (7*8) 146.74 145.04 291.78

10 Total Return on Equity (3+9) 231.95 225.45 457.40


The Commission has considered the opening equity based on the closing equity



approved in true up for FY 2018-19 as given below:


Closing equity to end of 31.03.2016 440.86 638.06

Closing equity in respect of projects commissioned w.e.f.01.04.2016 588.96 688.81

The Commission accordingly has considered opening equity and in terms of

regulation 27(c) has considered Rate of RoE at 14% on equity upto 31.3.2016 and

15.50% on equity w.e.f.01.04.2016. Addition to equity for FY 2019-20 is considered

based on funding of capitalisation as shown in Table 5.35 above.

Regulation 29 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, specify

return on equity shall be grossed up with the effective tax rate of the respective

financial year. The Discoms have not projected pre-tax RoE for FY 2019-20. The

Commission addressed the Petitioners to report the reasons for not claiming the

pre-tax RoE. The Petitioners have reported that “regulations 29 of the BERC (Multi

Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, the base rate of return on equity allowed

under Regulation 27 shall be grossed up with the effective tax rate of the respective

financial year. The effective tax rate shall be considered on the basis of actual tax

paid in the respect of the financial year in line with the provisions of the relevant

Finance Acts. The actual tax on income from other business including deferred tax

liability (i.e. income on business other than business of distribution, as the case may

be) shall not be considered for the calculation of effective tax rate. Further

regulation 29.2 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, Rate

of return on equity shall be computed as per the formula given below:

Rate of pre-tax return on equity = Base rate / (1-t) Where “t” is the effective tax rate

in accordance with the regulation and shall be calculated at the beginning of every

financial year based on the estimated profit and tax to be paid estimated in line

with the provisions of the relevant Finance Act applicable for that financial year to

the company on pro-rata basis by excluding the income of non-generation or non-

transmission business, as the case may be, and the corresponding tax thereon. In

case of licensee paying Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), “t” shall be considered as

MAT rate including surcharge and cess. The petitioner hereby states that it has not

incurred any Income tax liability/MAT liability for the year 2018-19, hence ROE has

been considered at 15.5% without considering the effect of IT for future FYs



The Commission considers the submissions made by the Petitioners and

accordingly RoE is computed without considering the tax on RoE for FY 2019-20.

Further, the Petitioners have not incurred any expenses towards tax in earlier

years. The Commission, accordingly, has computed return on equity for FY 2019-20


Table 5.42: Return on Equity approved for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


in review


review Total



3 Return on Equity (1x2) 61.72 89.33 151.05


4 Opening equity 588.96 688.81 1277.77


6 Closing equity (4+5) 918.84 901.04 1819.88

7 Average equity (4+6)/2 753.90 794.93 1548.82

8 Rate of return on equity with effect from 1.4.2016 15.50% 15.50%

9 Return on equity (7*8) 116.85 123.21 240.07


The Commission, accordingly, considers Return on Equity in review for FY 2019-20.

5.18 Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses

5.18.1 Employee Cost Petitioners’ submission:

Discoms have projected the employee expenses for FY 2019-20 based on the actual employee cost as per audited accounts of FY 2018-19 with CPI inflation indexation of 4.21% for FY 2019-20 (RE) as detailed in the Table 5.43 below:

Table 5.43: Employee Cost projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No. Particulars Projected by

NBPDCL in review


review Total

1 Base year Employee expenses 261.19 433.77 694.96

2 Inflationary index 4.21% 4.21%

3 Add: Inflationary increase 11.00 18.27 29.27

4 Employee Cost 272.20 452.04 724.24


Regulation 22.1 read with 22 specifies that the Commission shall stipulate a

separate trajectory of norms for Employee expenses in terms of combination of no.

of personnel per 1000 consumers and no. of personnel per substation along with



annual expenses per personnel.

The Commission, in terms of regulation 22 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations 2018, had determined Employee norm for the MYT control period of FY

2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in the Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019 as deliberated under

Commission’s analysis in paragraph 7.23.

The Petitioner has projected employee expenses considering expenses of FY 2018-

19 as base year expenses with indexation for inflationary increase for FY 2019-20

and FY 2020-21 in contravention to tariff regulation 22.

The Commission has addressed the petitioners vide letter no.1375 dated

27.11.2019 (NBPDCL) and letter no.1384 dated 24.11.2019 (SBPDCL) to furnish the

reasons for not considering the employee norm for projecting the employee

expenses for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21.

The Petitioner NBPDCL vide letter no.637 dated 06.12.2019 (NBPDCL) has

submitted the following norms for employee expenses:

Weighted average CPI index computed by NBPDCL

Particulars 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

Average annual CPI index 265 276 284 300

Year on year increase 4.15% 2.90% 5.63%

Average increase 4.23%

Number of substations projected by NBPDCL for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21

Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 CAGR 2019-20 2020-21

1 2 3 4 5 6=4*(1+14.24%) 7=6*(1+14.24%)

No of sub-stations

354 430 462 14.24% 545 602

Employee Norm proposed by NBPDCL

Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 CAGR% Base value

No of employees 7878 8810 8201

No of Consumers (in 1000) 6296.21 7074.54 9165.38

No of substations 354 430 462

number of personnel per 1000 consumers (15%) 0.19 0.19 0.134 -15.44% 0.1135

number of personnel per substation (85%) 18.92 17.42 15.09 -10.69% 13.4757

Total Employee cost 188.13 258.52 261.19

Annual expenses per personnel 0.02388 0.02934 0.03185 0.03185

The Petitioner SBPDCL vide its letter no.105 dated 06.12.2019 has submitted the

following norms for employee expenses:



Weighted average CPI index computed by SBPDCL

Particulars 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

Average annual CPI index 265 276 284 300

Year on year increase 4.15% 2.90% 5.63%


Number of substations projected by SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21

Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 CAGR 2019-20 2020-21

1 2 3 4 5 6=4*(1+12.71%) 7=6*(1+12.71%)

No of sub-stations

381 394 484 12.71% 545 615

Employee norms proposed by SBPDCL

Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 CAGR% Base value


No of Consumers (in 1000) 3625.54 4284.972 5400.462

No of substations 381 394 484

number of personnel per 1000 consumers (15%) 0.38 0.32 0.282 -13.74% 0.2432

number of personnel per substation (85%) 20.43 20.00 17.83 -6.59% 16.6539

Total Employee cost 288.21 387.79 433.77

Annual expenses per personnel 0.03147 0.04182 0.04273 0.04273

However, the Discoms (i.e. NBPDCL and SBPDCL) have not projected the employee

expenses based on the proposed employee norm for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21.

The Commission had determined Employee norm (Table 7.65 for SBPDCL and Table

7.67 for NBPDCL) for the MYT control period of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in the

Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019 as deliberated under Commission’s analysis in

paragraph 7.23. The base value of employee cost norm arrived is as given below:

Particulars Base

Value for NBPDCL

Base Value for SBPDCL

No. of personnel per 1000 consumers 0.1676 0.2667

No. of personnel per Sub-Station 16.2871 19.4782

Annual expenses per personnel (Rs. Crore) 0.03060 0.043614

The Discoms have furnished the details of projected total number of consumers and

total no. of substations for FY 2019-20 as given below:


2019-20 2020-21 2019-20 2020-21

No. of substations 545 602 545 615

No. of consumers 10026613 10609345 6149016 6335457



Regulation 22 (g) specifies that the norms determined at constant prices of base

year shall be escalated on account of inflation. Accordingly, the Commission has

examined and considered the computation of average increase in the Consumer

Price Index (CPI) and arrived at 4.22% as detailed in Table 5.43, for immediately

preceding three years in terms of regulation 22.1 and inflated the base annual

expenses per personnel to arrive the normative annual expenses for personnel for

FY 2019-20 as detailed in Table 5.45.

The Commission has observed that there was an inadvertent error in Table 7.65

(SBPDCL) and Table 7.67 (NBPDCL) of the MYT order dated 25.02.2019 wherein the

normative no.of personnel per 1000 consumers and no.of personnel per substation

determined in terms of regulation 22 have been inflated in terms of inflation (CPI).

Accordingly, the Commission in terms of regulation 22 read with regulation 22.2 has

considered normative no.of personnel per 1000 consumer and no.of personnel per

substation as approved in Table no.7.64 (SBPDCL) and Table no.7.66 (NBPDCL) of

MYT order dated 25.02.2019 for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21.

The Commission also observes that the petitioners have projected no.of substations

for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21 considering CAGR of FY 2016-17 to FY 2018-19 and

have not furnished any information with respect to audited no.of operational

substations as on 31.03.2019 and no.of substations going to be in operation in FY

2019-20 and FY 2020-21. The Commission in absence of actual no.of substations,

for the purpose of projection, has considered the no.of substations at 410 for

SBPDCL and 495 for NBPDCL for FY 2019-20, as approved in Table 7.65 and 7.67

respectively of MYT order dated 25.02.2019, with a direction to the Discoms to

disclose the quantitative details of no.of substations and no.of personnel in their

audited accounts of FY 2019-20.

Table 5.44: Weighted average CPI index inflation

Particulars 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

Average annual CPI index 265.01 275.92 284.42 299.92

Year on year increase

4.12% 3.08% 5.45%




The Commission considering the base value of employee norm has computed the

employee expenses with inflationary indexation of 4.22% for FY 2019-20 as detailed


Table 5.45: Employee expenses based on norm considered for FY 2019-20 for Discoms

(Rs. Crore)

UoM Particulars

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total Base

Value 2019-

20 Base Value

2019-20

A Average annual CPI index 4.22% 4.22%

B Norms-Number of personnel per 1000 consumers 0.2667 0.2667 0.1676 0.1676

C Norms-Number of personal per substation 19.4782 19.4782 16.287 16.287

D No. of consumers (1000) (Table 5.1 and 5.2 of this order) 6149 10027

E No of substations 410 495

F Annual expenses per personnel (Rs. Crore)

0.043614 0.0455 0.0306 0.0319

G Employee cost on the norms of 1000 consumers (B*D*F) (Rs. Crore) 74.62 53.61

H Employee cost on the norms of substation (C*E*F) (Rs. Crore) 363.37 257.18

I Total Employee cost (G+H) (Rs. Crore) 437.99 310.79 748.78

The Commission, accordingly, considers the employee expenses for FY 2019-20 in

review as given in the table above.

5.18.2 Administration and General (A&G) Expenses


Discoms have projected the A&G expenses for FY 2019-20 based on the actual A&G

expenses as per audited accounts of FY 2018-19 with WPI inflation indexation of

2.97% for FY 2019-20 (RE) as detailed in the Table 5.46 below:



Table 5.46: A & G Expenses projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No


NBPDCL in review


review Total

1 Base year A & G expenses 231.17 111.39 342.56 2 Inflationary index (WPI) % 2.97% 2.97% 3 Add: Inflationary increase 6.87 3.31 10.17

4 Total A & G expenses 238.04 114.70 352.73


Regulation 22.3 read with regulation 22 specify that the Commission shall stipule a

separate trajectory of norms for A&G expenses in terms of combination of A&G

expense per personnel and A&G expenses for 1000 consumers.


Regulations 2018, had determined A&G expense norm for the MYT control period

of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in the Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019 as deliberated

under Commission’s analysis in paragraph 7.24.

The Petitioner has projected A&G expenses considering expenses of FY 2018-19 as

base year expenses with indexation for inflationary increase for FY 2019-20 and FY

2020-21 in contravention to tariff regulation 22. The base A&G expenses

considered by the NBPDCL includes onetime payment of Rs.78.59 Crore towards

prior period Holding tax expenses, which are considered by the Commission as

prior period expenses in truing up for FY 2018-19.

The Commission has addressed the petitioners vide letter no.1375 dated

27.11.2019 (NBPDCL) and letter no.1384 dated 24.11.2019 (SBPDCL) to furnish the

reasons for not considering the A&G expense norm for projecting the A&G

expenses for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21.

The Petitioner NBPDCL vide letter no.683 dated 24.12.2019 has submitted the

following norms for A&G expense:

A & G expense norm proposed by NBPDCL

Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

A&G expenses (A1) 93.44 108.67 241.35

No of consumers (A2) 6296 7075 9165


Norms per 1000 consumers 0.015 0.015 0.0026

Norms per employee 0.012 0.012 0.029



The SBPDCL vide letter no.398 dated 24.12.2019 has submitted the following norms

for A&G expense:

A & G expense norm proposed by SBPDCL

Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

A&G expenses (A1) 64.06 84.10 130.04

No of consumers (A2) 3626 4285 5400


Norms per 1000 consumers 0.018 0.02 0.024

Norms per employee 0.007 0.009 0.013

However, the Discoms (i.e. NBPDCL and SBPDCL) have not projected the A&G

expenses based on the approved A&G norm for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21.

The Commission had determined A&G norm in Table 7.72 for NBPDCL and Table

7.74 for SBPDCL for the MYT order in Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019 and also

observed that there are typo error in nomenclature in said tables i.e. Norm-No of

employees per 1000 consumers had been wrongly typed as Norm - A & G expenses

per 1000 consumers in said tables. The A&G norms approved in MYT order dated

25.02.2019 are as given below.

Particulars Base

Value for NBPDCL


Norm – Number of employees per 1000 consumers 1.1174 1.7780

Annual A&G expenses per 1000 consumers (Rs. Crore) 0.004978 0.003562

Annual A&G expenses per employee (Rs. Crore) 0.007576 0.009420


total no. of employees for FY 2019-20 vide NBPDCL letter No.1441 dated

11.11.2019 and SBPDCL letter No.1442 dated 11.11.2019. The Commission

observes that the petitioners have not furnished total no.of employees based on

the norms as specified in MYT order dated 25.02.2019 which stipulates no.of

employees based on per 1000 consumers. Further no.of consumers projected are

not in line with approved no.of consumers. Accordingly, for the purpose of APR

and ARR, the Commission has calculated no.of employees applying the norms

1.1174 for NBPDCL and 1.7780 for SBPDCL employees per 1000 consumers.





examined and considered the computation of average increase in the Wholesale

Price Index (WPI) at 2.98% furnished by the petitioners for immediately preceding

three years in terms of regulation 22.3 as given in the table 5.47 below.

Table 5.47: Weighted average CPI index inflation

Particulars 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

Average annual WPI index 109.72 111.62 114.88 119.79

Year on year increase

1.73% 2.92% 4.28%


The Commission considering the base year A&G expense norm and no. of

consumers has computed the A&G expenses with WPI inflationary indexation of

2.98% for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table 5.48 below:

Table 5.48: A&G expenses based on norm considered for FY 2019-20 for Discoms (Rs. Crore)

UoM Particulars

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total Base

Value 2019-20

Base Value

2019-20

A Average annual WPI CPI index 2.98% 2.98%

B Norms-Number of employees per 1000 consumers

1.778 1.778 1.1174 1.1174

C No. of consumers (1000) (Table 5.1 and 5.2 of this order) 6149 10027

D No of employees (B*C) 10933 11204

E Annual expenses per 1000 consumers (Rs. Crore) 0.003562 0.0037 0.004978 0.0051

F Annual expenses per employee (Rs. Crore) 0.00942 0.0097 0.007576 0.0078

G A&G cost on the norms of 1000 consumers (C*E) (Rs. Crore) 22.75 51.14

H A&G cost on the norms of employee (D*F) (Rs. Crore) 106.05

87.39

I Total A&G cost (G+H) (Rs. Crore) 128.80 138.53 267.33

The Commission, accordingly, considers the A&G expenses for FY 2019-20 in

review as given in the table above.

5.18.3 Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expenses



repair of different class of fixed assets, etc. Regulation 22.2 provides the

methodology for projecting R&M expenses and accordingly computed the ‘K’ factor

based on the available 3 (three) years audited accounts for FY 2016-17 to FY 2018-

19 as given below:



SI. No.


2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

1 Opening GFA 3444.50 4029.02 7087.13 3657.17 5667.06 6626.28

2 Less: Land cost 983.07 997.21 1011.16 1520.61 1528.55 1536.17

3 Opening GFA excl. land cost 2461.43 3031.81 6075.97 2136.56 4138.51 5090.11

4 R&M Expense for the year 49.21 68.02 113.79 70.77 98.71 116.29

5 % of R&M expenses to GFA (2/1)*100 2.00% 2.24% 1.87% 3.31% 2.39% 2.28%

6 Average % of R&M expenses to GFA 2.04% 2.66%

Discoms have projected R&M expenses for FY 2019-20 adopting ‘K’ factor on the

opening GFA as given in the Table 5.49 below:

Table 5.49: R & M expenses projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL in review


review Total

1 Opening GFA 8784.49 6885.81 15670.30

2 K factor 2.04% 2.66%

3 R & M expenses 179.07 183.21 362.29


The Commission has examined the R&M expenses projected the by the Petitioner

for FY 2019-20.

Regulation 22.2 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, specify

R&M expenses as percentage (as per the norm determined) of Gross Fixed Assets

excluding land cost for the year.

The Commission had determined the R&M norm i.e. ‘K’ factor at 1.66% for NBPDCL

and 2.16% for SBPDCL for the MYT control period of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in

the Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019 as deliberated under Commission’s analysis in

paragraph 7.25.

The Commission has considered the opening GFA net of land value for FY 2019-20

in Table 5.36 and accordingly considers R&M expenses adopting ‘K’ factor for FY

2019-20 (RE) as detailed in the Table 5.50 below:

Table 5.50: R&M expenses considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No. Particulars Considered

for NBPDCL in review


review Total

1 Opening GFA 9906.20 8073.66 17979.86



SI. No. Particulars Considered



review Total

2 K factor 1.66% 2.16%

3 R & M expenses 164.44 174.39 338.83

The Commission, accordingly, considers R&M expenses in review for FY 2019-20.

5.18.4 Allocation of Holding Company Expenses


Discoms have submitted that as per Schedule ‘F’, the Holding Company shall

continue to provide services to all successor entities during the interregnum period,

until issue of further transfer notifications allocating the employees to respective

companies.

Discoms have estimated the Holding Company expenses for FY 2019-20 duly

escalating at 10% over the actual holding company expenses claimed in true up for

FY 2018-19 as given in Table 5.51 below:

Table 5.51: Holding Company Expenses projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

Particulars

Projected by NBPDCL in

review


review Total

Base Holding company expenses 18.09 19.02 37.11

Escalation % 10% 10% Increase 1.81 1.90 3.71

Total Holding company expenses 19.90 20.92 40.82


The Holding company expenses represent employee cost, R&M expenses and A&G

expenses.

The Commission has elaborately discussed the allocation of holding company

expenses to the Discoms and other subsidiary companies of BSPHCL (Holding

Company) in paragraph 4.22 of chapter 4 of this order.

The Commission has considered the holding company expenses approved in truing

up for FY 2018-19 as base holding company expenses and further escalation with

CPI inflationary increase of 4.22% (as adopted for Employee expenses) and

projected for FY 2019-20.

The Commission has considered the holding company expenses for FY 2019-20 in

review, in terms of Bihar State Electricity Reforms Transfer Scheme, 2012 as




Table 5.52: Holding Company expenses considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

Particulars

Considered for NBPDCL in

review


review Total

Base Holding company expenses 17.18 18.56 35.74 Escalation % 4.22% 4.22% Increase 0.72 0.78 1.50 Total Holding company expenses 17.90 19.34 37.24

5.18.5 Summary of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses

The summary of the revised O & M expenses considered in review for FY 2019-20

(RE) are tabulated in table 5.53 below:

Table 5.53: Total O&M cost considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL in review


review Total

1 Employee cost 310.79 437.99 748.78

2 R&M expenses 164.44 174.39 338.83

3 A&G Expenses 138.53 128.80 267.33

4 Holding company Expenses 17.90 19.34 37.24

5 Total O & M cost 631.66 760.52 1392.19

The Commission considers total O&M expenses in review for FY 2019-20 (RE).

5.19 Contribution to Contingency Reserve Commission’s analysis:

Regulation 24 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018 specify

“if the distribution licensee has made an appropriation to the Contingency Reserve,

a sum not less than 0.25 per cent and not more than 0.5 per cent of the original cost

of fixed assets shall be allowed annually towards such appropriation in the

calculation of ARR”.

The Commission has approved contingency reserve of Rs.65.55 Crore for NBPDCL

and Rs.54.89 Crore for SBPDCL for FY 2019-20 in the Tariff order dated 25.02.2019.

However, the Discoms have not proposed appropriation to Contingency Reserve

for FY 2019-20 in the petition. Hence, the Commission accordingly has not

considered contingency reserve for FY 2019-20 in review.

5.20 Interest on Security Deposit




Discoms have submitted that interest on Security Deposit has been considered as

per prevailing RBI Bank Rate of 5.40% as on 01.04.2019. The Discoms have

projected interest on security deposit for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table 5.54

below:

Table 5.54: Interest on security deposit projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL Projected by

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening Security Deposit 359.72 567.02 926.74

2 Net Addition 49.02 54.04 103.06

3 Closing Security Deposit 408.74 621.06 1029.80

4 Average Security Deposit 384.23 594.04 978.27

5 RBI Bank Rate 5.40% 5.40%

6 Interest on Security Deposit 20.75 32.08 52.83


The BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, Regulation 26 (iii)

specifies that “…… interest shall be allowed on consumer security deposits and

security deposits from Distribution system users held during the year at the Bank

Rate as of the date on which the petition for determination is filed”.

Section 47(1)(a) of the Electricity Act, 2003 specifies that any person who requires a

supply of electricity to give reasonable security in respect of the electricity supplied

to such person. The BERC Supply Code Regulations 2007 specifies that the

distribution licensee shall pay interest at the RBI Bank rate, applicable on security

deposits taken from the consumers.

The Commission has considered opening Security Deposit (SD) from consumers

based on the closing SD approved in the true up for FY 2018-19 and net addition to

SD is considered as projected by the Discoms for FY 2019-20. The RBI rate is

adopted at 5.40% (w.e.f.07.08.2019).

The Commission considers the interest on consumer’s security deposit in review for

FY 2019-20 as given in the Table 5.55 below:

Table 5.55: Interest on security deposit considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI.

No. Particulars


review


review

Total


2 Addition during the year 49.02 54.04 103.06

3 Closing Security Deposit (1+2) 408.75 621.07 1029.82



SI.

No. Particulars


review


review

Total

4 Average Security Deposit (1+3)/2 384.24 594.05 978.29


6 Interest on Security Deposit (4*5) 20.75 32.08 52.83

The Commission considers interest on Consumer’s Security Deposit for FY 2019-20

in review.

5.21 Non-Tariff Income


Discoms have submitted that non tariff income for FY 2019-20 is projected based

on the non-tariff income in FY 2018-19 with escalation at 20% as detailed in the

Table 5.56 below:

Table 5.56: Projected Non-tariff Income for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI.

No. Particulars

Projected by NBPDCL

Projected by SBPDCL

Total

1 Base Non-tariff income 408.43 486.19 894.62

2 Rate of Increase 20.00% 20.00% 20.00% 3 Increase in non tariff income 81.69 97.24 178.92

4 Sub-total (1+3) 490.12 583.43 1073.53 5 Interest on funding of DPS 150.19 91.62 241.81 6 Net non-tariff income (4-5) 339.93 491.81 831.72


The Commission in true up for FY 2018-19 has considered non-tariff income

(excluding rebate on payment of power purchase bills and financing cost of DPS

and onetime income of Rs.30.01 Crore relating to reimbursement of terminal

benefits from GoB) of Rs.388.49 Crore for NBPDCL and excluding rebate on

payment of power purchase bills of Rs.363.13 Crore for SBPDCL and same is

considered as base non-tariff income for FY 2019-20. The Commission has

considered rate of escalation at 20% as projected by the Petitioner. Further, the

Commission has considered rebate @1% of the power purchase cost including

PGCIL and transmission charges for FY 2019-20. The Commission, accordingly, has

considered non tariff income for FY 2019-20 in review as detailed in the Table 5.57

below.



Table 5.57: Non-tariff income considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Considered



review Total

1 Non-tariff income of FY 2018-19 388.49 363.13 751.62

2 Rate of Increase 20.00% 20.00% 20.00%

3 Increase in non tariff Income 77.70 72.63 150.32

4 Sub-total 466.19 435.76 901.95

5 Rebate @1% on power purchase 61.22 69.90 131.12

6 Total Non-tariff income 527.41 505.66 1033.07

The Commission, accordingly, considered non-tariff income for FY 2019-20 (RE) as

detailed in the Table above.

5.22 Interest on working capital


Discoms have submitted that, in terms of Regulation 26 of BERC (Multi Year

Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, the working capital requirement and interest

on working capital is computed for FY 2019-20. The rate of interest applied on the

proposed working capital is @9.55% as per the SBI MCLR plus 150 basis points in

terms of regulation 26.

Discoms have projected interest on working for FY 2019-20 computed based on the

norms as detailed in the Table 5.58 below:

Table 5.58: Interest on working capital projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL in review


review

1 Two months equivalent of expected revenue 1383.00 1669.18

2 Maintenance spares @40% of R&M expenses for one month

6.00 6.11

3 Sub-total (1+2) 1389.00 1675.29

4 Less: (i) Power purchase cost, transmission charges and load dispatch charges of one month

599.00 738.21

(ii) Depreciation, return on equity and contribution to contingency reserve

71.00 71.35

(iii) Security Deposits from consumers 409.00 621.06

(iv) Grant received from the State Govt. for power purchase and other O&M expenses

-- --

5 Sub-total (4(i)+4(ii)+4(iii)+4(iv)) 1079.00 1430.61

6 Net working capital requirement (3-5) 310.00 244.68 7 Rate of interest % 9.55% 9.55%


mailto:@14.75%25

mailto:@1%25




The Commission has computed the interest on working capital as per the norms

prescribed in the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018. The SBI

MCLR as on 15.11.2019 (date of filing the petition) is at 8.00% (w.e.f. 10.11.2019).

The Commission has considered rate of interest at 9.50% (8% plus 1.50% (i.e.150

basis as per regulation 26) and accordingly, the same is applied on the working

capital for computing interest on working capital in review for FY 2019-20.

The Commission based on the expenses/costs approved in review for FY 2019-20,

has computed the working capital requirement and interest on working capital for

FY 2019-20 in review as detailed in the Table 5.59 below:

Table 5.59: Interest on working capital considered for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars


review


review

1 Maintenance spares @40% of R&M expenses for one month 5.48 5.81

2 Two months equivalent of expected revenue 1141.80 1327.39 3 Sub-total (1+2) 1147.28 1333.20

4 Less: (i) Power purchase cost, transmission charges and load dispatch charges of one month 510.19 582.51

(ii) Depreciation, return on equity and contribution to contingency reserve 52.21 65.51

(iii) Security Deposits from consumers 408.76 621.08

(iv) Grant received from the State Govt. for power purchase and other O&M expenses -- --

5 Sub-total (4(i)+4(ii)+4(iii)+4(iv)) 971.16 1269.10

6 Net working capital requirement (3-5) 176.12 64.10 7 Rate of interest % 9.50% 9.50% 8 Interest on working capital (6*7) 16.73 6.09

The Commission, accordingly, considers interest on working capital for FY 2019-20

in review.

5.23 Revenue from sale of power at existing tariff


Discoms have submitted the category wise revenue from sale of power based on

the existing tariff for FY 2019-20 as detailed in the Table 5.60 below:

mailto:@1%25



Table 5.60: Revenue from sales of Power at existing Tariff projected by Discoms for FY 2019-20

Category

Projected by SBPDCL Projected by NBPDCL

Sales (MU)

Total Revenue

(Rs.Crores)

Average (Rs./Kwh)

Sales (MU)

Total Revenue

(Rs.Crores)

Average (Rs./Kwh)

Domestic 7495 4762.14 6.35 6457 3900.05 6.04

Kutir Jyoti 1461 907.54 6.21 1,540 978.87 6.36

DS-I (Rural) 3351 1862.04 5.56 2,765 1467.66 5.31

DS-II (Urban) 2683 1992.56 7.43 2,152 1453.52 6.75 DS III (Optional) 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00

Non-Domestic 1101 936.73 8.51 1611 1216.09 7.55

NDS-I (Rural) 123 80.98 6.58 203 137.24 6.76

NDS-II (Urban) 978 855.75 8.75 1,408 1078.85 7.66

Irrigation & Agriculture Services (IAS)

732 470.16 6.42 234 178.28 7.62

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell) 585 354.66 6.06 70 57.22 8.17


147 115.5 7.86 164 121.06 7.38


344 369.77 10.75 246 237.81 9.67

LTIS-I 212 227.88 10.75 206 199.64 9.69 LTIS-II 132 141.89 10.75 40 38.17 9.54

Public Service connections

91 96.43 10.60 71 66.62 9.38

PWW 84 91.4 10.88 39 44.5 11.41

Har Ghar Nal 7 5.03 7.19 32 22.12 6.91

Street Light Services 40 38 9.50 34 33.78 9.94

SS-I (Metered) 11 8 7.27 5 3.73 7.46 SS-II (Un-metered) 29 30 10.34 29 30.05 10.36

High Tension Supply 2055 1586.13 7.72 679 591.00 8.70

HTS-I (11 kV) 625 565.27 9.04 437 394 9.02

HTS-II (33 kV) 430 382.41 8.89 128 113 8.83 HTS-III (132 kV) 167 137.14 8.21 50 45 9.00

HTS-IV (220 kV) 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 833 501.31 6.02 64 39 6.09

RTS (132 kV) 298 234.01 7.85 251 214.76 8.56

Nepal 0 0 0.00 1,355 783.17 5.78

Grand Total 12156 8493.15 6.99 10938 7221.56 6.60


On a query from the Commission the Discoms have submitted the month-wise

number of RTS connections, Connected Load (KVA), Sales (KvAh) and Billed

Revenue as detailed in Tables 5.61 & 5.62 below:



Table 5.61: SBPDCL- Revenue from Sale of Power to RTS

Month

Number of Consumer

Connected Load (KVA)

Unit Consumption

(KVAh)

Billed Revenue (Energy+

Fixed)

Actual

Apr-19 3 30,800 11,718,148 91,571,646

May-19 3 30,800 11,654,426 90,975,377

Jun-19 3 30,800 12,441,202 97,958,414

Jul-19 3 30,800 11,399,896 90,292,893

Aug-19 3 30,800 12,089,002 93,723,294

Sep-19 3 30,800 12,564,368 97,348,902

Oct-19 3 30,800 12,777,806 99,775,801

Nov-19 3 30,800 12,728,244 97,045,339

Dec-19 1 10,000 3,415,446 25,605,033

Projected

Jan-20 1 10,000 3,892,232 29,267,176

Feb-20 1 10,000 3,892,232 29,267,176

Mar-20 1 10,000 3,892,232 29,267,176

Total 112,465,234 Or 101.22 MU

872,098,227 Or 87.21 Cr

Table 5.62: NBPDCL- Revenue from Sale of Power to RTS

Month Number of Consumer

Connected Load (KVA)

Unit Consumption

(KVAh)

Billed Revenue (Energy+Fixed)

Actual

Apr-19 9 77,400 16,008,694 129,423,449

May-19 9 77,400 14,950,432 121,783,942

Jun-19 9 74,100 15,968,698 129,029,698

Jul-19 9 74,100 17,391,090 140,817,166

Aug-19 10 81,600 20,589,235 163,957,760

Sep-19 10 81,600 20,591,774 163,861,841

Oct-19 10 81,600 21,998,888 173,401,494

Nov-19 10 81,600 18,955,235 152,700,822

Dec-19 1 7,500 2,048,000 33,608,440

Projected

Jan-20 1 7,500 1,774,844 13,418,940

Feb-20 1 7,500 1,774,844 13,418,940

Mar-20 1 7,500 1,774,844 13,418,940

Total 153,826,578 Or 138.44 MU

1,248,841,432 Or 124.88 Cr

The Commission has considered the energy sales and revenue billed for RTS as

shown in the above tables. For other categories, average revenue billed (Rs./kWh)

shown by Discoms and applying the same to the category-wise energy sales

approved for FY 2019-20 (RE) computed the expected revenue from sale of power

during FY 2019-20 (RE) as shown in the Table 5.63 below:

Table 5.63: Revenue from sale of power at existing Tariff considered for Discoms for FY 2019-20



Category

Considered for SBPDCL Considered for NBPDCL

Sales (MU)

Total Revenue

(Rs.Crores)

Average (Rs./Kwh)

Sales (MU)

Total Revenue

(Rs.Crores)

Average (Rs./Kwh)

Domestic 7495.24 4762.14 6.35 6457.55 3900.05 6.04

Kutir Jyoti 1460.99 907.54 6.21 1540.46 978.87 6.35

DS-I (Rural) 3350.89 1862.04 5.56 2765.12 1467.66 5.31

DS-II (Urban) 2683.36 1992.56 7.43 2151.97 1453.52 6.75

DS III (Optional)

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Non-Domestic

1101.03 936.73 8.51 1610.98 1216.09 7.55

NDS-I (Rural) 122.99 80.98 6.58 202.57 137.24 6.77

NDS-II (Urban)

978.04 855.75 8.75 1408.41 1078.85 7.66


731.94 470.16 6.42 233.64 178.28 7.63

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell)

584.82 354.66 6.06 70.14 57.22 8.16


147.12 115.50 7.85 163.50 121.06 7.40


344.21 369.77 10.74 245.85 237.81 9.67

LTIS-I 212.35 227.88 10.73 206.32 199.64 9.68

LTIS-II 131.86 141.89 10.76 39.53 38.17 9.66

Public Service connections

91.01 96.43 10.60 71.56 66.62 9.31

PWW 84.04 91.40 10.88 39.42 44.50 11.29

Har Ghar Nal 6.97 5.03 7.22 32.14 22.12 6.88

Street Light Services

39.98 37.79 9.45 33.44 33.78 10.10

SS-I (Metered)

10.65 8.29 7.78 4.76 3.73 7.84

SS-II (Un-metered)

29.33 29.50 10.06 28.68 30.05 10.48

High Tension Supply

2054.61 1586.13 7.72 678.08 591.84 8.73

HTS-I (11 kV) 625.44 565.27 9.04 437.03 393.81 9.01

HTS-II (33 kV) 429.80 382.41 8.90 127.80 113.48 8.88

HTS-III (132 kV)

166.56 137.14 8.23 49.60 45.43 9.16

HTS-IV (220 kV)

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00



Category

Considered for SBPDCL Considered for NBPDCL

Sales (MU)

Total Revenue

(Rs.Crores)

Average (Rs./Kwh)

Sales (MU)

Total Revenue

(Rs.Crores)

Average (Rs./Kwh)

HTSS (33 / 11 kV)

832.81 501.31 6.02 63.65 39.12 6.15

RTS (132 kV) 101.22 87.21 8.62 138.44 124.88 9.02

Nepal 0.00 0.00 0.00 1355.16 783.17 5.78

Grand Total 11959.24 8346.36 6.98 10824.70 7132.52 6.59

5.24 Annual Revenue Requirement and Revenue Gap at existing tariff projected for FY 2019-20 (RE)


Discoms have submitted that the gross ARR consists of the power purchase costs,

interest and finance cost, O&M cost, depreciation and interest on working capital.

The Discoms have computed the revenue requirement for FY 2019-20 against

approved revenue requirement by the Commission for FY 2019-20 in Tariff Order

dated 25.02.2019, as detailed in the Table 5.64 below:

Table 5.64: ARR and Revenue Gap/(Surplus) projected for FY 2019-20 (RE) (Rs. Crore)

SI.

No. Particulars

NBPDCL SBPDCL

Approved in Tariff

order dated

25.02.2019

Projected by

NBPDCL in review

Approved in Tariff

order dated 25.02.2019

Projected by SBPDCL in review

1 Purchase of power 6012.76 5629.00 6745.25 6999.00

2 PGCIL & Other transmission charges 421.12 490.00 494.36 616.00

3 BSPTCL & BGCL transmission charges and SLDC charges

558.45 960.00 655.58 1128.00

4 GMR Transmission charges 13.00 15.00

5 REC purchases 59.05 97.00 58.26 101.00

6 O & M Expenses (A+B+C+D) 674.81 709.20 822.29 770.87

A Employee expenses 327.10 272.20 462.22 452.04

B R&M expenses 202.85 179.07 212.62 183.21

C A&G expenses 133.57 238.04 136.70 114.70

D Holding company expenses 11.29 19.90 10.75 20.92

7 Depreciation 185.06 192.82 236.05 202.62

8 Interest on loan 332.81 223.14 447.11 331.58

9 Other finance charges 32.05 41.13 49.10 58.91

10 Return on equity 332.37 231.95 470.59 225.45

11 Interest on SD 24.01 20.75 42.58 32.08

12 Contingency Reserve 65.55 0.00 54.89 0.00

13 Interest on working capital 33.42 30.00 13.66 23.37

14 Less:: Non-tariff income 323.88 339.93 359.70 491.81

15 Net Revenue requirement (1 to 13)-14)

8407.59 8298.06 9730.02 10012.06



SI.

No. Particulars

NBPDCL SBPDCL

Approved in Tariff

order dated

25.02.2019

Projected by

NBPDCL in review

Approved in Tariff

order dated 25.02.2019

Projected by SBPDCL in review

16 Revenue from Existing tariff 8934.68 7222.00 10719.13 8493.00

17 Gross Gap / (Surplus) (15-16) 1076.06 1519.05



costs approved in the preceding paragraphs in the review as detailed in the Table

5.65 below:

Table 5.65: ARR and Revenue Gap/(Surplus) considered in review for FY 2019-20 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


in review


Total




4 RE Purchases 0.00

5 O & M Expenses (A+B+C+D) 631.67 760.52 1392.19


B R&M expenses 164.44 174.39 338.83

C A&G expenses 138.53 128.80 267.33


6 Depreciation 134.68 180.53 315.21

7 Interest on loan 224.48 229.22 453.70


9 Return on equity 178.57 212.55 391.13

10 Interest on SD 20.75 32.08 52.83

11 Deposit for RPO obligation 0.00

12 Contingency Reserve 0.00 0.00 0.00

13 Interest on working capital 0.00


15 Annual Revenue requirement ((1 to 13)-14) 6834.04 7958.24 14792.28


17 Gross Gap / (Surplus) (15-16) (298.48) (388.12) (686.60)

18 Add: Recovery of (Surplus) FY 2017-18 with carrying cost (1199.76) 1137.82 (61.94)

19 Net Gap / (Surplus) for FY 2019-20 (17+18) (1498.24) 749.70 (748.54)

The Commission considers the net revenue surplus of Rs.748.54 Crore for Discoms



(revenue Surplus of Rs.1498.24 Crore for NBPDCL and revenue Gap of Rs.749.70

Crore for SBPDCL) in review for FY 2019-20 (RE) subject to final truing up as and

when the audited annual accounts for FY 2019-20 are submitted by the Discoms.

According to Regulation 14 (f) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations,

2018 the estimated revenue Gap/(Surplus) as a result of Annual Performance

Review (APR) shall not be passed in the ARR of ensuing year i.e. FY 2020-21.



6. Aggregate Revenue Requirement for FY 2020-21

6.1. Background

The Commission had determined the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for

the control period FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 for the Discoms viz., SBPDCL &

NBPDCL in the MYT Order dated 25.02.2019. Discoms have now submitted the

petitions for approval of revised Aggregate Revenue Requirement and

determination of Retail Supply Tariff for FY2020-21.

The Commission has undertaken determination of ARR for FY 2020-21 on the basis

of audited annual accounts for FY 2018-19, revised estimates for FY 2019-20 and

projections submitted by the Petitioners for FY 2020-21 and BERC (Multi-Year


6.2. Number of Consumers, Connected Load and Sales for FY 2020-21

6.2.1. Petitioners’ submission

Discoms have submitted that the projection of number of consumers is based on

the UDAY and the Saubhagya Schemes in line with the large scale initiatives being

taken by Central Government and the State Government with an aim of overall

development of the power sector in the state. The objective of the above

mentioned initiatives is to make power available to all households, industry,

commercial businesses, public needs, any other electricity consuming entity and

adequate power to agriculture farm holdings.

The initiatives of Discom are expected to mainly impact the consumers who would

fall under the IAS-I and Public Water Works categories, since a lot of emphasis is on

connecting agricultural consumers and the growth rate projected under these

categories is above the normal CAGR growth as large number of new connections

to be released in the ensuing years.

However, with release of huge number of connections to the rural households and

left over urban households in recent years under various State and Central Govt.

schemes the scope of adding new consumers is getting minimized. Therefore, less

number of consumers are expected to be added over next year in comparison to

the previous years. Taking the same into account, the growth in number of



consumers for various categories have been considered at a lower rate as

compared to previous years.

Segregation of the agricultural feeders will have a positive effect on the overall

system stability and will improve the hours of power supply resulting in an increase

in the units consumed. Hence an above normal CAGR is assumed in the agricultural

category.

The initiatives taken by the Discoms in providing connections under the ‘Har Ghar

Nal’ will also result in an increase in the energy sales.

The Discoms have submitted that general approach followed for projection of all

categories is as given below:-

i. Successful implementation of the Saubhagya scheme ensured that all the

willing households are connected. Due to the rise in consumerism among

consumers in the country, there will be a rise in the consumption of electricity

in the control period. Gradually the customers currently segregated under the

Kutir Jyoti category move on to higher categories.

ii. For projecting the connected load, an average connected load per consumer

has been taken as per the actual data of the past few years. This has been then

multiplied by projected number of consumers to arrive at the connected Load.

iii. The energy sale has been projected by considering the average consumption

per consumer per month and then multiplying the same to the projected

number of consumers.

iv. The number of years taken for estimating the CAGR however varies since the

trend in certain categories is impacted by multiple other factors, and taking a

uniform period for calculating the CAGR skews the outcome.

v. In addition to the CAGR, it has also been ensured that other factors impacting

demand, such as growth in the no. of consumers (due to schemes including

Chief Minister scheme and Saubhagya scheme), enhanced power procurement,

strengthening of distribution network for enhancing quality of supply,

energy efficiency and DSM measures etc., have been adequately incorporated

to reflect a realistic demand scenario.

The category wise number of consumers, connected load and energy sales

projected for FY 2020-21 are as given in the tables 6.1 to 6.2 below:



Table 6.1: Category-wise number of consumers, sales and connected load projected by SBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Consumer Category Consumers Connected Load (KW)

Sales (MU)

Domestic 5653924 6730263 8988.71

Kutir Jyoti 1715817 218586 1718.12

Domestic – I 2542717 2656970 4061.28

Domestic – II 1395390 3854706 3209.3


Non-Domestic 391135 1107555 1207.63

NDS-I 78866 97190 209.93

NDS-II 312269 1010366 997.7

Public Lighting 1435 14299 39.20

Street Light – I 817 6120 11.3

Street Light – II 619 8180 27.9

Irrigation 209476 641142 903

IAS – I 204632 582710 737

IAS – II 4844 58432 166

Public Service Connections 18116 143022 122.78

Public Water Works 3116 46823 101.86

Har Ghar Nal 15000 96199 20.92

Industrial LT 59554 694402 348.97

LTIS – I 55209 461118 214.48

LTIS – II 4345 233284 134.49

Industrial HT 1813 785245 2142.64

HTS – I 1675 360969 676.42

HTS – II 120 237522 460.14

HTS – III 4 54111 173.27

HTSS 14 132642 832.8062

Railway 3 31108 292.02

Nepal 0 0 0

Total 6335457 10147035 14,044.61

Note: Category-wise connected load details are provided in additional

information letter dated 06.12.2019. Table 6.2: Category-wise number of consumers, sales and connected load projected by

NBPDCL for FY 2020-21


Sales (MU)

Domestic 9,898,900 6767363 7,950.26

Kutir Jyoti 4,067,595 589473 1,842.40

DS-I 4,524,749 4592350 3,583.60

DS-II 1,306,556 1585540 2,524.27

DS III 0 0 0

Non-Domestic 586,001 1039762 2,015.60

NDS-I 206,518 231059 233.95

NDS-II 369,649 808702 1,781.64

Irrigation & Agriculture Services (IAS) 70,761 166267 257.00




Sales (MU)

IAS-I 64,294 124110 77.15

IAS-II 6,467 42157 179.85

Industrial LT 41,380 389296 268.46

LTIS-I 40549 341275 226.45

LTIS-II 831 48021 41.51

Public Water Works 9,822 42226 108.08

Street Light Services 1,245 8228 25.07

High Tension Supply 1,224 359856 722.85

HTS-I 1,166 247878 472.30

HTS-II 49 67792 135.53

HTS-III 4 30500 50.09

HTS-IV

HTSS 5 13687 64.92

Railways 10 87375 226.10

Nepal 1 0 1,355.16

Total 10,609,345 8860371 12,928.60

Note: Category-wise connected load details are provided in additional information

letter dated 06.12.2019.


6.2.2. Analysis of Category-wise number of consumers, energy sales and connected load

The following paragraphs highlight the approach and assumptions used by the

Discoms for projecting the category-wise number of consumers, connected load

and energy sales for FY 2020-21, analysis and approval of the same by the

Commission.

SBPDCL has submitted that for projecting the number of consumers and energy

sales for FY 2020-21, the percentage growth rates for each consumer category are

considered as shown in the table 6.3 below:

Table 6.3: Growth rates considered by SBPDCL for projecting consumers and sales for FY 2020-21

Consumer Category


FY 2019-20

(R.E)

Growth Rate

FY 2020-21

(Projected)

FY 2019-20

(R.E)

Growth Rate

FY 2020-21

(Projected)

Domestic 5493375 3% 5653924 7495.24 20% 8988.70

Kutir Jyoti 1634112 5% 1715817 1460.99 18% 1718.12

Domestic – I 2517542 1% 2542717 3350.89 21% 4061.28

Domestic – II 1341721 4% 1395390 2683.36 20% 3209.30

Domestic – III 0.00 0% 0.00 0.00 0% 0.00

Commercial 386497 1% 391135 1101.03 10% 1207.63

Non-Domestic – I 77320 2% 78866 122.99 71% 209.93

Non-Domestic – II 309177 1% 312269 978.04 2% 997.70



Consumer Category


FY 2019-20

(R.E)

Growth Rate

FY 2020-21

(Projected)

FY 2019-20

(R.E)

Growth Rate

FY 2020-21

(Projected)

Public Lighting 1367 5% 1436 39.98 35% 39.20

Street Light – I 778 5% 817 10.65 6% 11.30 Street Light – II 589 5% 619 29.33 -5% 27.90

Irrigation 199530 5% 209476 732.00 23% 903.00

IAS – I 194888 5% 204632 585.00 26% 737

IAS – II 4642 4% 4844 147.00 13% 166

Public Service Connection

7597 138% 18116 91.01 35% 122.78

Public Water Works 2597 20% 3116 84.04 21% 101.86

Har Ghar Nal 5000 200% 15000 6.97 200% 20.92

Industrial LT 58922 1% 59554 344.21 1% 348.97

LTIS – I 54662 1% 55209 212.35 1% 214.48

LTIS – II 4260 2% 4345 131.86 2% 134.49

Industrial HT 1726 5% 1813 2054.61 4% 2142.64

HTS – I 1595 5% 1675 625.44 8% 676.42

HTS – II 113 6% 120 429.80 7% 460.14

HTS – III 4 3% 4 166.56 4% 173.27

HTSS 14 0% 14 832.81 0% 832.81

Railway 3 1% 3 298.07 -2% 292.02 Total 6149016 3% 6335457 12156.11 14044.61

SBPDCL has submitted that the following approach and assumptions are used for

projecting category wise number of consumers and energy sales for FY 2020-21.

1. The growth rate in KJY consumers was 35% in FY 2018-19. The Petitioner

estimates that in FY 2020-21 the growth rate in consumers of KJ will decline,

as the objective of Saubhagya scheme has already been achieved and almost

all the households are connected to the grid. Hence 5% of nominal growth

rate is considered in FY 2020-21. The Petitioner has considered 18% growth in

sales for FY 2020-21. There was a phenomenal growth of 137% in this

category for FY 2018-19. Considering the fact that spread of electrification

across the state, leading to decrease in growth pattern in future, the

Petitioner requests to approve the rate of 18% in energy sales of KJ.

2. The growth rate of DS-I consumers was 37% in FY 2018-19., since the

objective of Saubhagya scheme has already been achieved and almost all the

households are connected to the grid, a nominal growth rate of 1% is

considered for projecting consumers for FY 2020-21. There was an increase of

18% in the monthly consumption per consumer in FY 2018-19. The fact that

almost all the domestic consumers are connected to the grid, hence



constant growth in future is expected. The Petitioner therefore, estimated

20% increase in average consumption per consumer in FY 2020-21. Hence an

overall growth rate in sales for DS-I is considered as 21%.

3. There was a growth of 8% in the DS-II category of consumers in FY 2018-19.

Considering minimum growth rate, the Petitioner has considered a growth

rate of 4% for projecting consumers under this category. In Energy sales, a

growth of 20% is assumed in this category for FY 2020-21. In FY 2018-19

growth rate of 14% is observed in this category.

4. The Petitioner submits that it has estimated nominal growth rate of 2% in

NDS-I category while projecting number of consumers for FY 2020-21.

Though this category depicted phenomenal growth rate in previous years,

therefore owing to huge growth in previous years, the consumers will grow at

a normal pace. The sales projections for this category is done by considering

the average consumption per customer and the number of customers will

increase by 71% in FY 2020-21 over FY 2019-20. The growth in average

consumption per customer was 45% in the first half year of FY 2019-20.

Hence, a growth rate of 71% is assumed for FY 2020-21 for this category.

5. The half yearly growth rate in the number of consumers in NDS-II category

i.e., in the first half year of FY 2019-20 over FY 2018-19 is 4%. Hence, in NDS-

II category a nominal growth rate of 1% is assumed for FY 2020-21.

Considering the declining growth trends (-21%) in monthly consumption per

consumer for FY 2018-19, a nominal growth in sales of 2% is assumed for FY

2020-21.

6. As per the third Agricultural Roadmap, Bihar has started work to set up

dedicated feeders to provide electricity for agriculture. A total of 296 power

substations will be set up to provide electricity to 1,312 dedicated feeders in

the state. Hence a modest growth of 5% is estimated for FY 2020-21 in IAS-I

category. The specific consumption is assumed to grow by 20% owing to

feeder segregation and better supply hours and more availability of power.

This will also ensure better billing of customers and a reduced AT&C loss. The

overall growth in sales is assumed to be 26% considering the above factors.



7. For IAS-II category the number of consumer growth for FY 2020-21 is 4%

considering that the growth rate for FY 2018-19 is (-) 6%. A growth of 8% per

consumer was observed in monthly consumption. Hence, overall growth rate

of 13% is considered for estimation in sales under IAS-II category.

8. The petitioner submits that the consumer growth for LTIS-I category in FY

2020-21 is assumed to be nominal as 1%. This is due to decrease by 61% of

consumers in FY 2018-19 as compared to FY 2017-18. The average

consumption per consumer for FY 2018-19 was (-)7%. Hence, the petitioner

has considered the nominal growth rate of 1% for the projection of sales

under LTIS-I category.

9. The petitioner further submits that the consumer growth for LTIS-II in FY

2020-21 is assumed to be 2% considering growth rate of 10% in FY 2018-19.

There will be modest growth in the industrial sector as per estimation of

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The monthly

consumption per customer was -24% for FY 2018-19. The overall sales

growth for FY 2020-21 is estimated at 2%.

10. The Petitioner has estimated a growth rate of 20% in number of consumers in

FY 2020-21 in PWW category. In Har Ghar Nal Yojana the Petitioner submits

that there will be exceptional high growth in coming years. Hence, the

growth rate of 200% is assumed in FY 2020-21. The Petitioner has estimated

the growth rate of 21%, in sale of PWW for FY 2020-21. The growth rate in

sales for ‘Har Ghar Nal Yojana’ is estimated as 200% considering rapid

expansion of scheme in coming years.

11. The petitioner submits that the consumer growth for FY 2020-21 is assumed

to be at 5% for Street Light Services, as the growth in H1 of FY 2019-20 over

FY 2018 was 6%. The monthly consumption per customer was (-)30% for FY

2018-19 and it is assumed to be 5% for FY 2020-21, as the growth in the

number of consumers is 5% for FY 2020-21. The overall sales growth for FY

2018-19 was -6% and hence the Petitioner has estimated sales growth rate as

(-6%) in FY 2020-21.

12. The petitioner submits that it does not estimate huge growth in number of

consumers of HT category in FY 2020-21 considering decreasing trends in



past and as per the data released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation.

13. The Petitioner had considered 0% growth rate while projecting consumers

for RTS category, load and sales for FY 2020-21. This is due to the fact that

the RTS consumers will gradually shift their base from Discom to Open

Access.

NBPDCL has accordingly submitted that for projecting the number of consumers

and energy sales for FY 2020-21, the percentage growth rates for each consumer

category are considered as shown in the table 6.4 below:


Consumer Category


FY 2019-20 (R.E)

Growth Rate

FY 2020-21 (Projected)

FY 2019-20

(R.E)

Growth Rate

FY 2020-21 (Projected)

Domestic 9,381,669 6% 9,898,900 6,457 23% 7,950

Kutir Jyoti 3,911,149 4% 4,067,595 1,540 20% 1,842

Domestic – I 4,189,583 8% 4,524,749 2,765 30% 3,584

Domestic – II 1,280,937 2% 1,306,556 2,152 17% 2,524

Domestic – III

Non-Domestic 532,728 10% *576,167 1,611 25% 2,016

Non-Domestic – I 196,684 5% 206,518 203 16% 234

Non-Domestic – II 336,044 10% 369,649 1,408 27% 1,782

Irrigation 64,328 10% 70,761 234 10% 257

IAS-I 58,449 10% 64,294 70 10% 77

IAS-II 5,879 10% 6,467 164 10% 180

Industrial LT 37,654 10% 41,380 246 9% 268

Public Water Works

7,832 25% 9,822 72 51% 108

Street Light Services

1,245 0% 1,245 33 -25% 25

High Tension Supply 1,145

7% 1,224 679

7% 723

HTS-I 1,090 7% 1,166 437 8% 472

HTS-II 46 5% 49 128 6% 136

HTS-III 4 0% 4 50 1% 50

HTS-IV

HTSS 5 0% 5 64 1% 65

Railway 10 0% 10 251 -10% 226

Nepal 1 0% 1 1,355 0% 1,355

Grand Total 10,026,612 6% *10,599,510 10,938 18% 12,928

*Figures are corrected



NBPDCL has submitted that the following approach and assumptions are used for projecting the category wise number of consumers and energy sales for FY 2020-21. 1. The growth rate in KJY consumers was 29% in FY 2018-19. The Petitioner

estimates that in FY 2020-21, the growth rate in consumers of KJ will decline

as the objective of Saubhagya scheme has already been achieved and almost

all the households are connected to the grid. Hence, a nominal growth rate

of 4% is considered in FY 2020-21. The Petitioner has considered 20% growth

in sales for FY 2020-21. There was a phenomenal growth of 85% in this

category in FY 2017-18. Considering the fact that spread of electrification

across the state resulting in reducing trend in growth till FY 2020-21, the

Petitioner requests to approve the rate of 20%.

2. The growth rate of DS-I consumers was 70% in FY 2018-19., Since the

objective of Saubhagya scheme has already been achieved and almost all the

households are connected to the grid, a nominal growth rate of 8% is

considered for projecting consumers for FY 2020-21.There was decrease of

46% in the monthly consumption per consumer in FY 2018-19. Since almost

all the domestic consumers are connected to the grid, growth would be

constant in future. The Petitioner, therefore, estimates 20% increase in

average consumption per consumer in FY 2020-21. Hence, the growth rate in

overall sales for DS-I is considered as 30%.

3. There was a growth of (-)3% in DS-II category of consumers in FY 2018-19.

Considering the minimum growth rate, the Petitioner has considered a

growth rate of 2% for projecting consumers under this category. A growth of

17% in sales is assumed in this category for FY 2020-21.

4. The Petitioner submits that it has estimated nominal growth rate of 5% in the

NDS-I while projecting number of consumers for FY 2020-21. Though this

category depicts phenomenal growth rates in previous years, still the

Petitioner submits that owing to huge growth in previous years, the

consumers will grow at a normal pace. The sales projections for NDS-I

category is done by considering that the average consumption per customer

and the number of customers will increase by 5% in FY 2020-21. Hence, a

growth rate of 16% is assumed for FY 2020-21 for this category.



5. The half yearly growth rate in the number of consumers i.e., H1 of FY 2019-20

over FY 2018-19 is 14%. Hence, in NDS-II category, a nominal growth rate of

10% is assumed for FY 2020-21. Considering the growth trend of 31% in

monthly consumption per consumer for FY 2018-19, an effective growth of

15% is assumed for FY 2020-21.

6. As per the third Agricultural Roadmap, Bihar has started work to set up

dedicated feeders to provide electricity for agriculture. A total of 296 power

substations will be set up to provide electricity to 1,312 dedicated feeders in

the state. Hence, a modest growth of 10% is estimated for FY 2020-21. The

specific consumption is assumed to grow by 7% owing to feeder segregation,

better supply hours and more availability of power will be ensured. This will

also ensure better billing of customers and a reduced AT&C loss. The overall

growth in sales is assumed to be 10% considering the above factors.

7. The petitioner submits that the number of consumer growth for FY 2020-21 is

10% considering that the growth rate for FY 2019-20 at 32% for IAS-II

category. Petitioner considers that most of the state policies are targeted in

improving the connectivity of agricultural consumers, hence, an aggressive

growth rate is assumed in this category. Hence, an overall growth rate of

10% is considered for FY 2020-21 to estimate sales under IAS-II category


to be at 10% for LTIS-I category. This is due to reduced industrial growth

projection as per data by Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation. The average consumption per consumer for FY 2018-19 was

(-)23%. Hence, the petitioner has considered a nominal growth rate of 2% for

projection of sales.


to be flat at 5% for the LTIS-II category, considering growth rates of 16% in FY

2018-19 and (-)1% in FY 2017-18. This is also due to reduced industrial growth

projection as per data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation. The growth in monthly consumption per consumer was 63%

in FY 2018-19 and it is assumed to be 3% for FY 2020-21 due to modest

growth projection by the industrial outlook index of the Ministry of Statistics



and Programme Implementation. The overall sales growth for FY 2020-21 is

estimated as 5%.

10. The Petitioner has estimated a growth rate of 10% in number of consumers in

FY 2020-21 in PWW category. In Har Ghar Nal Yojana the Petitioner submits

that there will be high growth in coming years. Hence, a growth rate of 30% is

assumed in FY 2020-21.

11. The petitioner hereby submits that the consumer growth for Street Light

Services in FY 2020-21 is assumed to be 0% as the growth in H1 of FY 2019-20

over FY 2018 was -1% and the yearly growth rate in H1 of 2019-20 over H1 of

2018-19 was -1%.The monthly consumption per customer was -31% for FY

2018-19 and it is assumed to be a nominal of 5% FY 2020-21 as the growth in

the number of consumers is 1% FY 2020-21. The overall sales growth for FY

2018-19 was 33% and hence the Petitioner has estimated sales growth rate as

25% in FY 2020-21.

12. The petitioner submits that it does not estimate huge growth in number of

consumers in FY 2020-21 for HT category, considering decreasing trends in

past and as per the data released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation.

13. The Petitioner had considered 0% growth rate while projecting consumers for

RTS category, load and sales for FY 2020-21. This is due to the fact that the

RTS consumers will gradually shift their base from Discom to Open Access.

SBPDCL & NBPDCL have also submitted that for projecting the category wise

connected load, an average connected load per consumer has been taken as per

the actuals as on 30.09.2019, i.e., during the 1st half year of FY 2019-20 and this has

been then multiplied by the projected number of consumers to get the category

wise connected load.

Normally, 3 year CAGR based on actuals of past period category-wise number of

consumers and energy sales are adopted for estimating the category-wise number

of consumers and sales for ensuing year. Wherever calculated value of 3 years

CAGR seemed unreasonably low or high, the most reasonable / recent growth rates

are considered. However, consequent to termination of Distribution Franchisee

MoUs on 04.07.2018 (Gaya DF) and on 06-08-2018 (Muzaffarpur DF), the number



of consumers, connected load and sales of DFs as on 31.03.2019 are clubbed with

that of respective areas of Discoms. Therefore, the category-wise growth rate

calculated considering the base figures of FY 2018-19 (including DF area) with that

of FY 2017-18 figures (excluding DF area) will be on higher side, similarly the 2

years, 3 years etc., CAGRs calculated considering FY 2018-19 as base.

Considering that the Discoms might have taken care of all possible options such as

electrification of un-electrified rural areas and households in rural areas, improved

number of hours of supply in rural areas, pending applications on hand for new

connections, present economic slowdown in the country etc., the Commission

approves the category-wise number of consumers, connected load and energy

sales for FY 2020-21 as projected by SBPDCL & NBPDCL. However, wherever

arithmetical mistakes have been noticed, the same have been corrected.

The Commission has noted that many of RTS consumers have gradually opted for

Open Access facility in FY 2019-20 and only one connection each is left with SBPDCL

and NBPDCL as on December, 2019. DISCOMs vide their letter No.29 dated

03.02.2020 have submitted that the number of RTS consumers in FY 2020-21 are

expected to be nil. Accordingly, RTS consumers are considered as nil for FY2020-21.

6.3. Summary of Category-wise number of consumers, connected load and sales

approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Table 6.5: Category-wise number of consumers, approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

SI. No


Domestic 5653924 9898900 15552824

1 Kutir Jyoti 1715817 4067595 5783412

2 Domestic – I 2542717 4524749 7067466

3 Domestic – II 1395390 1306556 2701946

4 Domestic – III 0 0 0

Non-Domestic 391135 576167 967302

5 NDS-I 78866 206518 285384

6 NDS-II 312269 369649 681918


7 Street Light – I 817 281 1098

8 Street Light – II 619 964 1583

Irrigation 209476 70761 280237

9 IAS – I 204632 64294 268926

10 IAS – II 4844 6467 11311


11 Public Water Works 3116 1973 5089



SI. No


12 Har Ghar Nal 15000 7849 22849

Industrial LT 59554 41380 100934

13 LTIS – I 55209 40549 95758

14 LTIS – II 4345 831 5176


15 HTS – I 1675 1166 2841

16 HTS – II 120 49 169

17 HTS – III 4 4 8

18 HTS-IV 0 0 0

19 HTSS 14 5 19

20 Railway 0 0 0

21 Nepal 0 1 1

22 Total 6335454 10599500 16934954

Table 6.6: Category-wise Connected Load approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

SI. No

Category SBPDCL

(KW) NBPDCL

(KW) Total (KW)

Domestic 6730262 6767363 13497625

1 Kutir Jyoti 218586 589473 808059

2 Domestic – I 2656970 4592350 7249320

3 Domestic – II 3854706 1585540 5440246 4 Domestic – III 0 0 0

Non-Domestic 1107556 1039761 2147317

5 NDS-I 97190 231059 328249

6 NDS-II 1010366 808702 1819068


7 Street Light – I 6120 2728 8848

8 Street Light – II 8180 5500 13680

Irrigation 641142 166267 807409

9 IAS – I 582710 124110 706820

10 IAS – II 58432 42157 100589


11 Public Water Works 46823 31190 78013

12 Har Ghar Nal 96199 11036 107235

Industrial LT 694402 389296 1083698

13 LTIS – I 461118 341275 802393

14 LTIS – II 233284 48021 281305

Industrial HT 785244 359857 914161

15 HTS – I 360969 247878 608847

16 HTS – II 237522 67792 305314 17 HTS – III 54111 30500 84611

18 HTS-IV 0 0 0

19 HTSS 132642 13687 146329

20 Railway 0 0 0

21 Nepal 0 0 0

22 Total 10115928 8772998 18888926



Table 6.7: Category-wise Energy Sales approved for SBPDCL & NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

SI. No

Category SBPDCL

(MU) NBPDCL

(MU) Total (MU)

Domestic 8988.70 7950.27 16938.97

1 Kutir Jyoti 1718.12 1842.40 3560.52

2 Domestic – I 4061.28 3583.60 7644.88

3 Domestic – II 3209.30 2524.27 5733.57

4 Domestic – III 0.00 0.00 0.00

Non-Domestic 1268.02 1999.51 3267.53

5 NDS-I 220.42 233.96 454.38

6 NDS-II 1047.60 1765.55 2813.15

Public Lighting 39.20 25.07 64.27

7 Street Light – I 11.30 5.00 16.30

8 Street Light – II 27.90 20.07 47.97

Irrigation 902.67 257.00 1159.67

9 IAS – I 736.87 77.15 814.02

10 IAS – II 165.80 179.85 345.65

Public Service Connections 122.78 108.08 230.86

11 Public Water Works 101.86 43.79 145.65

12 Har Ghar Nal 20.92 64.29 85.21

Industrial LT 348.97 268.46 617.43

13 LTIS – I 214.48 226.95 441.43

14 LTIS – II 134.49 41.51 176.00

Industrial HT 2142.64 722.84 2865.48

15 HTS – I 676.42 472.30 1148.72

16 HTS – II 460.14 135.53 595.67

17 HTS – III 173.27 50.09 223.36

18 HTS-IV 0.00 0.00 0.00

19 HTSS 832.81 64.92 897.73

20 Railway

21 Nepal 0.00 1355.16 1355.16

22 Total 13812.98 12686.39 26499.37

6.4. Distribution Loss


Discoms submitted that to reform themselves by achieving a financial and

operational turnaround, the Government of Bihar and the two Distribution

Licensees have signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Ujwal

Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) with Ministry of Power, Government of India on

22nd February, 2016. In a Letter to Ministry of Power in July, 2019 the Discoms

have expressed their inability to achieve the losses of 15% as agreed under UDAY

and requested for a revision of UDAY targets for FY 2019-20 from present 15% to

20% Discoms submitted that in light of various measures being undertaken by the



State and the existing levels of T&D losses they have targeted a reduction in AT&C

losses and achieve 20% AT&C loss by FY 2020-21. Discoms requested the

Commission to allow the distribution losses for FY 2020-21 at 20%.


The issue of reduction of distribution loss trajectory has been discussed in detail in

Para 6.7 in the Tariff Order dated 24.03.2017 for SBPDCL and NBPDCL under

Commission’s analysis where in a revised Distribution loss trajectory in line with

that of UDAY was approved as below:

Distribution Loss FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20

SBPDCL 30% 22% 15%

NBPDCL 24% 20% 15%

Keeping in view the agreement executed by the Discoms in UDAY with trajectory

agreed for reduction of distribution loss till FY 2019-20 and also having regard to

the upward revision of distribution loss trajectory by the Commission vide its order

dated 08.03.2017 in Case No.49/2015 (Vol.II) of NBPDCL and order dated

08.03.2017 in Case No.50/2015 (Vol.II) of SBPDCL in the light of APTEL remand

order dated 25.11.2016 in Appeal No.141 and 142 of 2015, the Commission had

approved the distribution loss trajectory in the MYT Order dated 25.02.2019 for the

Control Period FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 as given in the Table 6.8 below:

Table 6.8: Distribution Loss Trajectory approved for FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22

Name of DISCOM FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22

SBPDCL 15% 15% 15%

NBPDCL 15% 15% 15%

The Commission does not deem it prudent and appropriate to revise the

distribution loss trajectory time and again in the interest of operational efficiency

of the Discoms and consumers’ interest. Therefore, the Commission decides to

retain the Distribution loss for the Discoms for FY 2020-21 at 15% as shown in the

table 6.9 below:

Table 6.9: Distribution Loss Approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21

Name of DISCOM Approved in Tariff

Order Dated 15.02.2019

Projected in the Petition for FY 2020-

21

Approved by the Commission for FY

2020-21

SBPDCL 15% 20% 15%

NBPDCL 15% 20% 15%



(A) Collection Efficiency:

As per UDAY scheme, the Discoms have agreed to achieve the collection efficiency

of 100% in FY 2019-20. The Commission approved the same 100% collection

efficiency for FY 2020-21 for the Discoms in the MYT Order dated 25.02.2019.

Therefore the Commission retains the collection efficiency for FY 2021-22 at 100%

as shown in the table below:

Name of Discom FY 2020-21

SBPDCL 100%

NBPDCL 100%

(B) AT&C Losses:

From the UDAY MOU, the Commission has also noted that the AT&C loss target for

FY 2019-20 is agreed by the Discoms at 15%. The Commission approved the AT&C

losses for the Discoms for FY 2020-21 at 15% in the MYT Order, dated 25.02.2019.

Therefore the Commission retains the AT&C losses for FY 2020-21 at 15% as shown

in the table below:

Name of Discom FY 2020-21

SBPDCL 15%

NBPDCL 15%

The Commission has explained with an example the methodology to be followed

for computation of AT&C loss in the Regulation 18.5 of BERC (Multi Year


The Discoms are directed to compute the AT&C loss following the same formulae

and methodology as provided in the review (Chapter 5) of this order.

6.5. State Transmission Loss


Discoms have submitted that the Commission has approved intra state

transmission loss at 3.92% for FY 2020-21 in the last Tariff Order and accordingly

considered 3.92% for FY 2020-21.


The Commission has approved the intra state transmission loss at 3.92% for FY

2020-21 in the MYT Order dated 15.02.2019. However, as explained in the APR and

ARR chapters of BSPTCL Tariff Order for FY 2020-21 dated 20.03.2020, the



Commission has already approved the intra state transmission losses at 3.00%.

Therefore, the Commission considers the intra state transmission loss for FY 2020-

21 at 3.00%, subject to true-up based on actuals.

6.6. Central Transmission Losses Petitioners’ submission

Discoms have submitted that they have considered the central transmission losses

at 1.78% as per latest 52 weeks moving average as on 21.10.2019 and requested to

consider the same for FY 2020-21.


The Commission considers the central transmission loss at 1.78% for FY 2020-21 as

projected by the Petitioner subject to true-up based on actuals.

6.7. Power Purchase Petitioners’ submission

The Discoms have submitted that they rely on allocation from central generating

stations and state projects for procuring power for sale in the state. This power

has been proposed to be allocated between North and South Bihar in the

proportion as determined by the BSPHCL’s Board resolution as detailed below:

“RESOLVED THAT Power Purchase & Transmission charges bills are to be admitted

and payment by both Discoms i.e. NBPDCL and SBPDCL in the ratio 46:54

respectively w.e.f.1-4-2017 subjected to the final reconciliation of actual

consumption”

Discoms submitted that the following plant addition has been considered by the

Petitioner for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21 as shown in the Table 6.10 below:

Table 6.10: Plant Addition in FY 2019-20 & FY 2020-21

SI. No

Particulars CoD Bihar Allocation

(MW)

A Conventional 2,528

1 Barh Stage I Unit I 15-Dec-20 342

2 Barh Stage I Unit II 15-Mar-21 342

3 Nabinagar BRBCL Unit IV 15-Dec-20 24

4 Darlipali STPS Unit II 15-Dec-20 80

B Non-Conventional 2,000

1 SECI Phase-II (Solar) 15-Nov-20 150

2 SECI Phase-III (Solar) 15-Dec-20 300

3 NTPC (Solar) 15-Oct-20 300

4 SECI Phase-V Wind 15-Jul-20 300

5 SECI Phase-VI Wind 15-Mar-21 350

6 NTPC Wind 15-Sep-20 300



The power purchase (MU) has been calculated on yearly basis keeping in mind the

maintenance schedule at same level as notified by ERPC/ERLDC for the period April

2019 to March 2020 in absence of the maintenance schedule for FY 2020-21. The

methodology of projecting Power purchase quantum (MU) is as mentioned below:

i). The above mentioned allocation of share of power has been considered using the latest COD’s of each unit and weighted average based on its projected availability. Many new plants are expected to start operations in FY 2020-21. The increase in the share allocation of power has grown with the demand and is in line with allocated generation capacity in the 24x7 Power For All (PFA) agreement.

ii). The Plant Load Factor (PLF) for each plant has been calculated on basis of actual figures of the past three to four years and for new upcoming conventional plants, PLF has been considered comparing with similar operating plants of similar capacity.

For Normative Plant Load Factor (PLF) and auxiliary consumption, the norms

provided by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for the thermal and

hydro plants and the auxiliary consumption have been considered. For the state

plant’s PLF highest among the PLF norms specified by BERC and the plant wise

auxiliary consumption determined by BERC for thermal plants, and biomass has

been considered. For the solar plants highest among the CUF of 19% is considered.

For new plants addition for non-conventional, minimum take off energy has been

considered.

Considering the PLF as mentioned above and using the power purchase allocation

data mentioned in the above table total number of units purchased were calculated

from every source/ plant separately.

Discoms have submitted the total Power purchase projections for FY 2020-21 as

shown in the table 6.11 below.

Table 6.11: Power purchase projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21 (MU)

Name of The Source SBPDCL NBPDCL

MW MU MW MU

Central Sector Stations 2,923 14,702 2,490 12,524

FSTPP I &II 257 1,593 219 1,357

FSTPP III 65 349 55 298

KHSTPP I 182 1,155 155 984

KHSTPP II 39 247 33 210

Barh Stage I Unit I 185 292 157 249

Barh Stage I Unit II 185 46 157 40 Barh Stage II 569 3,859 485 3,287




MW MU MW MU

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – III 39 163 33 139

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – IV 13 16 11 14

Talcher Stage I 207 1,418 177 1,208

KBUNL Stage II 143 560 121 477

NPGCL Unit I 279 1,509 238 1,286

NPGCL Unit II 279 1,509 238 1,286

Darlipali STPS Unit I 43 233 37 199 Darlipali STPS Unit II 43 68 37 58

Chuka 43 245 37 209

Rangit 11 69 10 58

Tala 139 526 118 448

Teesta 59 346 50 294

Mangdechu 143 496 122 423

State Generating Stations 402 1,516 342 1,291

BSPHC 29 32 25 28

KBUNL Stage I 119 464 101 395

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59 239 51 203

BTPS Stage I Unit II 59 239 51 203

BTPS Stage II Unit I 135 543 115 462

IPP 250 1,649 213 1,404

GMR 133 848 113 722

JITPL 117 801 100 682

Renewable 1,368 2,229 1,165 1,899


5 9 5 8

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 5 9 5 8

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 3 4 2 4

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 2 3 1 2

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 8 13 7 11

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 3 4 2 4

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 5 9 5 8

Welspun Renewables Project – I 5 9 5 8

Welspun Renewables Project – II 8 13 7 11

Welspun Renewables Project – III 8 13 7 11

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 8 13 7 11

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 5 9 5 8


5 9 5 8

SECI Phase-II 81 68 69 58

SECI Phase-III 162 108 138 92

NTPC ISTS Solar 162 158 138 134 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro)

108 255 92 217

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 54 147 46 125

SECI Phase-III Wind 162 487 138 415

SECI Phase-V Wind 162 350 138 298

SECI Phase-VI Wind 189 25 161 21

NTPC Wind 162 264 138 225

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 4 17 3 15

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 5 23 4 19

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 6 26 5 22


6 26 5 22




MW MU MW MU

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 11 48 9 41

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 11 48 9 41

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 2 8 2 7

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 1 5 1 4

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 5 33 4 28

Tirupati Sugar 3 15 3 13

Power Purchase 4943 20096 4210 17119 Less: Surplus Energy Sale 1563 429

Net Power Purchase 4943 18533 4210 16690

The DISCOMs requested the Commission to approve the aforementioned revised

power purchase quantity for the FY 2020-21.


The Discoms vide letter dated 20.01.2020 has submitted that NTPC has informed

that since the PSA with NTPC (Wind) has been terminated, it may not be considered

for projection of power purchase. The Commission has also noted that the Discoms

have not approached with any proposals to procure 300 MW from SECI Phase-V

(Wind) and 350 MW from SECI Phase-VI (Wind). It is also observed that with the

existing arrangements to purchase Non-solar Renewable Energy, the Discoms are in

a position to fulfil the non-solar RPO in FY 2020-21. Therefore, the Commission has

not considered the Non-Solar RE power purchase from these three sources for FY

2020-21.

The Commission further notes that the Discoms have also proposed to purchase

150 MW from SECI Phase-II (Solar), 300 MW from SECI Phase-III (Solar) and 300

MW from NTPC (Solar); but so far they have not approached the Commission for

seeking necessary regulatory approvals. However, since there is shortfall in Solar RE

for meeting the solar RPO in FY 2020-21, the Commission provisionally considers

the power purchase from these three Solar RE sources. DISCOMs are directed to

expedite action to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for the procurement

of solar power from these sources.

During the deliberations in the 12th meeting of Coordination Forum held on

18.12.2019, G.M (Operations), NTPC furnished details of expected dates of

commissioning of various projects relating to tied-up PPAs of upcoming projects in

FY 2020-21 as under:-



SI. No

Name of the Plant Total

Capacity (MW)

Share (%)

Allocated Capacity

(MW)

Expected COD Date

Unit-1 Unit-2 Unit-3

1 Barauni Stage-II (Unit-1,Unit-2) 500 100 500 Sep-20

2 Darlipalli STPS (Unit-1,Unit-2)

1600

10

160

Sep-20

3 Barh Stage-I (Unit-1,2&3 ) 1980 51.80 1025.64 Jun-20 Dec-20

4 NPGCL (Unit-2&3) 1320 78.40 1034.88 Jun-20 Dec-20

5 BRBCL (Unit-4) 250 10 25 Sep-20

To arrive at the power purchase from various Stations/Sources, the Commission

has followed the following methodology:-

The Commission has considered the availability of share of power (MW) to

Bihar from various Central, State, IPPs, taking in account the maintenance

schedule periods as submitted by the Discoms and allocated to SBPDCL &

NBPDCL in the power sharing ratio of 54:46.

The Commission has computed the entitlement of energy (MU) from Central,

State, IPPs, by considering 92.5% of Plant Availability i.e. average of maximum

and minimum availability of 100% and 85% respectively, as the distribution

utilities have to pay the full fixed cost as per their share when the plant

availability is above 85%. DISCOMs are also entitled to scheduled energy

(MU) based on the declared plant availability and ex-bus share of power

(MW).

For Hydro Stations, 50% of average availability is considered based on the

seasonal availability of water flow to the projects and past years’ availability

trends.

Auxiliary Consumption for existing thermal stations is considered as shown in

the monthly REA statement of ERPC and for new stations as per regulatory

norm/projected by DISCOMs. Auxiliary Consumption for hydro stations is

considered at 1.25%, for Wind mills considered at 0.25% and for Solar Plants

at 0.25%.

The energy entitlement/availability from various sources is as given in the

table 6.12 below.



Table 6.12: Energy entitlement from various sources for FY 2020-21

Sl. No

Stations Capacity

MW Allocation

% Allocation

MW

monthly weighted average

considering maintenance

schedule Average

MW

Aux (%)

Ex bus avalability

MW

NBPDCL MW 46 %

SBPDCL MW 54 %

Aailability factor

Total MU

NBPDCL MU

46 %

SBPDCL MU

54 %

Central Generating Stations 15260

5837.90 5568.94 5224.46 2685.43 3152.46

33905.25 15596.41 18308.83

1 FSTPP I&II ( 2 x 500 + 3 x 200) 1600 31.40 502.37 475.56 6.78 443.32 231.09 271.28 92.50 3592.21 1652.42 1939.80

2 FSTPP III (1 x 500) 500 21.52 107.59 97.68 6.25 91.57 49.49 58.10 92.50 742.03 341.33 400.69

3 KHSTPP - I ( 4 x 210) 840 41.86 351.61 337.03 9.00 306.70 161.74 189.87 92.50 2485.15 1143.17 1341.98

4 KHSTPP - II ( 3 x 500) 1500 4.98 74.70 71.96 6.25 67.46 34.36 40.34 92.50 546.64 251.45 295.18

5 Barh Stage I Unit I 660 51.80 342.00 342.00 6.25 320.63 157.32 184.68 92.50 2163.83 995.36 1168.47

6 Barh Stage I Unit II 660 51.80 342.00 342.00 6.25 320.63 157.32 184.68 92.50 861.26 396.18 465.08

7 BARH Stage II (2 x 660) 1320 90.74 1197.72 1043.44 6.25 978.22 550.95 646.77 92.50 7926.56 3646.22 4280.34

8 Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit IV (1x250) 250 9.60 24.00 24.00 9.00 21.84 11.04 12.96 92.50 102.79 47.28 55.51

9 Nabinagar (BRBCL) (3 x 250) 750 10.00 75.00 70.97 9.00 64.58 34.50 40.50 92.50 523.30 240.72 282.58

10 TSTPP - I ( 2 x 500) 1000 41.25 412.45 384.09 7.05 357.01 189.73 222.72 92.50 2892.83 1330.70 1562.13

11 MTPS II ( 2 X 195) (KBUNL) 390 74.97 292.39 264.67 9.00 240.85 134.50 157.89 92.50 1951.60 897.73 1053.86

12 NPGCL Unit I 660 78.40 517.44 517.44 6.25 485.10 238.02 279.42 92.50 3273.84 1505.97 1767.88

13 NPGCL Unit II 660 78.40 517.44 517.44 6.25 485.10 238.02 279.42 92.50 1303.08 599.41 703.66

14 Darlipali STPS Unit I 800 10.00 80.00 80.00 8.25 73.40 36.80 43.20 92.50 594.76 273.59 321.17

15 Darlipali STPS Unit II 800 10.00 80.00 80.00 8.25 73.40 36.80 43.20 92.50 345.45 158.91 186.54

16 Chuka 360 29.63 106.67 106.67 1.25 105.34 49.07 57.60 50.00 461.37 212.23 249.14

17 Rangit (3 X 20) 60 35.00 21.00 21.00 1.25 20.74 9.66 11.34 50.00 90.83 41.78 49.05

18 Tala 1020 25.50 260.10 260.00 1.25 256.75 119.65 140.45 50.00 1124.57 517.30 607.27

19 Teesta (3 X 170) 510 21.26 108.43 108.00 1.25 106.65 49.88 58.55 50.00 467.13 214.88 252.25

20 Mangdechu (4 x 180) 720 31.25 225.00 225.00 1.25 222.19 103.50 121.50 50.00 973.18 447.66 525.52

21 PFC Medium Term 200 100.00 200.00 200.00 8.50 183.00 92.00 108.00 92.50 1482.85 682.11 800.74

State Generating Stations 994

994.00 994.00 915.91 457.24 536.76

6270.22 2884.30 3385.92



Sl. No

Stations Capacity

MW Allocation

% Allocation

MW



schedule Average

MW

Aux (%)

Ex bus avalability

MW

NBPDCL MW 46 %

SBPDCL MW 54 %

Aailability factor

Total MU

NBPDCL MU

46 %

SBPDCL MU

54 %

22 BSPHC 54 100.00 54.00 54.00 1.00 53.46 24.84 29.16 13.00 60.88 28.00 32.88

23 MTPS I ( 2 X 110) (KBUNL) 220 100.00 220.00 220.00 8.25 201.85 101.20 118.80 92.50 1635.59 752.37 883.22

24 BTPS Stage I Unit I 110 100.00 110.00 110.00 8.25 100.93 50.60 59.40 92.50 817.80 376.19 441.61

25 BTPS Stage I Unit II 110 100.00 110.00 110.00 8.25 100.93 50.60 59.40 92.50 817.80 376.19 441.61

26 BTPS Stage II Unit I 250 100.00 250.00 250.00 8.25 229.38 115.00 135.00 92.50 1858.63 854.97 1003.66

27 Barauni Stage II (Unit 2) 250 100.00 250.00 250.00 8.25 229.38 115.00 135.00 92.50 1079.53 496.58 582.95

IPP 2250

487.98 468.56 429.90 224.47 263.51

3483.52 1602.42 1881.10

28 GMR ( 3 x 350) 1050 24.76 259.98 251.59 8.25 230.84 119.59 140.39 92.50 1870.47 860.42 1010.06

29 JITPL ( 2 x 600 ) 1200 19.00 228.00 216.97 8.25 199.07 104.88 123.12 92.50 1613.05 742.00 871.05

Renewable 1582

1582.00 1582.00 1569.38 727.72 854.28 3026.40 1392.15 1634.26

30 M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 10 100.00 10.00 10.00 0.25 9.98 4.60 5.40 19.00 16.60 7.64 8.97

31 M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 10 100.00 10.00 10.00 0.25 9.98 4.60 5.40 19.00 16.60 7.64 8.97

32 M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 5 100.00 5.00 5.00 0.25 4.99 2.30 2.70 19.00 8.30 3.82 4.48

33 M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 3 100.00 3.00 3.00 0.25 2.99 1.38 1.62 19.00 4.98 2.29 2.69

34 Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 15 100.00 15.00 15.00 0.25 14.96 6.90 8.10 19.00 24.90 11.46 13.45

35 Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 5 100.00 5.00 5.00 0.25 4.99 2.30 2.70 19.00 8.30 3.82 4.48

36 Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 10 100.00 10.00 10.00 0.25 9.98 4.60 5.40 19.00 16.60 7.64 8.97

37 Welspun Renewables Project – I 10 100.00 10.00 10.00 0.25 9.98 4.60 5.40 19.00 16.60 7.64 8.97

38 Welspun Renewables Project – II 15 100.00 15.00 15.00 0.25 14.96 6.90 8.10 19.00 24.90 11.46 13.45

39 Welspun Renewables Project – III 15 100.00 15.00 15.00 0.25 14.96 6.90 8.10 19.00 24.90 11.46 13.45

40 Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 15 100.00 15.00 15.00 0.25 14.96 6.90 8.10 19.00 24.90 11.46 13.45

41 Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 10 100.00 10.00 10.00 0.25 9.98 4.60 5.40 19.00 16.60 7.64 8.97



Sl. No

Stations Capacity

MW Allocation

% Allocation

MW



schedule Average

MW

Aux (%)

Ex bus avalability

MW

NBPDCL MW 46 %

SBPDCL MW 54 %

Aailability factor

Total MU

NBPDCL MU

46 %

SBPDCL MU

54 %

42 Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 10 100.00 10.00 10.00 0.25 9.98 4.60 5.40 19.00 16.60 7.64 8.97

43 SECI Phase-II( Solar) 150 100.00 150.00 150.00 0.25 149.63 69.00 81.00 26.00 140.98 64.85 76.13

44 SECI Phase-III (Solar) 300 100.00 300.00 300.00 0.25 299.25 138.00 162.00 26.00 225.95 103.94 122.01

45 NTPC ISTS ( Solar) 300 100.00 300.00 300.00 0.25 299.25 138.00 162.00 24.00 313.71 144.31 169.40

46 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro) 200 100.00 200.00 200.00 0.25 199.50 92.00 108.00 27.00 471.86 217.05 254.80

47 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 100 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.25 99.75 46.00 54.00 32.00 279.62 128.62 150.99

48 SECI Phase-III Wind 300 100.00 300.00 300.00 0.25 299.25 138.00 162.00 35.00 917.50 422.05 495.45

49 New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 7 100.00 7.00 7.00 9.00 6.37 3.22 3.78 55.00 30.69 14.12 16.57

50 Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 9 100.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 8.19 4.14 4.86 55.00 39.46 18.15 21.31

51 Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 11 100.00 11.00 11.00 9.00 10.01 5.06 5.94 55.00 48.23 22.18 26.04

52 Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 11 100.00 11.00 11.00 9.00 10.01 5.06 5.94 55.00 48.23 22.18 26.04

53 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 20 100.00 20.00 20.00 9.00 18.20 9.20 10.80 55.00 87.69 40.34 47.35

54 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 20 100.00 20.00 20.00 9.00 18.20 9.20 10.80 55.00 87.69 40.34 47.35

55 Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 4 100.00 4.00 4.00 9.00 3.64 1.84 2.16 55.00 17.54 8.07 9.47

56 Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 2 100.00 2.00 2.00 9.00 1.82 0.92 1.08 80.00 12.75 5.87 6.89

57 Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 9 100.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 8.19 4.14 4.86 80.00 57.40 26.40 30.99

58 Tirupati Sugar 6 100.00 6.00 6.00 9.00 5.46 2.76 3.24 55.00 26.31 12.10 14.21

Total 20086 8901.88 8613.50 8139.66 4094.86 4807.01

46685.39 21475.28 25210.11



Since, the entitlement of energy of 46685 MUs from various sources shown in the

above table is more than the energy requirement of 32384.24 MUs as arrived in

Paragraph 6.8 at Energy Requirement, the Commission keeping the entitlement, of

energy, from Hydro Stations and Solar & Non-solar Renewable sources, as Must

Run and the balance required energy is considered from other stations/sources,

duly following Merit Order Dispatch (MOD) Principle. The entitlement/available

energy from various thermal power stations along with variable energy rate has

been used for MOD. In the MOD, the energy availability from each generating

station is stacked up in ascending order of variable energy rate and dispatch from

the stations were regulated, after dispatch of Must Run stations like Non-

conventional sources of energy and hydel stations to meet requirements for both

DISCOMs. Accordingly, the MOD is drawn i.e. considering technical minimum of

55% for higher energy rate sources so that the cost of power procurement is

minimized to the extent possible with reference to availability and requirement.

The details of above calculations are provided in the table 6.13 below:



Table 6.13: Merit Order despatch scheduling from various stations/sources

Sl. No

Stations Capacity

MW Allocation

MW

Ex bus avalability

MW

Aailability factor

Total MU

Merit Order

Despatch (MU)

NBPDCL (MU) 46 %

SBPDCL (MU) 54 %

Energy charges

(Rs./Unit) % of power considered

I Hydel

1 Chuka 360 106.67 105.34 50.00 461.37 461.37 212.23 249.14 2.40 100% of power

2 Rangit (3 X 20) 60 21 20.74 50.00 90.83 90.83 41.78 49.05 1.90 100% of power

3 Tala 1020 260 256.75 50.00 1124.57 1124.57 517.30 607.27 2.16 100% of power

4 Teesta (3 X 170) 510 108 106.65 50.00 467.13 467.13 214.88 252.25 1.16 100% of power

5 Mangdechu (4 x 180) 720 225 222.19 50.00 973.18 973.18 447.66 525.52 4.19 100% of power

6 BSPHC 54 54 53.33 13.00 60.88 60.88 28.00 32.88 2.49 100% of power

II Renewable 1582 1582 1559 100 3026.40 3026.40 1392.15 1634.26

A Sub Total A (Hydel + Renewables) 4307 2358 2324 6204.36 6204.36 2854.01 3350.35

8 JITPL ( 2 x 600 ) 1200 228 199.07 92.50 1613.05 1613.05 742.00 871.05 1.09 100% of power

9 GMR ( 3 x 350) 1050 260 230.84 92.50 1870.47 1870.47 860.42 1010.06 1.18 100% of power

10 NPGCL Unit I 660 517 485.10 92.50 3273.84 3273.84 1505.97 1767.88 1.79 100% of power

11 NPGCL Unit II 660 517 485.10 92.50 1303.08 1303.08 599.41 703.66 1.79 100% of power

12 TSTPP - I ( 2 x 500) 1000 412 357.01 92.50 2892.83 1879.18 864.42 1014.76 1.99 64.96% of Power

13 KHSTPP - II ( 3 x 500) 1500 75 67.46 92.50 546.64 300.65 138.30 162.35 2.06 55% of power

14 KHSTPP - I ( 4 x 210) 840 352 306.70 92.50 2485.15 1366.83 628.74 738.09 2.16 55% of power

15 Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit IV (1x250) 250 24 21.84 92.50 102.79 56.53 26.01 30.53 2.22 55% of power

16 Nabinagar (BRBCL) (3 x 250) 750 75 64.58 92.50 523.30 287.81 132.39 155.42 2.22 55% of power

17 BTPS Stage II Unit I 250 250 229.38 92.50 1858.63 1022.24 470.23 552.01 2.30 55% of power

18 Barauni Stage II (Unit 2) 250 250.00 229.38 92.50 1079.53 593.74 273.12 320.62 2.30 55% of power

19 BARH Stage II (2 x 660) 1320 1198 978.22 92.50 7926.56 4359.61 2005.42 2354.19 2.31 55% of power

20 FSTPP III (1 x 500) 500 108 91.57 92.50 742.03 408.11 187.73 220.38 2.35 55% of power

21 FSTPP I&II ( 2 x 500 + 3 x 200) 1600 502 443.32 92.50 3592.21 1975.72 908.83 1066.89 2.38 55% of power



Sl. No

Stations Capacity

MW Allocation

MW

Ex bus avalability

MW

Aailability factor

Total MU

Merit Order

Despatch (MU)

NBPDCL (MU) 46 %

SBPDCL (MU) 54 %

Energy charges

(Rs./Unit) % of power considered

22 Barh Stage I Unit I 660 342 320.63 92.50 2163.83 1190.11 547.45 642.66 2.39 55% of power

23 Barh Stage I Unit II 660 342 320.63 92.50 861.26 473.69 217.90 255.80 2.39 55% of power

24 MTPS II ( 2 X 195) (KBUNL) 390 292 240.85 92.50 1951.60 1073.38 493.75 579.62 2.69 55% of power

25 Darlipali STPS Unit I 800 80 73.40 92.50 594.76 327.12 150.47 176.64 3.21 55% of power

26 Darlipali STPS Unit II 800 80 73.40 92.50 345.45 190.00 87.40 102.60 3.21 55% of power

27 MTPS I ( 2 X 110) (KBUNL) 220 220 201.85 92.50 1635.59 899.57 413.80 485.77 3.80 55% of power

28 BTPS Stage I Unit I 110 110 100.93 92.50 817.80 449.79 206.90 242.89 4.16 55% of power

29 BTPS Stage I Unit II 110 110 100.93 92.50 817.80 449.79 206.90 242.89 4.16 55% of power

30 PFC Medium Term 200 200 183.00 92.50 1482.85 815.57 375.16 440.41 4.20 55% of power

B Sub Total B 15780 6545 5805 40481.03 26179.89 12042.75 14137.14

Grand Total A + B 20086 8902 8129 46685.39 32384.25 14896.75 17487.49



The energy requirement of 32384.24 MUs is arrived in Paragraph 6.8 Energy

Requirement i.e. 17011.00 MUs for SBPDCL and 15373.24 MUs for NBPDCL.

However, as per above Merit Order table it is observed that after sharing the power

in the ratio of 54:46 the requirement of energy comes to be 17487.49 MUs for

SBPDCL and 14896.75 MUs for NBPDCL. In view of above, the Commission has

adjusted 476.49 MUs from SBPDCL to NBPDCL @ average power purchase cost as

mentioned in Tables 6.22 and 6.23 at relevant subsequent paragraphs.

The dispatchable power purchase as considered in the above table is allocated

to SBPDCL & NBPDCL in the ration 54:46.

The details of power purchase approved from various stations / sources for FY

2020-21 are as shown in the Table 6.14 below:

Table 6.14:Power Purchase approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21


MW MU MW MU

Central Sector Stations 3152.46 12095.09 2685.43 10303.22

FSTPP I &II 271.28 1066.89 231.09 908.83

FSTPP III 58.10 220.38 49.49 187.73

KHSTPP I 189.87 738.09 161.74 628.74

KHSTPP II 40.34 162.35 34.36 138.30

Barh Stage I Unit I 184.68 642.66 157.32 547.45

Barh Stage I Unit II 184.68 255.80 157.32 217.90

Barh Stage II 646.77 2354.19 550.95 2005.42

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – III 12.96 155.42 11.04 132.39

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – IV 40.50 30.53 34.50 26.01

Talcher Stage I 222.72 1014.76 189.73 864.42

KBUNL Stage II 157.89 579.62 134.50 493.75

NPGCL Unit I 279.42 703.66 238.02 599.41

NPGCL Unit II 279.42 1767.88 238.02 1505.97

Darlipali STPS Unit I 43.20 176.64 36.80 150.47

Darlipali STPS Unit II 43.20 102.60 36.80 87.40

Chuka 57.60 249.14 49.07 212.23

Rangit 11.34 49.05 9.66 41.78

Tala 140.45 607.27 119.65 517.30

Teesta 58.55 252.25 49.88 214.88

Mangdechu 121.50 525.52 103.50 447.66

PFC - Medium Term 108.00 440.41 92.00 375.16

State Generating Stations 536.76 1877.05 457.24 1598.97

BSPHC 29.16 32.88 24.84 28.00

KBUNL Stage I 118.80 485.77 101.20 413.80

BTPS Stage I Unit I 59.40 242.89 50.60 206.90

BTPS Stage I Unit II 59.40 242.89 50.60 206.90

BTPS Stage II Unit I 135.00 552.01 115.00 470.23




MW MU MW MU

BTPS Stage II Unit II 135.00 320.62 115.00 273.12

IPP 263.51 1881.10 224.47 1602.42

GMR 140.39 1010.06 119.59 860.42

JITPL 123.12 871.05 104.88 742.00

Renewable 854.28 1634.26 727.72 1392.15


5.40 8.97 4.60 7.64

M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 5.40 8.97 4.60 7.64

M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 2.70 4.48 2.30 3.82

M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 1.62 2.69 1.38 2.29

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 8.10 13.45 6.90 11.46

Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 2.70 4.48 2.30 3.82

Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 5.40 8.97 4.60 7.64

Welspun Renewables Project – I 5.40 8.97 4.60 7.64

Welspun Renewables Project – II 8.10 13.45 6.90 11.46

Welspun Renewables Project – III 8.10 13.45 6.90 11.46

Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 8.10 13.45 6.90 11.46

Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 5.40 8.97 4.60 7.64


5.40 8.97 4.60 7.64

SECI Phase-II 81.00 76.13 69.00 64.85

SECI Phase-III 162.00 122.01 138.00 103.94

NTPC ISTS Solar 162.00 169.40 138.00 144.31


108.00 254.80 92.00 217.05

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 54.00 150.99 46.00 128.62

SECI Phase-III Wind 162.00 495.45 138.00 422.05

New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 3.78 16.57 3.22 14.12

Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 4.86 21.31 4.14 18.15

Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 5.94 26.04 5.06 22.18

Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 5.94 26.04 5.06 22.18

HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 10.80 47.35 9.20 40.34 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 10.80 47.35 9.20 40.34

Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 2.16 9.47 1.84 8.07

Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 1.08 6.89 0.92 5.87

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 4.86 30.99 4.14 26.40

Tirupati Sugar 3.24 14.21 2.76 12.10

Total Power Purchase 4807.01 17487.49 4094.86 14896.75

6.8. Energy Balance


Discoms have submitted the energy balance for FY 2020-21 as given in the table

6.15 below:



Table 6.15:Energy Balance Projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21

Sl. No

Particulars Unit

SBPDCL NBPDCL

Approved in MYT Order Dated

25.02.2019


Approved in MYT Order Dated

25.02.2019



1 Energy sales MU 16,312 14,045 14,534 12,929

2 Less: Inter-state sales, DF & Nepal if any

MU - - 1,578 1,355


MU 16,312 14,045 12,956 11,573

4 Distribution Loss % 15.00% 20.00% 15.00% 20.00%

5 Add: Distribution Loss MU 2,879 3,511 2,286 2,893


MU 19,191

17,556 15,242 14,467

7 Add: Inter-state sales & Nepal if any

MU - - 1,578 1,355


MU 19,191 17,553 16,820 15,822

9 State Transmission Loss % 3.92% 3.92% 3.92% 3.92%

10 Add: State Transmission Loss

MU 783 716 686 646


MU 19,974 18,272 17,507 16,467

B Energy Available - - - -


MU 20,317 20,096 17,810 17,119


MU 15,166 16,351 13,437 13,929

3 Central Transmission Loss % 2.26% 1.78% 2.26% 1.78%

4 Central Transmission Loss MU 343 261 304 222


MU 5,151 3,745 4,374 3,190

6 Net Power Purchase Available

MU 19,974 19,835 17,507 16,897


MU (0) 1,563 0 429


The Commission noted that in the above Table, the DISCOMs have computed the

energy requirement considering the distribution loss at 20% each for both SBPDCL

and NBPDCL as against 15% approved by the Commission in its order dated

25.02.2019. State Transmission loss is also considered at 3.92% which was

provisionally approved for FY 2020-21 in BSPTCL Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019. The



same is now revised to 3.0% for FY 2020-21 for BSPTCL in the Tariff Order dated

20.03.2020

It is also observed that the DISCOMs have stated that they have considered CTU

loss at 1.78%. However while calculating energy requirement, the Discoms have

considered CTU loss of about 1.60%.

The details of energy requirement, energy availability and resultant energy surplus

energy during FY 2020-21 are as give in the table 6.16 below:-

Table 6.16:Energy Requirement Computed with approved sales and losses for FY 2020-21

Sl. No



1 Energy sales MU 13812.98 12686.39 26499.37

2 Less: Inter-state sales, Nepal MU 1355.16 1355.16


MU 13812.98 11331.23 25144.21

4 Distribution Loss % 15.00% 15.00%



MU 16250.56 13330.86 29581.42

7 Add: Inter-state sales, DF & Nepal if any MU 1355.16 1355.16


MU 16250.56 14686.02 30936.58

9 State Transmission Loss % 3.00% 3.00%



MU 16753.16 15140.23 31893.39

B Energy Available


MUs 25210.11 21475.28 46685.39


MUs 21467.69 18287.29 39754.98

3 Central Transmission Loss % 1.780% 1.780%

4 Central Transmission Loss MUs 382.12 325.51 707.64


MUs 3742.42 3187.99 6930.41

6 Net Power Purchase Available MUs 24827.99 21149.77 45977.75


MUs 8074.83 6009.54 14084.37

From the above table it is noted that there will be energy surplus of 8074.83 MUs

for SBPDCL and 6009.54 MUs for NBPDCL totaling 14084.37 MUs at state

transmission periphery.



The Commission has arrived the CTU losses as 707.64 MUs on power purchase from

Central Stations, IPPs, SGS etc of 39754.98 MUs in the above table which works out

to 1.516% (707.64/46685.39*100) on the total power purchase/ availability.

For estimating the additional energy purchase at regional periphery due to surplus

energy arrived at state transmission periphery, the energy surplus arrived at

transmission periphery is grossed up with average CTU loss of 1.516% as detailed

below:


Energy surplus at state transmission periphery (MUs) 8074.83 6009.54 14084.37

Average CTU loss (%) 1.516% 1.516%

Surplus power purchase at regional periphery (MUs) 8199.11 6102.04 14301.14

Hence, total power purchase approved from CGS, IPP, JV’s, SGC etc., for NBPDCL &

SBPDCL is as detailed below:-


Total power available at ex-bus (MUs) 25210.11 21475.28 46685.39

Surplus power purchase at ex-bus (MUs) 8199.11 6102.04 14301.14

Total power purchase approved (MUs) 17011.00 15373.24 32384.24

6.9. Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO)


Discoms have submitted that they have already taken steps to enhance their

Renewable Energy mix and accordingly have anticipated addition in Solar and Non-

solar power in FY 2020-21 as given in the table 6.17 below:-

Table 6.17: RPO projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21

SI. No


1 Energy consumption MU 14,042 12,929

Hydro Power Purchase MUs. 1,714 1,460

Losses

Inter-State Transmission Loss % 2% 2%

Inter-State Transmission Loss MUs. 30 26

Intra-State Transmission Loss % 4% 4%

Intra-State Transmission Loss MUs. 66 56


Distribution Loss MUs. 324 276

Hydro Power Consumed MUs. 1,294 1,103

2 Conventional Power Consumed MUs. 12,748 11,826

3 Target

Solar % 6.75% 6.75%



SI. No


Non-Solar % 7.50% 7.50%

Solar MUs. 860 798

Non-Solar MUs. 956 887

Total MUs. 1,817 1,685


Solar MUs. 452 385

Non-Solar MUs. 1,778 1,514

Total MUs. 2,229 1,899


Solar MUs.

Non-Solar MUs.

Total MUs. - -

6 Total Purchase

Solar MUs. 452 385

Non-Solar MUs. 1,778 1,514

Total MUs. 2,229 1,899


Solar MUs. 409 414

Non-Solar MUs. - -

Total MUs. 409 414


Solar Unit 408,985 413642

Non-Solar Unit - -

Total Unit 408,985 413642

9 Average Rate of REC

Solar Per Unit 1,000 1,000

Non-Solar Per Unit 1,000 1,000

Total Per Unit

10 Cost

Solar Rs Crores 41 41

Non-Solar Rs Crores - -

Total Rs Crores 41 41


Discoms have not shown any Off-Grid / Captive energy purchase from State PV

Solar Generators. On a query from the Commission, SBPDCL in its letter dated

06.12.2019 requested to consider the same energy of 90 MU projected for FY 2018-

19 and NBPDCL in its letter dated 06.12.2019 requested to consider 41 MU based

on 6 months actuals of FY 2019-20. However, the Commission has considered the

same as per actuals of FY 2018-19 for both the DISCOMs.



The details of Renewable Energy (RE) to be procured as per RPO Regulations, RE

procured by the DISCOMs, and the balance RE to be procured are given in the Table

6.18 below:-

Table 6.18: RPO Approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21

SI. No


1 Energy Sales

13812.98 12686.39

Less: Sales to Nepal

0.00 1355.16

2 Net Energy sales MUs 13812.98 11331.23

3 Hydro Power Purchase MUs 1716.09 1461.86

Less : Losses

Inter-State Transmission Loss % 1.78% 1.78%

Inter-State Transmission Loss MUs 31 26

Intra-State Transmission Loss % 3.00% 3.00%

Intra-State Transmission Loss MUs 51 43


Distribution Loss MUs 245 209

Net Hydro Power Consumed MUs 1390 1184

4 Conventional Power Consumed MUs 12423.25 10147.38

5 RPO Target

Solar % 6.75% 6.75%

Non-Solar % 7.50% 7.50%

a) Solar MUs 838.57 684.95

b) Non-Solar MUs 931.74 761.05

c)Total MUs 1770.31 1446.00

6 Actual/Projected RE Power Purchase

a) Solar MUs 453.61 378.79

b) Non-Solar MUs 1131.39 971.21

c) Total MUs 1585.00 1350.00

7 Purchase of Solar Power - Off Grid/Captive Consumers

a) Solar MUs 12.02 8.54

b) Non-Solar MUs 78.00 63.00

c) Total MUs 90.02 71.54

8 Total RE Power Purchase

a) Solar MUs 465.63 387.33

b) Non-Solar MUs 1209.39 1034.21

c)Total MUs 1675.02 1421.54

9 (Surplus)/Shortfall of RPO

a) Solar MUs 372.94 297.62

b) Non-Solar MUs -277.65 -273.16

10 RPO Compliance

a) Solar

55.53% 56.55%

b) Non-Solar

129.80% 135.89%

Since, the solar RPO Compliance of both SBPDCL and NBPDCL are less than 85% as

shown in the above table, the short fall in solar RPO cannot be adjusted from the

surplus of Non-solar RPO in accordance with the 3rd amendment to clause 4 of



BERC (Renewable Purchase Obligation, its compliance and REC Framework

Implementation) regulations, 2010.

SI. No.


11 Net Short fall approved

a) Solar (refer 9(a) table above) Unit 372.94 297.62

b) Non-Solar (refer 9(b) table above) Unit -277.65 -273.16

12 RPO Compliance

a) Solar

55.53% 56.55%

b) Non-Solar 129.80% 135.89%

13 Short fall in RPO Compliance considering 85% achievement 29.47% 28.45%

a) Solar MU 247.15 194.88

14 REC rate (Rs/kWh)(floor price) Rs/kWh 1.00 1.00

Total cost for REC to be purchased (13a*14)/10 Rs. Crore 24.72 19.49

The Commission has approved cost of RECs to be purchased at Rs.24.72 Crore for

SBPDCL and Rs.19.49 Crore for NBPDCL and accordingly factored the same in to the

ARR for FY 2020-21.

The Commission directs the DISCOMs to put-forth more efforts to procure

balance solar energy or to purchase solar RECs as detailed in the aforementioned

table to meet the stipulated RPO targets in FY 2020-21.

6.10. Power Purchase Cost


The power purchase cost mainly comprises of fixed charges and energy charges for

two part tariff stations i.e. NTPC, NHPC & PTC in case of Petitioner. The Petitioner

has considered the actual energy charges and fixed cost for existing power stations

based on previous 12 months data and assumptions explained in previous chapter.

The Petitioner has considered the upcoming conventional power purchase cost as

per MYT Order approved for the FY 2020-21. For Non-Conventional energy, it has

considered as per discovered tariff.

Power Purchase Cost projected by the Discoms for FY 2020-21 are as given in

Tables 6.19 & 6.20 below: -



Table 6.19: Power Purchase Cost projected by SBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Name of The Source MW MUs Fixed

Charges (Rs Crore)

Energy Charges

(Rs Crore)

Other Costs

(Rs Crore)

Total Cost (Rs Crore)



FSTPP I &II 257 1,593 166 382 0 548 3.44

FSTPP III 65 349 71 85 10 165 4.73

KHSTPP I 182 1,155 125 262 0 388 3.36 KHSTPP II 39 247 27 53 0 80 3.24

Barh Stage I Unit I 185 292 54 70 - 124 4.23

Barh Stage I Unit II 185 46 9 11 - 20 4.23

Barh Stage II 569 3,859 675 860 12 1,547 4.01

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I –III 39 163 39 35 0 75 4.59

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I –IV 13 16 3 3 - 6 3.78

Talcher Stage I 207 1,418 143 280 4 427 3.01

KBUNL Stage II 143 560 158 156 2 316 5.64

NPGCL Unit I 279 1,509 296 270 - 566 3.75

NPGCL Unit II 279 1,509 296 270 - 566 3.75

Darlipali STPS Unit I 43 233 36 75 - 111 4.77 Darlipali STPS Unit II 43 68 11 22 - 33 4.77

Chuka 43 245 - 59 - 59 2.40

Rangit 11 69 14 13 0 27 3.94

Tala 139 526 - 114 - 114 2.16

Teesta 59 346 34 40 0 74 2.14

Mangdechu 143 496 99 99 - 199 4.00

State Generating Stations 402 1,516 244 508 - 752 4.96

BSPHC 29 32 - 8 - 8 2.49 KBUNL Stage I 119 464 67 177 - 244 5.26




IPP 250 1,649 401 187 55 643 3.90

GMR 133 848 162 100 67 329 3.88

JITPL 117 801 239 87 (12) 314 3.92 Renewable 1,368 2,229 - 757 - 757 3.40


5

9

-

5

-

5

5.67


5

9

-

5

-

5

5.67


3

4

-

3

-

3

7.69


2

3

-

2

-

2

5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 8 13 - 10 - 10 7.87


3

4

-

4

-

4

7.98



5

9

-

8

-

8

8.70


8

13

-

11

-

11

8.64


8

13

-

11

-

11

8.56


8

13

-

12

-

12

8.73


5

9

-

8

-

8

8.73


5

9

-

5

-

5

5.50



Name of The Source MW MUs Fixed

Charges (Rs Crore)

Energy Charges

(Rs Crore)

Other Costs

(Rs Crore)

Total Cost (Rs Crore)


SECI Phase-II 81 68 - 17 - 17 2.51

SECI Phase-III 162 108 - 29 - 29 2.65

NTPC ISTS Solar 162 158 - 42 - 42 2.67


108

255

-

90

-

90

3.53


54

147

-

40

-

40

2.72


SECI Phase-V Wind 162 350 - 99 - 99 2.84 SECI Phase-VI Wind 189 25 - 7 - 7 2.89

NTPC Wind 162 264 - 76 - 76 2.87


4

17

-

8

-

8

4.87


5

23

-

14

-

14

6.22


6

26

-

13

-

13

4.81


6

26

-

15

-

15

5.63


11

48

-

27

-

27

5.63


11

48

-

27

-

27

5.63



1

5

-

4

-

4

7.41

Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 5 33 - 21 - 21 6.37


Transmission Charges - - 2,016 - - 2,016

SLDC - 4 4

BGCL - 357 357

BSPTCL - 1,041 1,041

PGCIL - 614 614 Power Purchase Cost 4,943 20,096 4,916 4,612 83 9,612 4.78

Less: Surplus Energy Sale 1,563 197 720 4.58


Add: REC 41 41

Total Power Purchase Cost 4,943 18,533 4,957 4,415 83 8,933 4.82

Table 6.20: Power Purchase Cost projected by NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Name of The Source NBPDCL

MW NBPDCL

MUs

Fixed Charges

(Rs Crore)

Energy Charges

(Rs Crore)

Other Costs

(Rs Crore)

Total Cost (Rs

Crore)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/kWh)


FSTPP I &II 219 1,357 144 326 (6) 463 3.41

FSTPP III 55 298 60 72 6 138 4.64

KHSTPP I 155 984 109 223 - 333 3.38

KHSTPP II 33 210 23 45 - 68 3.24

Barh Stage I Unit I 157 249 46 60 - 105 4.23

Barh Stage I Unit II 157 40 7 9 - 17 4.23

Barh Stage II 485 3,287 575 742 10 1,328 4.04


33 139 32 30 - 62 4.49




MW NBPDCL

MUs

Fixed Charges

(Rs Crore)

Energy Charges

(Rs Crore)

Other Costs

(Rs Crore)

Total Cost (Rs

Crore)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/kWh)

Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit I – IV

11 14 3 2 - 5 3.78

Talcher Stage I 177 1,208 122 239 - 361 2.99

KBUNL Stage II 121 477 135 133 2 269 5.65

NPGCL Unit I 238 1,286 252 230 - 482 3.75

NPGCL Unit II 238 1,286 252 230 - 482 3.75


Darlipali STPS Unit II 37 58 9 19 - 28 4.77

Chuka 37 209 - 50 - 50 2.40

Rangit 10 58 19 22 0 41 7.03

Tala 118 448 - 97 - 97 2.16

Teesta 50 294 29 34 0 63 2.14

Mangdechu 122 423 85 85 - 169 4.00

State Generating Stations 342 1,291 208 429 - 637 4.93

BSPHC 25 28 - 7 - 7 2.49

KBUNL Stage I 101 395 57 146 - 204 5.15




IPP 213 1,404 341 160 18 519 3.69

GMR 113 722 138 85 26 249 3.45

JITPL 100 682 204 74 (8) 270 3.96 Renewable 1,165 1,899 - 644 - 644 3.39


5 8 - 4 - 4 5.67


5 8 - 4 - 4 5.67


2 4 - 3 - 3 7.69


1 2 - 1 - 1 5.67

Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 7 11 - 9 - 9 7.87 Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd.

2 4 - 3 - 3 7.98



5 8 - 7 - 7 8.70


7 11 - 10 - 10 8.64


7 11 - 10 - 10 8.56


7 11 - 10 - 10 8.73


5 8 - 7 - 7 8.73


5 8 - 4 - 4 5.50

SECI Phase-II 69 58 - 15 - 15 2.51

SECI Phase-III 138 92 - 24 - 24 2.65




MW NBPDCL

MUs

Fixed Charges

(Rs Crore)

Energy Charges

(Rs Crore)

Other Costs

(Rs Crore)

Total Cost (Rs

Crore)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/kWh)

NTPC ISTS Solar 138 134 - 36 - 36 2.67

Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah&Ostro)

92 217 - 77 - 77 3.53


46 125 - 34 - 34 2.72


SECI Phase-V Wind 138 298 - 85 - 85 2.84 SECI Phase-VI Wind 161 21 - 6 - 6 2.89

NTPC Wind 138 225 - 65 - 65 2.87


3 15 - 7 - 7 4.44


4 19 - 12 - 12 6.22


5 22 - 11 - 11 4.80


5 22 - 13 - 13 5.63


9 41 - 23 - 23 5.63


9 41 - 23 - 23 5.63



1 4 - 3 - 3 7.41


4 28 - 18 - 18 6.37


Transmission Charges - - 1,684 - - 1,684

SLDC

- 4

4 BGCL

- 304

304

BSPTCL

- 887

887

PGCIL

- 490

490

Power Purchase Cost 4,210 17,119 4,167 3,945 29 8,141 4.76

Less: Surplus Energy Sale

429

197

197 4.58


Add: REC

41

41


16,690 4,209 3,749 29 7,986 4.79

The Petitioners have submitted that in FY 2020-21 the Utilities will be in a surplus

power position and they will endeavour to sell such surplus power in the market.


For estimating the power purchase cost from existing stations/sources, the

Commission has considered the energy charges based on actuals for the months

from April, 2019 to September, 2019 of FY 2019-20 as shown in Table 6.21 below:



Table 6.21: Power Purchase cost during April, 2019 to September, 2019 (6 Months)

SI. No

Name of the Source Units

Purchased (MU)

Fixed Charge

Energy Charges Misc. Cost

Total Cost

(Rs Crs) (Rs kWh) (Rs Crs) (Rs Crs) (Rs. Crs)

Central Sector Stations

1 Talcher – I ( 2 x 500 MW) 1157.48 116.05 1.99 230.44 4.36 350.85

2 Farakka – I & II (1600 MW) 1465.76 142.9 2.38 348.61 0.09 491.60

3 Farakka – III (500 MW) 247.19 45.53 2.35 57.97 5.42 108.92

4 Kahalgaon – I (840 MW) 1088.53 123.41 2.16 234.87 0.08 358.36

5 Kahalgaon – II (1500 MW) 271.71 28.75 2.06 55.91 0.02 84.68

6 Barh-II 4402.56 783.25 2.31 1017.16 9.32 1809.73

7 Korba 76.07 10.86 1.32 10.02 0.57 21.45

8 Rangit – HEP 73.71 12.67 1.91 14.04 0.01 26.72

9 Teesta – HEP 412.24 36.46 1.16 47.94 0.03 84.43

10 Chukha 381.39 0 2.4 91.6 0 91.60

11 Tala 571.09 0 2.16 123.36 0 123.36


12 KBUNL 1 506.9 78.6 3.8 192.59 0 271.19

13 KBUNL 2 786.15 251.35 2.68 211.17 3.97 466.49

14 IPP

15 GMR Kamalanga Energy 811.4 154.09 1.18 96.04 67.3 317.43

16 JITPL 854.99 257.16 1.09 93.19 -12.06 338.29

JV projects

17 Nabinagar Railway (3 X 250 MW) 231.03 55.26 2.22 51.27 0.02 106.55

For existing solar, non-solar renewable energy sources, the rates as per PPA are

considered. For the new stations, the energy charges as projected by the

petitioners are considered.

The fixed charges are considered based on the CERC approved costs (FY 2018-19)

for Farakka I & II, Farakka III, Kahalgoan-I, Kahalgoan-II, Talcher, KBUNL-II, Rangit

HEP and Teesta HEP. For existing sources viz., GMR, JITPL, BRBCL (I to III) and

KBUNL-I for which Tariff Orders have not yet been approved, the fixed costs as

projected by the Discoms have been considered. For other new stations, fixed

charges as projected by the Discoms are being considered.

In respect of BARH-II tariff has not yet been approved by CERC because CERC in its

order dated 18.03.2019 in Petition no.130/GT/2014 directed the NTPC to amend

the tariff petition in light of Hon’ble APTEL order dated 25.01.2019 granted liberty

to file the revised petition by 29.04.2019. However, as per the submissions made



by Discoms, no fresh petition for approval of tariff for BARH-II has been filed by

NTPC.

Other charges as projected by Discoms are being considered for purchase of power

from GMR (Kamalanga) because open access charges are payable by the Discoms.

The Commission directs the Discoms to procure power to meet the demand on

“Real Time Basis” strictly following the “Merit Order Dispatch” principles. The

Discoms shall also take into consideration the prevailing rates in the IEX/PXIL

while procuring the power and shall try to minimise the cost of power purchase

as much as possible. The power, if necessary, from short term sources shall be

procured at cheapest possible rates which in any case shall not be more than that

of average power pooled cost considered for FY 2019-20.

The Power Purchase Cost approved for FY 2020-21 to the Discoms are as given in

the Tables 6.22 & 6.23 below:-



Table 6.22: Power Purchase Cost Approved for FY 2020-21 to SBPDCL

Sl.No Stations Capacity

MW

SBPDCL share of capacity

MW (54%)

SBPDCL MU

Fixed charge (Rs.Crs)

Energy charges

(Rs./Unit)

Energy charge

(Rs. Crs)

Other cost

(Rs. Crs)

Total Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/Kwh)

Central Generating Stations 15260 3152.46 12095.09 2327.79 2822.79 0.00 5150.58 4.26

1 FSTPP I&II ( 2 x 500 + 3 x 200) 1600 271.28 1066.89 156.49 2.38 253.92 410.41 3.85

2 FSTPP III (1 x 500) 500 58.10 220.38 61.00 2.35 51.79 112.79 5.12

3 KHSTPP - I ( 4 x 210) 840 189.87 738.09 136.52 2.16 159.43 295.95 4.01

4 KHSTPP - II ( 3 x 500) 1500 40.34 162.35 30.90 2.06 33.44 64.34 3.96

5 Barh Stage I Unit I 660 184.68 642.66 53.79 2.39 153.60 207.38 3.23

6 Barh Stage I Unit II 660 184.68 255.80 8.55 2.39 61.14 69.68 2.72

7 BARH Stage II (2 x 660) 1320 646.77 2354.19 675.50 2.31 543.82 1219.32 5.18

8 Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit IV (1x250) 250 12.96 155.42 38.75 2.22 34.50 73.25 4.71

9 Nabinagar (BRBCL) (3 x 250) 750 40.50 30.53 3.35 2.22 6.78 10.13 3.32

10 TSTPP - I ( 2 x 500) 1000 222.72 1014.76 150.12 1.99 201.94 352.05 3.47

11 MTPS II ( 2 X 195) (KBUNL) 390 157.89 579.62 293.11 2.69 155.92 449.03 7.75

12 NPGCL Unit I 660 279.42 703.66 295.82 1.79 125.96 421.77 5.99

13 NPGCL Unit II 660 279.42 1767.88 295.82 1.79 316.45 612.27 3.46

14 Darlipali STPS Unit I 800 43.20 176.64 36.40 3.21 56.70 93.10 5.27

15 Darlipali STPS Unit II 800 43.20 102.60 10.67 3.21 32.93 43.60 4.25

16 Rangit (3 X 20) 60 11.34 49.05 21.00 1.90 9.32 30.32 6.18

17 Teesta (3 X 170) 510 58.55 252.25 60.00 1.16 29.26 89.26 3.54

18 Chuka 360 57.60 249.14 0.00 2.40 59.79 59.79 2.40

19 Tala 1020 140.45 607.27 0.00 2.16 131.17 131.17 2.16

20 Mangdechu (4 x 180) 720 121.50 525.52 0.00 4.19 220.19 220.19 4.19

21 PFC Medium Term 200 108.00 440.41 4.20 184.75 184.75 4.20

State Generating Stations 994 536.76 1877.05 316.38 595.56 0.00 911.95 4.86

22 BSPHC 54 29.16 32.88 2.49 8.19 8.19 2.49

23 MTPS I ( 2 X 110) (KBUNL) 220 118.80 485.77 67.27 3.80 184.59 251.86 5.18




MW


MW (54%)

SBPDCL MU


Energy charges

(Rs./Unit)

Energy charge

(Rs. Crs)

Other cost

(Rs. Crs)

Total Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/Kwh)

24 BTPS Stage I Unit I 110 59.40 242.89 27.45 4.16 101.04 128.49 5.29

25 BTPS Stage I Unit II 110 59.40 242.89 27.45 4.16 101.04 128.49 5.29

26 BTPS Stage II Unit I 250 135.00 552.01 122.07 2.30 126.96 249.03 4.51

27 BTPS Stage II Unit II ( 1 x 250) 250 135.00 320.62 72.14 2.30 73.74 145.88 4.55

IPP 2250 263.51 1881.10 400.88 214.13 72.68 687.69 3.66

28 GMR ( 3 x 350) 1050 140.39 1010.06 161.65 1.18 119.19 72.68 353.52 3.50

29 JITPL ( 2 x 600 ) 1200 123.12 871.05 239.23 1.09 94.94 334.17 3.84

Renewable 1582 854.28 1634.26 0.00 585.25 0.00 585.25 3.58

30 M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 10 5.40 8.97 5.67 5.08 5.08 5.67

31 M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 10 5.40 8.97 5.67 5.08 5.08 5.67

32 M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 5 2.70 4.48 7.69 3.45 3.45 7.69

33 M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 3 1.62 2.69 5.67 1.52 1.52 5.67

34 Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 15 8.10 13.45 7.87 10.58 10.58 7.87

35 Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 5 2.70 4.48 7.98 3.58 3.58 7.98

36 Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 10 5.40 8.97 8.39 7.52 7.52 8.39

37 Welspun Renewables Project – I 10 5.40 8.97 8.70 7.80 7.80 8.70

38 Welspun Renewables Project – II 15 8.10 13.45 8.64 11.62 11.62 8.64

39 Welspun Renewables Project – III 15 8.10 13.45 8.56 11.51 11.51 8.56

40 Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 15 8.10 13.45 8.73 11.74 11.74 8.73

41 Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 10 5.40 8.97 8.73 7.83 7.83 8.73

42 Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 10 5.40 8.97 5.50 4.93 4.93 5.50

43 SECI Phase-II( Solar) 150 81.00 76.13 2.51 19.11 19.11 2.51

44 SECI Phase-III (Solar) 300 162.00 122.01 2.65 32.33 32.33 2.65




MW


MW (54%)

SBPDCL MU


Energy charges

(Rs./Unit)

Energy charge

(Rs. Crs)

Other cost

(Rs. Crs)

Total Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/Kwh)

45 NTPC ISTS ( Solar) 300 162.00 169.40 2.67 45.23 45.23 2.67

46 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro) 200 108.00 254.80 3.53 89.95 89.95 3.53

47 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 100 54.00 150.99 2.72 41.07 41.07 2.72

48 SECI Phase-III Wind 300 162.00 495.45 2.52 124.85 124.85 2.52

49 New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 7 3.78 16.57 4.44 7.36 7.36 4.44

50 Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 9 4.86 21.31 6.22 13.25 13.25 6.22

51 Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 11 5.94 26.04 4.80 12.50 12.50 4.80

52 Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 11 5.94 26.04 5.63 14.66 14.66 5.63

53 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 20 10.80 47.35 5.63 26.66 26.66 5.63

54 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 20 10.80 47.35 5.63 26.66 26.66 5.63

55 Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 4 2.16 9.47 6.08 5.76 5.76 6.08

56 Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 2 1.08 6.89 7.41 5.10 5.10 7.41

57 Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 9 4.86 30.99 6.37 19.74 19.74 6.37

58 Tirupati Sugar 6 3.24 14.21 6.17 8.76 8.76 6.17

Total 20086 4807.01 17487.49 3045.05 4217.74 72.68 7335.47 4.19



Table 6.23: Power Purchase Cost Approved for FY 2020-21 to NBPDCL


MW

NBPDCL share of capacity

MW (46%)

NBPDCL MU


Energy charges

(Rs./Unit)

Energy charge

(Rs. Crs)

Other cost

(Rs. Crs)

Total Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/Kwh)

Central Generating Stations 15260 2685.43 10303.22 1982.93 2404.60 0.00 4387.53 4.26

1 FSTPP I&II ( 2 x 500 + 3 x 200) 1600 231.09 908.83 133.31 2.38 216.30 349.61 3.85

2 FSTPP III (1 x 500) 500 49.49 187.73 51.97 2.35 44.12 96.08 5.12

3 KHSTPP - I ( 4 x 210) 840 161.74 628.74 116.30 2.16 135.81 252.11 4.01

4 KHSTPP - II ( 3 x 500) 1500 34.36 138.30 26.32 2.06 28.49 54.81 3.96

5 Barh Stage I Unit I 660 157.32 547.45 45.82 2.39 130.84 176.66 3.23

6 Barh Stage I Unit II 660 157.32 217.90 7.28 2.39 52.08 59.36 2.72

7 BARH Stage II (2 x 660) 1320 550.95 2005.42 575.43 2.31 463.25 1038.68 5.18

8 Nabinagar (BRBCL) Unit IV (1x250) 250 11.04 132.39 33.01 2.22 29.39 62.40 4.71

9 Nabinagar (BRBCL) (3 x 250) 750 34.50 26.01 2.85 2.22 5.77 8.63 3.32

10 TSTPP - I ( 2 x 500) 1000 189.73 864.42 127.88 1.99 172.02 299.90 3.47

11 MTPS II ( 2 X 195) (KBUNL) 390 134.50 493.75 249.69 2.69 132.82 382.51 7.75

12 NPGCL Unit I 660 238.02 599.41 251.99 1.79 107.30 359.29 5.99

13 NPGCL Unit II 660 238.02 1505.97 251.99 1.79 269.57 521.56 3.46

14 Darlipali STPS Unit I 800 36.80 150.47 31.01 3.21 48.30 79.31 5.27

15 Darlipali STPS Unit II 800 36.80 87.40 9.09 3.21 28.06 37.14 4.25

16 Rangit (3 X 20) 60 9.66 41.78 18.00 1.90 7.94 25.94 6.21

17 Teesta (3 X 170) 510 49.88 214.88 51.00 1.16 24.93 75.93 3.53

18 Chuka 360 49.07 212.23 2.40 50.94 50.94 2.40

19 Tala 1020 119.65 517.30 0.00 2.16 111.74 111.74 2.16

20 Mangdechu (4 x 180) 720 103.50 447.66 0.00 4.19 187.57 187.57 4.19

21 PFC Medium Term 200 92.00 375.16 0.00 4.20 157.38 157.38 4.20

State Generating Stations 994 457.24 1598.97 269.51 507.33 0.00 776.84 4.86

22 BSPHC 54 24.84 28.00 0.00 2.49 6.97 6.97 2.49

23 MTPS I ( 2 X 110) (KBUNL) 220 101.20 413.80 57.30 3.80 157.25 214.55 5.18

24 BTPS Stage I Unit I 110 50.60 206.90 23.39 4.16 86.07 109.46 5.29




MW


MW (46%)

NBPDCL MU


Energy charges

(Rs./Unit)

Energy charge

(Rs. Crs)

Other cost

(Rs. Crs)

Total Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/Kwh)

25 BTPS Stage I Unit II 110 50.60 206.90 23.39 4.16 86.07 109.46 5.29

26 BTPS Stage II Unit I 250 115.00 470.23 103.98 2.30 108.15 212.14 4.51

27 BTPS Stage II Unit II ( 1 x 250) 250 115.00 273.12 61.45 2.30 62.82 124.27 4.55

IPP 2250 224.47 1602.42 341.49 182.41 61.92 585.82 3.66

28 GMR ( 3 x 350) 1050 119.59 860.42 137.70 1.18 101.53 61.92 301.15 3.50

29 JITPL ( 2 x 600 ) 1200 104.88 742.00 203.79 1.09 80.88 284.67 3.84

Renewable 1582 727.72 1392.15 0.00 498.55 0.00 498.55 3.58

30 M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL) 10 4.60 7.64 5.67 4.33 4.33 5.67

31 M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata. 10 4.60 7.64 5.67 4.33 4.33 5.67

32 M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd., Hyderabad 5 2.30 3.82 7.69 2.94 2.94 7.69

33 M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. 3 1.38 2.29 5.67 1.30 1.30 5.67

34 Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. 15 6.90 11.46 7.87 9.02 9.02 7.87

35 Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. 5 2.30 3.82 7.98 3.05 3.05 7.98

36 Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. 10 4.60 7.64 8.39 6.41 6.41 8.39

37 Welspun Renewables Project – I 10 4.60 7.64 8.70 6.64 6.64 8.70

38 Welspun Renewables Project – II 15 6.90 11.46 8.64 9.90 9.90 8.64

39 Welspun Renewables Project – III 15 6.90 11.46 8.56 9.81 9.81 8.56

40 Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) 15 6.90 11.46 8.73 10.00 10.00 8.73

41 Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) 10 4.60 7.64 8.73 6.67 6.67 8.73

42 Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India 10 4.60 7.64 5.50 4.20 4.20 5.50

43 SECI Phase-II( Solar) 150 69.00 64.85 2.51 16.28 16.28 2.51

44 SECI Phase-III (Solar) 300 138.00 103.94 2.65 27.54 27.54 2.65

45 NTPC ISTS ( Solar) 300 138.00 144.31 2.67 38.53 38.53 2.67

46 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro) 200 92.00 217.05 3.53 76.62 76.62 3.53

47 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange) 100 46.00 128.62 2.72 34.99 34.99 2.72




MW


MW (46%)

NBPDCL MU


Energy charges

(Rs./Unit)

Energy charge

(Rs. Crs)

Other cost

(Rs. Crs)

Total Cost

(Rs. Crs)

Avg. Tariff

(Rs/Kwh)

48 SECI Phase-III Wind 300 138.00 422.05 2.52 106.36 106.36 2.52

49 New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj 7 3.22 14.12 4.44 6.27 6.27 4.44

50 Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai 9 4.14 18.15 6.22 11.29 11.29 6.22

51 Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj 11 5.06 22.18 4.80 10.65 10.65 4.80

52 Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran 11 5.06 22.18 5.63 12.49 12.49 5.63

53 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran 20 9.20 40.34 5.63 22.71 22.71 5.63

54 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran 20 9.20 40.34 5.63 22.71 22.71 5.63

55 Riga Sugar Company Ltd. 4 1.84 8.07 6.08 4.90 4.90 6.08

56 Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd 2 0.92 5.87 7.41 4.35 4.35 7.41

57 Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd 9 4.14 26.40 6.37 16.82 16.82 6.37

58 Tirupati Sugar 6 2.76 12.10 6.17 7.47 7.47 6.17

Total 20086 4094.86 14896.75 2593.93 3592.89 61.92 6248.74 4.19



The energy requirement of 32384.24 MUs is arrived in Paragraph 6.8 under the

head Energy Requirement i.e. 17011.00 MUs for SBPDCL and 15373.24 MUs for

NBPDCL.

However, as per Merit Order table 6.13 it is observed that after sharing the power

between two Discoms in the ratio of 54:46 the requirement of energy comes to be

17487.49 MUs for SBPDCL and 14896.75 MUs for NBPDCL. In view of above

Commission adjusted 476.49 MUs from SBPDCL to NBPDCL @ average power

purchase cost i.e. Rs. 4.195/kWh as mentioned in table 6.22 and 6.23 above:

Hence, accordingly, power purchase cost of SBPDCL has been decreased by

Rs.199.87 Crore, and for the NBPDCL the same has been increased by Rs.199.87

Crore. The final power purchase cost works out as per the following table:-

SI. No


1 Total power purchase as per energy Merit Order (MU) 17487.49 14896.75 32384.24

2 Total power purchase as per energy balance (MU) 17011.00 15373.24 32384.24

3 Inter Discom adjustment of Power Purchase (MU) (2-1) -476.49 476.49 0.00

4 Total Power purchase cost allocated as per merit order (Rs. Cr) 7335.47 6248.74 13584.21

5 Inter Discom adjustment of Power Purchase Cost @ Rs. 4.19/kWh (3*4.19/kWh) (Rs. Crore) -199.87 199.87 0.00

6 Total power purchase cost approved (4-5) (Rs. Crore) 7135.60 6448.61 13584.21

6.11. Transmission Charges


Discoms have submitted that they have to pay transmission charges to PGCIL for

use of transmission facilities enabling power drawl from eastern region and so they

have considered the actual PGCIL charges as paid in FY 2018-19. It is also

submitted that they have also to pay BSPTCL, BGCL and SLDC charges as approved

by the Commission for FY 2020-21.

Discoms requested the Commission to approve the transmission and related

charges for interstate as well as intra-state transmission transactions for FY 2020-

21 as per the table 6.24 below:

Table 6.24: Transmission charges projected by Discoms for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)


SLDC 4 4 8

BGCL 357 304 661

BSPTCL 1041 887 1928




PGCIL 614 490 1104

Total Transmission Charges 2016 1684 3700


The Commission deals the Transmission Charges for FY 2020-21 as per the following

Paras:

PGCIL & POSOCO Charges

DISCOMs have submitted that PGCIL charges are considered as per actual in FY

2018-19. For FY 2018-19 the actual PGCIL and POSOCO charges are Rs.613.97

Crore and Rs.3.09 Crore for SBPDCL and Rs.489.84 Crore and Rs. 2.46 Crore for

NBPDCL respectively. For FY 2019-20 also the PGCIL and POSOCO charges are

considered at the same level of FY 2018-19 as requested by the DISOCMs.

However, the Commission approves PGCIL and POSOCO charges for FY 2020-21 by

escalating the PGCIL and POSOCO charges as considered in FY 2019-20 (RE) by a

nominal growth of 5% i.e. Rs. 1164.79 Crore (1109.32*1.05). The Commission has

allocated the same among SBPDCL and NBPDCL in their power purchase sharing

ratio of 54:46 as approved by the Board and the PGCIL and POSOCO charges are

approved for the Discoms for FY 2020-21 as given in the Table 6.25 below:

Table 6.25: PGCIL Charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No Particulars FY 2020-21

1 PGCIL Charges approved including POSOCO Charges 1164.79

2 SBPDCL (54%) 628.99

3 NBPDCL (46%) 535.80

BSPTCL Transmission Charges

The Commission has approved the transmission charges of BSPTCL for FY 2020-21

in BSPTCL Tariff Order dated 20.03.2020 for FY 2020-21 as given in the Table

below. The Commission has allocated the same among SBPDCL and NBPDCL in

their power purchase sharing ratio of 54: 46 respectively. Accordingly, the

Commission has considered the BSPTCL transmission charges for FY 2020-21

and included the same in the Power purchase cost of Discoms for FY 2020-21.

Table 6.26: BSPTCL charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)


1 BSPTCL Charges approved in its Tariff Order for FY 2020-21 870.90




2 SBPDCL (54%) 470.29

3 NBPDCL (46%) 400.61

Bihar Grid Company Limited (BGCL) Transmission Charges

The Commission has approved the transmission charges of for FY 2020-21

in BGCL Tariff Order dated 20.03.2020 for FY 2020-21 as given in the Table below.

The Commission has allocated the same to SBPDCL and NBPDCL in their power

purchase sharing ratio of 54:46 respectively. Accordingly, the Commission has

considered the BGCL transmission charges for FY 2020-21 and included the same

in the Power purchase cost of Discoms for FY 2020-21.

Table 6.27: BGCL charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars FY 2020-21

1 BGCL charges approved in its Tariff Orders for FY 2020-21 460.20

2 SBPDCL (54%) 248.51

3 NBPDCL (46%) 211.69

SLDC Charges

The Commission has approved the SLDC charges for FY 2020-21 in SLDC Tariff

Order dated 20.03.2020 for FY 2020-21 as given in Table below. The Commission

has allocated to SBPDCL and NBPDCL in their power purchase sharing ratio of 54 :

46 respectively. Accordingly, the Commission has considered SLDC charges for FY

2020-21 and included in their power purchase cost.

Table 6.28: SLDC Charges approved for Discoms for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars FY 2020-21

1 SLDC charges approved in its Tariff Orders for FY 2020-21 7.55

2 SBPDCL (54%) 4.08

3 NBPDCL (46%) 3.47

6.12. Total Power Purchase Cost

The total power purchase cost approved for the Discoms for the FY 2020-21 are




Table 6.29: Total Power Purchase Cost approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No


1 Power Purchase Cost 7135.60 6448.61 13584.21

2 PGCIL & POSOCO Charges 628.99 535.80 1164.79

3 BSPTCL Charges 470.29 400.61 870.90

4 SLDC Charges 4.08 3.47 7.55

5 BGCL Charges 248.51 211.69 460.20

6 Sub-Total 8487.47 7600.18 16087.65

7 Less: Rebate at 1% on 6 84.87 76.00 160.87

9 Total Power Purchase Cost (6-7) 8402.60 7524.18 15926.78

The Commission approves total power purchase cost of Rs.15926.78 Crore for

both companies put together for FY 2020-21.

6.13. Incremental Power Purchase Cost

The Commission has dealt with the procedure for identification of incremental cost

and process of recovery of incremental cost in the Regulation, 20.1 of BERC (Multi-

Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018. The formula for computation of Fuel and

Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA) and Terms and Conditions for application

of the FPPCA formula are also explained in detail in Regulation 20.2 of BERC (Multi-

Year Distribution Tariff) Regulation, 2018 to facilitate the Discoms to claim

additional power purchase cost, if any, promptly.

6.14. Merit Order Dispatch (MOD)

The details of Merit Order Dispatch approved for FY 2020-21 are as shown in the

table 6.30 below:

Table 6.30: Merit Order Dispatch approved for FY 2020-21

Sl. No

Name of The Source Plant Type Mode of Dispatch

Energy Cost

(Rs./Kwh)

1 JITPL ( 2 x 600 ) Thermal Merit 1.09

2 Teesta (3 x 170) Hydel Must Run 1.16 3 GMR ( 3 x 350) Thermal Merit 1.18

5 NPGCL Unit I (Nabinagar) (1x660) Thermal Merit 1.79

4 NPGCL Unit II (Nabinagar) (1 x 660) Thermal Merit 1.79

6 Rangit (3 x20 ) Hydel Must Run 1.90

7 TSTPP - I ( 2 x 500) Thermal Merit 1.99

8 KHSTPP - II ( 3 x 500) Thermal Merit 2.06

9 KHSTPP - I ( 4 x 210) Thermal Merit 2.16

10 Tala ( 6 x 170 ) (PTC) Hydel Must Run 2.16

12 Nabinagar (BRBCL) (3 x 250) Thermal Merit 2.22

13 Nabinagar (BRBCL) (1 x 250) Thermal Merit 2.22

14 BTPS Stage II Unit I ( 1 x 250) Thermal Merit 2.30

15 Barauni Stage II (Unit 2) Thermal Merit 2.30



Sl. No


Energy Cost

(Rs./Kwh)

16 BARH Stage II (2 x 660) Thermal Merit 2.31

17 FSTPP III (1 x 500) Thermal Merit 2.35

18 FSTPP I&II ( 2 x 500 + 3 x 200) Thermal Merit 2.38 19 BARH Stage I Unit I ( 1 x 660) Thermal Merit 2.39

20 BARH Stage I Unit II ( 1 x 660) Thermal Merit 2.39

21 Chuka (334) (PTC) Hydel Must Run 2.40

22 BSPHC Hydel Must Run 2.49

23 SECI Phase-II( Solar) Solar Must Run 2.51

24 SECI Phase-III Wind Wind Must Run 2.52

25 SECI Phase-III (Solar) Solar Must Run 2.65

26 NTPC ISTS ( Solar) Solar Must Run 2.67

27 MTPS - II ( 2 x 195) (KBUNL) Thermal Merit 2.69

28 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche II (SECI) (Orange)

Wind Must Run 2.72

29 Darlipali STPS Unit I Thermal Merit 3.21

30 Darlipali STPS Unit II Thermal Merit 3.21

31 Wind ISTS Scheme Tranche I (PTC) (Greeen Infra, Inox, Mytrah & Ostro)

Wind Must Run 3.53

32 MTPS - I ( 2 x 110) (KBUNL) Thermal Merit 3.80

33 BTPS Stage I Unit I ( 1 x 110) Thermal Merit 4.16

34 BTPS Stage I Unit II ( 1 x 110) Thermal Merit 4.16

35 Mangdechu (4 x 180) (PTC) Hydel Must Run 4.19

36 PFC Medium Term Thermal Merit 4.195

37 New Swadeshi Sugar Mill, Narkataganj Co Generation Must Run 4.44

38 Bharat Sugar Mills, Sidhwalia, Gopalganj

Co Generation Must Run 4.80

39 Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., Government of India

Solar Must Run 5.50

40 Hari Nagar Sugar Mills, Hari Nagar, West Champaran

Co Generation Must Run 5.63

41 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Sugauli, East Champaran

Biomass Must Run 5.63

42 HPCL Biofuels Ltd., Lauria, West Champaran

Biomass Must Run 5.63

43 M/s Sunmark Energy Projects Limited (Formerly MBCEL)

Solar Must Run 5.67

44 M/s Response renewable Energy Ltd, Kolkata.

Solar Must Run 5.67

45 M/s Glatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. Solar Must Run 5.67

46 Riga Sugar Company Ltd. Co Generation Must Run 6.08

47 Tirupati Sugar Co Generation Must Run 6.17

48 Hasanpur Sugar Mill, Dalsinghsarai Co Generation Must Run 6.22

49 Bihar Distillers & Bottlers Pvt ltd Co Generation Must Run 6.37

50 Siddhashram Rice Mill Cluster Pvt ltd Bio Mass Must Run 7.41 51 M/s Avantika Contractors Ltd.,

Hyderabad Solar Must Run

7.69

52 Alfa Infraprop Pvt. Ltd. Solar Must Run 7.87

53 Udipta Energy & Equipment Pvt. Ltd. Solar Must Run 7.98

54 Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd. Solar Must Run 8.39

55 Welspun Renewables Project – III Solar Must Run 8.56

56 Welspun Renewables Project – II Solar Must Run 8.64

57 Welspun Renewables Project – I Solar Must Run 8.70



Sl. No


Energy Cost

(Rs./Kwh)

58 Acme Cleantech Project (Nalanda) Solar Must Run 8.73

59 Acme Cleantech Project (Magadh) Solar Must Run 8.73

6.15. Capital Expenditure


Discoms have submitted that capitalization of investment is computed on the

assumption that 80% of the opening CWIP and 20% of the fresh investment will get

capitalized every year. It is further submitted that the Petitioner has allocated the

investments through various schemes into grant, Loan and Equity based on source of

funding sanctioned documents under each scheme.

Discoms have projected capitalisation and funding of capitalisation under various

schemes for FY 2020-21 as given below:

Table 6.31: Projected scheme-wise capitalisation and source of funding for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Name of the scheme Name of

the funding agency

NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

1 BRGF GoB 562.36 145.11 707.47

2 Re-conductoring 475.00 299.92 774.92

3 NABARD Phase VIII 4.03 4.03

4 NABARD Phase XI 15.31 15.31

5 Deposit schemes 0.83 0.83

6 RGGVY GoI/REC 321.49 321.49

7 IPDS GoI/PFC 143.13 192.72 335.85

8 IPDS - New DF 288.56 288.56

9 DDUGJY GoI/GoB 362.73 183.51 546.24

10 DDUGJY – DF GoI/GoB 244.91 244.91

11 State Plan – others GoB 171.18 112.75 283.93

12 APL Connection (Saubhagya) GoB 187.92 246.03 433.95

13 CM Seven Resolution (Har Ghar Bijili) 177.51 177.51

14 Own sources 15.00 15.00

15 Total 2100.00 2050.00 4150.00

Discoms have submitted the details of opening CWIP, investment during the year,

capitalisation and funding of capex for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table below:

Table 6.32: CWIP, Capitalisation and Funding of capitalisation projected for FY 2020-21

(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Projected by NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Projected by SBPDCL for FY

2020-21 Total

1 Opening CWIP 8718.99 6557.39 15276.38

2 Add: New Investment 2076.11 1245.92 3322.03

3 Less: Capitalisation (a+b) 2100.00 2050.00 4150.00



SI. No.

Particulars Projected by NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Projected by SBPDCL for FY

2020-21 Total

a Opening CWIP capitalisation 1680.00 1640.00 3320.00

b New Investment capitalisation 420.00 410.00 830.00

4 Closing CWIP (1+2-3) 8695.10 5753.31 14448.41 5 Funding of Capitalisation

a CWIP capitalisation 1680.00 1640.00 3320.00

i Grant 409.28 864.95 1274.23

Ii Equity 1149.31 531.00 1680.31

iii Loans 121.41 244.05 365.46


i Grant 102.32 216.24 318.56

Ii Equity 287.33 132.75 420.08

iii Loans 30.35 61.01 91.36

6 Total Grants 511.60 1081.19 1592.79

7 Total Equity 1436.64 663.75 2100.39

8 Total Loans 151.76 305.06 456.82


The Commission has approved the capital investment plan and capex in the

Business plan for the control period FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22. As per the Business

plan, the approved capital expenditure and capitalisation for FY 2020-21 relating to

NBPDCL and SBPDCL is as given hereunder:


NBPDCL (Table 6.38 of Business plan) 2523.69 3159.26

SBPDCL (Table 6.35 of Business plan) 1208.51 1574.49

Discoms have furnished the scheme-wise details of capital expenditure and

capitalisation for FY 2020-21 in Format 11 enclosed to the petition. As per the

details, the projected capex and capitalisation for FY 2020-21 is as under:


NBPDCL 2076.11 2100.00

SBPDCL 1245.92 2050.00

The Commission observes that petitioner has not furnished Capital expenditure

and Capitalization in line with figures approved in business plan and accordingly

addressed the petitioners vide its Letter No 1375 dated 27.11.2019. The petitioner,

without furnishing any information in support of deviation in figures of capital

expenditure and capitalization from Business Plan, have simply replied that

Business plan is an estimate which is prepared under various assumptions keeping

in mind factors like government preferences, Right of Way (RoW), man power



requirement, land issues, general elections etc., which are important factors in

determination of progress of work, Due to change in the assumptions on account of

these factors, capex filed is not in line with the figures approved in Business Plan.

The Commission finds that for many schemes capital expenditure projected for FY

2020-21 are in excess of the expenditure approved in Business Plan. This simply

shows that these excessive capital expenditure projected by the petitioner are for

new capital work that has to be undertaken in FY 2020-21, which have not been

approved by the Commission yet, accordingly the Commission does not consider

these capital expenditure and their capitalization of FY 2020-21 which have not

been approved by the Commission yet, as detailed in the Table 6.33 & 6.34 below:

Table 6.33: Capex and Capitalisation not considered for FY 2020-21 relating to NBPDCL (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Name of Scheme/Project Un-approved

capital expenditure for FY 2020-21

Un-approved capitalisation for FY 2020-21

1 BRGF 291.00

2 NABARD Phase VIII 0.00 4.03

3 NABARD Phase XI 0.00 15.31

4 Deposit Scheme 0.49 0.18

5 Re-conductoring 473.86 475.00

6 IPDS 307.79

7 APL Connection 32.47 153.87

Total 1105.61 648.39

Table 6.34: Capex and Capitalisation not considered for FY 2020-21 relating to SBPDCL (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Name of Scheme/Project

Un-approved capital

expenditure for FY 2020-21

Un-approved capitalisation for FY 2020-21

1 BRGF 259.05

2 Re-conductoring 224.95 299.92

3 IPDS-new (DF) 234.88 288.56

4 DDUGJY (DF) 228.54 244.91

5 APL Connection/Saubhagya 119.89

Total 1067.31 833.39

The Commission direct the petitioners NBPDCL and SBPDCL to obtain

Commission’s approval of such capex and capitalisation by filing separate

petitions.

The Commission accordingly has considered capital expenditure and capitalisation

for FY 2020-21 as given in the table 6.35 below:



Table 6.35: Capital expenditure and Capitalisation approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.

Name of the Scheme/Project

SBPDCL NBPDCL Total

Capital expenditure

Capitalisation

Capital expenditure

Capitalisation

Capital expendi

ture

Capitalisation

1 BRGF

145.11 562.36 0.00 707.47

2 Deposit Scheme

0.46 0.65 0.46 0.65

3 State Plan –Others

112.75 171.18 0.00 283.93

4 CM Seven Resolution

391.20 177.51 391.20 177.51

5 IPDS

192.72 19.68 143.13 19.68 335.85

6 RGGVY 178.61 321.49 178.61 321.49

7 DDUGJY

183.51 541.32 362.73 541.32 546.24

8

APL Connection/Saubhagya

246.03 17.84 34.05 17.84 280.08

9 Own Sources

15.00 0.00 15.00

Total 178.61 1216.61 970.50 1451.61 1149.11 2668.22

Discoms have projected funding of capitalisation in respect of opening CWIP and

new investment made during FY 2020-21 through Grants, Equity and Loans based

on the funding of the schemes.

Table 6.36: Funding of capitalisation approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No

Name of scheme / Project

Source of Capitalization

NBPDCL SBPDCL

Loan Grant Equity Loan Grant Equity

1 BRGF 562.36 145.11

2 Deposit Scheme 0.65

3 State Plan –Others 171.18 112.75 4 IPDS 42.94 85.88 14.31 57.82 115.63 19.27

5 RGGVY 32.15 289.34

6 CM Seven Resolution 177.51

7 DDUGJY 108.82 217.64 36.27 55.05 110.11 18.35

8 APL Connection 34.05 246.03

9 Own Sources 15.00

Total 151.76 338.22 961.64 145.02 761.11 310.48

The Commission has considered opening CWIP for NBPDCL Rs.8537.47 Crore and

SBPDCL for Rs.5287.04 Crore for FY 2020-21 based on the closing CWIP approved in

review for FY 2019-20.

The Commission has considered the opening CWIP, capital investment,

capitalisation and funding of capitalisation for FY 2020-21, as detailed in the Table

6.37 below:

Table 6.37: CWIP, Capitalisation and funding Considered for FY 2020-21

(Rs. Crore) SI. No.


NBPDCL Approved for

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening CWIP 8537.47 5287.04 13824.51

2 Add: New Investment 970.50 178.61 1149.11



SI. No.


NBPDCL Approved for

SBPDCL Total

3 Less: Capitalisation (a+b) 1451.61 1216.61 2668.22

A Opening CWIP capitalisation 1161.29 973.29 2134.58

B New Investment capitalisation 290.32 243.32 533.64

4 Closing CWIP (1+2-3) 8056.36 4249.04 12305.40

5 Funding of Capitalisation A CWIP capitalisation 1161.30 973.29 2134.58

I Grant 270.58 608.89 879.46

Ii Equity 769.31 248.38 1017.70

Iii Loans 121.41 116.02 237.42


i Grant 67.64 152.22 219.87

Ii Equity 192.33 62.10 254.42

iii Loans 30.35 29.00 59.36

6 Total Grants 338.22 761.11 1099.33

7 Total Equity 961.64 310.48 1272.12

8 Total Loans 151.76 145.02 296.78

6.16. Gross Fixed Assets


Discoms have submitted the computation of GFA based on the opening GFA and

capitalisation for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table 6.38 below:

Table 6.38: Gross Fixed Assets projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


by NBPDCL Projected by

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening GFA 11879.99 10727.80 22607.79

2 Additions during the year 2100 2050.00 4150.00

3 Closing GFA (1+2) 13979.99 12777.80 26757.79


The Commission has adopted the opening GFA for FY 2020-21 at Rs.13009.17 Crore

for NBPDCL and Rs.11630.26 Crore for SBPDCL based on the closing GFA approved

for FY 2019-20 in review and further updated with the capitalisation considered

(Table 6.37) for FY 2020-21.

The Commission has arrived at the opening GFA, additions to GFA and closing GFA

for control period as detailed in the Table 6.39 below:

Table 6.39: Gross Fixed Assets approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total

1 Opening GFA 13009.17 11630.26 24639.43


3 Closing GFA (1+2) 14460.78 12846.87 27307.65



The Commission, accordingly, approves Gross Fixed Assets for FY 2020-21 as

detailed in the table above.

6.17. Depreciation


Discoms have submitted that depreciation is computed annually on straight line

method by applying weighted average rate of depreciation on the average

GFA in accordance with Regulation 23 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations 2018. Discoms have further submitted that the depreciation on assets

created out of grants is reduced from the gross depreciation to arrive at the net

depreciation to be charged.

Discoms have projected the depreciation for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table

6.40 below:

Table 6.40: Depreciation projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No. Particulars Projected by NBPDCL

Projected by SBPDCL

Total

1 Opening GFA 10649.17 8780.65 19429.82


3 Closing GFA (1+2) 12546.46 10469.69 23016.15

4 Average GFA {(1+3)/2} 11597.82 9625.17 21222.985


6 Depreciation (4*5) 474.43 419.72 894.15

7 Opening Grants 6779.93 4029.06 10808.99


9 Closing Grants (7+8) 7234.93 4916.79 12151.72

10 Average Grants (7+9)/2 7007.43 4472.93 11480.355





The Commission has considered opening depreciable assets at Rs.11770.88 Crore

for NBPDCL and Rs.9683.17 Crore for SBPDCL for FY 2020-21 based on the closing

depreciable assets approved in review for FY 2019-20. Addition to assets during FY

2020-21 is considered as approved in Table 6.39 above. Addition to land value is

considered as projected by the petitioner in the format 14 of the petition NBPDCL

Rs.202.71 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.360.96 Crore and accordingly reduced from the

additions for computation of depreciation.



The Commission has considered opening grants for FY 2020-21 based on the closing

grants approved in review for FY 2019-20 and further updated based on the

funding of capitalisation approved in Table 6.36 above.

The Commission has provisionally adopted weighted average rate of depreciation

on asset and grants based on actual weighted average rate of depreciation arrived

at as per the audited accounts for FY 2018-19 of NBPDCL (4.39%) and SBPDCL

(4.534%).

The Commission in terms of regulation 23 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations 2018 has computed the depreciation for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the

Table 6.41 below:

Table 6.41: Depreciation approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total

1 Opening depreciable GFA 11770.88 9683.17 21454.05


3 Closing depreciable GFA (1+2) 13019.78 10538.82 23558.60

4 Average depreciable GFA {(1+3)/2} 12395.33 10111.00 22506.33


6 Depreciation (4*5) 544.15 458.43 1002.59

7 Opening Grants 8136.59 5310.84 13447.43


9 Less: Grants used for Land during the year(as reported in Format 14) 56.35 193.46 249.81

10 Closing Grants for depreciable assets (7+8-9) 8418.46 5878.49 14296.95

11 Average Grants for Depreciable Assets (7+10)/2 8277.53 5594.67 13872.19




The Commission, accordingly, approves depreciation for FY 2020-21 as detailed in

the table above.

6.18. Interest on Loans


Discoms have submitted that interest on loans is projected in terms of regulation

25 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018 for control period




Table 6.42: Interest on loans projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No



Total

1 Amount of total asset at the beginning of the year 8,316.00 7,509.46 15,825.46

2 Less: asset created from grant at beginning 5,334.00 3,434.96 8,768.96

3 Addition during the year 1,470.00 1,435.00 2,905.00 4 Less: asset created from grant during the year 358 756.83 1,114.83

5 Net asset (1-2+3-4) 4,094.00 4,752.67 8,846.67

6 Less: Normative repayment 231 223.71 454.71

7 Amount of debt (5-6) 3,863.00 4,528.96 8,391.96

8 Average debt [(1-2)+{(1-2)+(3-4-6)}]/2 3,422.50 4,301.73 7,724.23

9 Amount eligible for return (8) 3,422.50 4,301.73 7,724.23

10 Actual Weighted Average Rate of Interest 10.95% 9.88%

11 Amount of Interest on Loan (9*10) 374.75 425.13 799.88


Discoms have claimed interest on loans considering the debt : equity ratio of 70 :

30 of the GFA after adjustment of grants in the same ratio.

The Discoms have followed different procedure for computation of interest on loan

for FY 2020-21 than the procedure followed for truing up of FY 2018-19 and APR for

FY 2019-20.

The Discoms have computed the normative loan based on the GFA and grants

utilised for creation of assets (GFA) and conveniently ignored the cumulative

depreciation (i.e. repayment of loan) allowed year on year by the Commission.

Regulations 25 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018 specify

the procedure for computation of interest on loan. The normative loan

outstanding as of 1st April of the control period shall be computed by deducting

the cumulative repayment as approved by the Commission up to 31st March of

current period (a year before control period) from the gross normative loan. The

Discoms have ignored the fact of repayment while computing the normative loan

based on the GFA less grants utilized for creation of assets.

Regulation 27 the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018 clearly

specifies that the capital base shall be the historical value of GFA less capital

subsidies and revaluation of reserves. The value of GFA includes asset revaluation

also. Going by the analogy of the Discoms, the value of GFA shall be reduced by

revaluation and total capital grants and consumer contribution (including amount

amortised) at first and repayment of loan (i.e. cumulative depreciation allowed by



the Commission in lieu of repayment as per regulations). Then the balance amount

shall be considered and apportioned in debt : equity ratio of 70 : 30 and

accordingly, the normative loan/debt (70% of the balance capital base) shall be

considered.

The Discoms should have comprehended the BERC Tariff Regulations 2007, BERC

(Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2015 and BERC (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations 2018 properly before making such claims and filing the tariff

petition.

The Commission has explicitly deliberated the issue in earlier tariff orders and as

well in its Tariff order dated 25.02.2019 (paragraph 7.19 under Commission’s

analysis) also. The Discoms without comprehending the facts are repeating the

same mistake year on year in their tariff filings which is a matter of serious concern.

The Commission has considered as opening loan for FY 2020-21 (NBPDCL

Rs.2569.20 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.2588.15 Crore) based on the closing loan

approved in review for FY 2019-20. Addition to loan is considered in line with

funding of capitalisation considered for FY 2020-21 as given in the table 6.43 below:

Table 6.43: Debt Equity considered for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


1 Net Capitalisation during FY 2020-21 1451.61 1216.61

2 Less: Capitalisation through Grants 338.22 761.11

3 Net capitalisation 1113.39 455.50

4 Equity 229.15 119.48

5 Debt 884.24 336.02

Regulation 25 (g) of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018

specify that the rate of interest shall be the weighted average rate of interest

calculated on the basis of actual loan portfolio. If no actual loan is outstanding but

normative loan is still outstanding, the last available weighted average rate of

interest shall be applicable.

The Commission in view of Regulation 25(g) has provisionally considered the

weighted average rate of interest approved in true up for FY 2018-19 (last available

actual weighted average rate of interest) for FY 2020-21. The rate of interest on

loan approved in true up for NBPDCL is at 10.31% and for SBPDCL is at 10.04%



The Commission, in terms of regulation 25(e), has considered repayment of loan

equal to the depreciation allowed for the year.

The Commission, accordingly, has computed interest on loans for FY 2020-21 as


Table 6.44: Interest on loan approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total

1 Opening loan balance 2569.20 2588.15 5157.35


3 Normative Repayment 180.77 204.77 385.54

4 Closing Loans (1+2-3) 3272.67 2719.40 5992.07

5 Average Loans {(1+4)/2} 2920.93 2653.77 5574.71

6 Interest rate 10.31% 10.04%

7 Interest Charges ( 5*6 ) 301.09 266.39 567.48

The Commission, accordingly, approves interest on loan for FY 2020-21 as


6.19. Other Finance Charges


Discoms have submitted that finance charges represent rebate to consumers,

interest to suppliers/contractors, etc and projected the other finance charges for FY

2020-21 with escalation of 10% over the expenses considered in review for FY


Table 6.45: Other finance charges projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.



Total

1 Other finance charges approved for FY 2019-20 41.13 58.91 100.03

2 escalation @ 10% 4.11 5.89 10.00

3 Total 45.24 64.80 110.04


The Commission has considered the other finance charges approved in review for

FY 2019-20 as base expenses for FY 2020-21 and escalation @10% provisionally for

FY 2020-21 in line with the escalation factor considered for the control period in

Tariff order dated 25.02.2019. The Commission accordingly considers other finance

charges for FY 2020-21 as given in the Table 6.46 below:



Table 6.46: Other finance charges approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total

1 Other finance charges approved for FY 2019-20 49.03 58.91 107.93

2 escalation @ 10% 4.90 5.89 10.79

3 Total 53.93 64.79 118.72

The Commission, accordingly, approves other finance charges for FY 2020-21 as


6.20. Return on Equity


Discoms have submitted that Return on Equity has been calculated and projected

for FY 2020-21 in terms of regulation 27 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations 2018 as detailed in the Table 6.47 below:

Table 6.47: Return on Equity projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.



SBPDCL Total

1 Closing equity to end of 31.03.2016 608.64 574.36 1183


3 Return on Equity 85.21 80.41 165.62


4 Opening equity 1133.87 1125.97 2259.84


6 Closing equity (4+5) 1610.39 1416.613 3027.00

7 Average equity (4+6)/2 1372.13 1271.29 2643.42


9 MAT rate %

10 Rate of return on equity (pre tax) 15.50% 15.50%

11 Return on equity (7*10) 212.68 197.05 409.73



The Regulation 27 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018

specify RoE shall be allowed @14% on the equity base as on 31.03.2016 and

@15.50% on the equity w.e.f. 01.04.2016.

The Commission has considered the opening equity for FY 2020-21 based on the

closing equity considered in review for FY 2019-20. Addition to equity is

considered based on the capitalisation and funding of capitalisation approved for

FY 2020-21 as depicted in Table 6.43 above.



The Commission, as deliberated in Chapter 5 (Paragraph 5.18) of this order while

realising that they had not paid any Income tax/MAT, allowed RoE at 15.5% without

considering the effect of IT for future FYs. The Commission accordingly considers

RoE without tax for FY 2020-21.

The Commission, in view of the above, has computed Return on Equity for FY

2020-21 as detailed in the Table 6.48 below:-

Table 6.48: Return on Equity approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total



3 Return on Equity (1*2) 61.72 89.33 151.05


4 Opening equity 918.84 901.04 1819.88


6 Closing equity (4+5) 1147.99 1020.524 2168.51

7 Average equity (4+6)/2 1033.41 960.78 1994.19


9 Return on equity (7*8) 160.18 148.92 309.10


The Commission, accordingly, approves Return on Equity for FY 2020-21 as


6.21. Contribution to Contingency Reserve


Regulation 24 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018

specify “if the distribution licensee has made an appropriation to the Contingency

Reserve, a sum not less than 0.25 per cent and not more than 0.5 per cent of the

original cost of fixed assets shall be allowed annually towards such appropriation

in the calculation of ARR”.

The Commission has approved contingency reserve of Rs.82.82 Crore for NBPDCL

and Rs.73.86 Crore for SBPDCL for FY 2020-21 in the Tariff order dated 25.02.2019.

However, the Discoms have not proposed appropriation to Contingency Reserve

for FY 2020-21 in the petition. Hence, the Commission accordingly is not

considers contingency reserve for FY 2020-21.



6.22. Employee Costs


Discoms have submitted that employee cost is projected in terms of regulation 22.1

considering CPI inflation index for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table 6.49 below:

Table 6.49: Employee Cost projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


NBPDCL Projected by

SBPDCL Total

1 Base year employee cost 272.20 452.04 724.24

2 Inflationary index (CPI) % 4.21% 4.21%

3 Inflationary increase 11.46 19.04 30.50

4 Employee Cost (1+3) 283.66 471.08 754.74



Regulations 2018, had determined Employee norm for the MYT control period of FY

2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in the Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019 as deliberated under

Commission’s analysis in paragraph 7.23.

The Commission had determined Employee norm (Table 7.65 for SBPDCL and Table

7.67 for NBPDCL) for the MYT control period of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in the

Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019 as deliberated under Commission’s analysis in

paragraph 7.23. The norm of annual expenses per personnel is considered based on

the norm considered for FY 2019-20 in review. The base value of employee cost

norm arrived for FY 2020-21 is as given below:

Particulars Base

Value for NBPDCL


No. of personnel per 1000 consumers 0.1676 0.2667

No. of personnel per Sub-station 16.2871 19.4782

Annual expenses per personnel (Rs. Crore) as considered for FY 2019-20 in review

0.0319 0.0455


total no. of substations for FY 2020-21 as given below:


No. of substations 602 615

No. of consumers 10609345 6335457




year shall be escalated on account of inflation. The Commission, in terms of

regulation 22.1, has computed average increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)

at 4.22% for FY 2019-20 based on immediately preceding three years and the same

is adopted for projecting employee expenses for FY 2020-21.

As deliberated in para 5.18.1 of Chapter 5 of this order, the Commission in absence

of actual no.of substations, for the purpose of projection, has considered the no.of

substations at 428 for SBPDCL and 569 for NBPDCL for FY 2020-21, as approved in

Table 7.65 and 7.67 respectively of MYT order dated 25.02.2019.

The Commission considering the base year employee norm has computed the

employee expenses with inflationary indexation of 4.22% for FY 2020-21 as detailed


Table 6.50: Employee expenses approved based on norm for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

UoM Particulars SBPDCL NBPDCL

Total Base Value 2020-21 Base Value 2020-21

A Average annual CPI index

4.22% 4.22%

B Norms-Number of personnel per 1000 consumers

0.2667 0.2667 0.1676 0.1676

C Norms-Number of personal per substation

19.4782 19.4782 16.2871 16.2871

D No. of consumers (1000) (Table 5.1 and 5.2 of this order)

6335 10609

E No of substations 428 569

F Annual expenses per personnel (Rs. Crore)

0.0455 0.0474 0.0319 0.0332

G Employee cost on the norms of 1000 consumers (B*D*F) (Rs. Crore)

80.09 59.03

H Employee cost on the norms of substation (C*E*F) (Rs. Crore)

395.16 307.68

I Total Employee cost (G+H) (Rs. Crore)

475.25 366.71 841.96

The Commission, accordingly, approved the employee expenses for FY 2020-21 as

given in the table above.



6.23. Administration and General (A&G) Expenses


Discoms have submitted that Administration and General expenses are projected in

terms of regulation 22.3 with escalation for WPI inflationary index for FY 2020-21 as

given in Table 6.51 below:

Table 6.51: Administration & General expenses projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)



Total

Base year A & G expenses 238.04 114.70 352.73

Inflationary index (WPI) % 2.97% 2.97%

Add: Inflationary increase 7.07 3.41 10.48

A & G expenses for FY 2020-21 245.12 118.11 363.23


As deliberated in para 5.18.2, the Petitioner NBPDCL has projected A&G expenses

considering expenses of FY 2019-20 as base year expenses with indexation for

inflationary increase for FY 2020-21 which include onetime payment of prior period

Holding tax expenses.


Regulations 2018, had determined A&G expense norm for the MYT control period

of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in the Tariff Order dated 15.02.2019 as deliberated

under Commission’s analysis in paragraph 7.24.

The Commission had determined A&G expense norm (Table 7.72 for NBPDCL and

Table 7.74 for SBPDCL) for the MYT control period of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in


paragraph 7.24. The norm of annual A&G expense per 1000 consumers and A&G

expense per personnel is considered based on the norm considered for FY 2019-20

in APR. The base value of A&G expense norm arrived for FY 2020-21 is as given

below:

Particulars Base

Value for NBPDCL


Norm – Number of employees per 1000 consumers 1.1174 1.778

Annual A&G expenses per 1000 consumers (Rs. Crore) 0.9498 1.5113

Annual A&G expenses per employee (Rs. Crore) 0.0078 0.0097




total no. of substations for FY 2020-21 vide NBPDCL letter no.1441 dated

11.11.2019 and SBPDCL letter no.1442 dated 11.11.2019. The Commission observes

that the petitioners have not furnished total no.of employees based on the norms

as specified in MYT order dated 25.02.2019 which stipulates no.of employees based

on per 1000 consumers. Further no.of consumers projected are not in line with

approved no.of consumers. Accordingly, for the purpose of ARR, the Commission

has calculated no.of employees applying the norms 1.1174 for NBPDCL and 1.7780

for SBPDCL employees per 1000 consumers.



considered the average increase in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) at 2.98% in line

with the WPI index considered (Table 5.47) in review for FY 2019-20.

The Commission considering the base year A&G expense norm, no. of consumers,

no. of employees has computed the A&G expenses with WPI inflationary indexation

of 2.98% for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table 6.52 below:

Table 6.52: A&G expenses approved based on norm for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

UoM Particulars SBPDCL NBPDCL

Total Base Value

2020-21 Base Value

2020-21

A Average annual WPI CPI index 2.98% 2.98%

B Norms-Number of employees per 1000 consumers 1.778 1.778 1.1174 1.1174

C No. of consumers (1000) (Table 5.1 and 5.2 of this order) 6335 10609

D No of employees (B*C) 11264

11854

E Annual expenses per 1000 consumers (Rs. Crore)

0.0037 0.0038 0.0051 0.0053

F Annual expenses per employee (Rs. Crore)

0.0097 0.0100 0.0078 0.0080

G A&G cost on the norms of 1000 consumers (C*E) (Rs. Crore) 24.07 56.23

H A&G cost on the norms of employee (D*F) (Rs. Crore) 112.64

94.83

I Total A&G cost (G+H) (Rs. Crore) 136.71

151.06 287.77

The Commission, accordingly, approved the A & G expenses for FY 2020-21 as

given in the table above.



6.24. Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expenses



repair of different class of fixed assets, etc. Regulation 22.2 provides the

methodology for projecting R&M expenses and accordingly computed the ‘K’ factor

based on the available 3 (three) years audited accounts for FY 2017-18 to FY 2019-

20 as given below:

SI. No.


2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20

1 Opening GFA 4029.02 7087.13 9809.99 5667.06 6626.28 8427.80

2 Less: Land cost 997.21 1011.16 1025.49 1528.55 1536.17 1541.99

3 Opening GFA excl. land cost 3031.81 6075.97 8784.50 4138.51 5090.10 6885.81

4 R&M Expense for the year 68.02 113.79 179.07 98.71 116.29 183.31

5 % of R&M expenses to GFA (2/1)*100 2.24% 1.87% 2.04% 2.39% 2.28% 2.66%

6 Average % of R&M expenses to GFA 2.05% 2.44%

Discoms have projected R&M expenses for FY 2020-21 adopting ‘K’ factor on the

opening GFA as given in the Table6.53 below:

Table 6.53: R & M expenses projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL Projected by

SBPDCL Total

1 Opening GFA 10649.18 8780.64 19429.82 2 K factor 2.05% 2.44%

3 R & M expenses 218.48 214.55 433.03

Commission’s analysis Regulation 22.2 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018, specify

R&M expenses as percentage (as per the norm determined) of Gross Fixed Assets

excluding land cost for the year. The Commission has considered opening GFA

(excluding land) as approved in Table 6.41 above.

The Commission had determined the R&M norm i.e. ‘K’ factor at 1.66% for NBPDCL

and 2.16% for SBPDCL for the MYT control period of FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 in


paragraph 7.25.



The Commission accordingly considers the ‘K’ factor for FY 2020-21 and computed

the R&M expenses adopting ‘K’ factor on the Opening GFA for FY 2020-21 as


Table 6.54: R&M expenses considered for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total

1 Opening depreciable GFA 11770.88 9683.17 21454.05

2 ‘K’ factor 1.66% 2.16%

3 R & M Cost (1*2) 195.40 209.16 404.55

The Commission, accordingly, approves R&M expenses for FY 2020-21 as detailed

in the table above.

6.25. Allocation of Holding Company Expenses

Petitioners’ submission Discoms have estimated the Holding Company expenses with escalation @10%

for FY 2020-21 as given in Table 6.55 below:

Table 6.55: Holding Company Expenses projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL Projected by SBPDCL

Total

Previous year Holding company expenses 19.90 20.92 40.82

Escalation % 10% 10%

Inflationary increase 1.99 2.09 4.08

Holding company expenses for the year 21.99 23.01 44.90

Commission’s analysis: The Holding company expenses represent employee cost, R&M expenses and A&G

expenses. The Commission has projected the holding company expenses based on

the expenses considered in review for FY 2019-20 with CPI inflationary increase of

4.22% for FY 2020-21.

The Commission has considered the holding company expenses for FY 2020-21, in

terms of Bihar State Electricity Reforms Transfer Scheme, 2012 as detailed in the

Table 6.56 below:

Table 6.56: Holding company expenses approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)


NBPDCL Approved for

SBPDCL Total

Previous year Holding company expenses 17.90 19.34 37.24

CPI Inflationary index % 4.22% 4.22%

Inflationary increase 0.76 0.82 1.58

Holding company expenses for the year 18.66 20.16 38.82



The Commission, accordingly, approves Holding company expenses for FY 2020-

21 as detailed in the table above.

6.26. Summary of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenses

The summary of the O&M expenses approved for FY 2020-21 as give in Table 6.57

below:

Table 6.57: Total O&M cost approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL

Approved for SBPDCL

Total

1 Employee cost 366.71 475.25 841.96

2 R&M expenses 195.40 209.16 404.55

3 A&G Expenses 151.06 136.71 287.77

4 Holding Company expenses 18.66 20.16 38.82

5 Total O& M cost 731.82 841.28 1573.10

The Commission, accordingly, approves total O&M expenses for FY 2020-21 as


6.27. Interest on Security Deposit


Discoms have submitted that interest on Security Deposit amount has been

claimed as per the Regulation 26 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations 2018. The interest on security deposit is as per RBI Bank Rate of 5.40%

as on 1st April 2019. The Discoms have projected interest on security deposit for FY


Table 6.58: Interest on security deposit projected for FY 2020-21

(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.



SBPDCL Total


2 Addition 49.02 54.04 103.06






Regulation 26 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018 specifies

that “provided further that interest shall be allowed on consumer security deposits

and security deposits from Distribution system users at the Bank Rate as of the date



on which the petition for determination of tariff is accepted by the Commission”.

The Commission has considered opening SD from consumer for FY 2020-21 based

on the closing SD approved in review for FY 2019-20. Year on year addition to

security deposit is considered at the same level of addition to SD considered in true

up for FY 2018-19 based on the audited accounts. The rate on interest is considered

as per RBI rate as on 15.11.2019 is at 5.40% i.e. prevailing rate as on the date of

filing of tariff petitions (15.11.2019) by the Discoms.

The Commission considers interest on consumer’s security deposit for FY 2020-21

as given in the Table 6.59 below:

Table 6.59: Interest on security deposit approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total







The Commission, accordingly, approves interest on consumers’ security deposit

for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the table above.

6.28. Non-Tariff Income


Discoms have projected the non tariff income based on the income considered in

review for FY 2019-20 with an increase of 20% after deducting financing cost of

funding of delayed payment surcharge as detailed in the Table 6.60 below:

Table 6.60: Projected Non-tariff Income for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.



SBPDCL Total

1 Base non tariff income 490.12 583.43 1073.54

2 escalation @ 20% 98.02 116.69 214.71

3 Sub-total (1+2) 588.14 700.11 1288.24

4 Grant from Government 69.85 720.79 790.64

5 Less: Interest on funding of DPS 180.23 109.94 290.17

6 Non-tariff income (3+4-5) 477.76 1310.96 1788.71


The Petitioners during the course of validation have clarified that non tariff income

includes Rs.720.79 Crore (SBPDCL) and Rs.69.85 Crore (NBPDCL) towards receipt of



fund in the form of equity contribution of GoB to meet excessive AT&C loss. The

Commission, based on the clarification of the petitioners does not consider the

projected non tariff income of Rs.720.79 Crore (SBPDCL) and Rs.69.85 Crore

(NBPDCL) as these funds have been received by the Petitioners from the

Government of Bihar to meet the cost of excess power purchase cost of additional

power purchases on account of excessive AT&C loss.

The Commission has considered release of new connections of 759337 (SBPDCL

186440 and NBPDCL 572897) during FY 2020-21 out of which KJY connections are

238151. The Commission has considered supervision charges, etc. per connection

on the new connections of 521186 (excluding KJY connections as they are being

released free of cost under DDUGJY) at the applicable rates for all the new

connections at the applicable rates and accordingly, has considered Rs.21.75 Crore

(Rs.4.40 Crore for SBPDCL and Rs.17.35 Crore for NBPDCL) towards non-tariff

income for FY 2020-21 as given below:

SI. No.

Category

Supervision, Labour, Est. charges per connection

No of new connections

approved for FY 2020-21

Supervision charges per annum

SBPDCL NBPDCL SBPDCL NBPDCL

1 Kutir Jyoti 0 81705 156446 0 0

2 Domestic-I 400 25175 335166 10070000 134066400

3 Domestic-II 400 53669 25619 21467600 10247600

4 NDS-I 400 1546 9834 618400 3933600

5 NDS-II 400 3092 33605 1236800 13442000

6 SS 400 69 0 27600 0

8 IAS-I 900 9744 5845 8769600 5260500

9 IAS-II 900 202 588 181800 529200

10 Public Water Works 900 519 179 467100 161100

11 Har Ghar Nal 0 10000 1811 0 0

12 LTIS –I 1500 547 3686 820500 5529000

13 LTIS –II 1500 85 39 127500 58500

14 HTS – I 3000 80 76 240000 228000

15 HTS – II 3000 7 3 21000 9000

16 HTS – III 3000 0 0 0 0

17 HTSS 3000 0 0 0 0

18 Railway 0 0 0 0 0

Total 186440 572897 44047900 173464900

The Commission has further considered the non-tariff income approved in review

for FY 2019-20 as base year non tariff income and further considered escalation @

20% for FY 2020-21 as projected by the petitioners. However, the base non tariff



income includes meter rent and supervision charges also. As the additional income

from new connections is separately considered as shown in the table above, the

same are reduced from the base non tariff income.

The Commission has abolished meter rent w.e.f. 1st April 2020, as deliberated

under Miscellaneous and General Charges of Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff

Schedule Chapter 9 of this order. Accordingly, no income is considered towards

meter rent in non tariff income for FY 2020-21.

The Commission has considered rebate at 1% of the total power purchases

(including transmission charges) as non-tariff income for FY 2020-21 in accordance

with the judgement of the APTEL in Appeal no.153 of 2009 between North Delhi

Power Ltd. Vs Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The Commission accordingly has considered the non-tariff income for FY 2020-21 as

detailed in the Table 6.61 below.

Table 6.61: Non-tariff income approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.

Particulars Approved for NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Approved for SBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Total

1 Base non tariff income 466.19 435.76 901.95

2 Less: Meter rent considered in APR 222.20 121.06 343.26

3 Less: Supervision charges considered in APR 15.96 17.40 33.36

4 Sub-total 228.03 297.30 525.33

5 escalation @ 20% on 4 45.61 59.46 105.07

6 Sub-total (4+5) 273.63 356.76 630.39

7 Add: Rebate @1% on total power purchase (incl. transmission charges) for FY 2020-21 76.00 84.87 160.88

8

Add: Additional income on account of supervision charges due to release of new connections 17.35 4.40 21.75

9 Non-tariff income (6+7+8) 366.98 446.04 813.02

The Commission, accordingly, approves non tariff income for FY 2020-21 as


6.29. Interest on working capital


Discoms have submitted that in terms of regulation 26 of the BERC (Multi Year

Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2018 the interest on working capital is computed.

The rate of interest applied on the proposed working capital is @9.55% as per the

SBI MCLR (one year) of 8.05% plus 150 basis points. Discoms have computed the

mailto:@14.75%25



interest on working based on the norms for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table 6.62

below:

Table 6.62: Interest on working capital projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No. Particulars

Projected by NBPDCL

Projected by SBPDCL




4

Less:




d. Grant received from State Govt. for purchaser of power and other O&M expenses -- --

Sub-total (a+b+c+d) 1211.36 1503.05 5 Net working capital requirement (3-4) 342.76 84.40



Commission analysis

The Commission has computed the interest on working capital as per the norms

prescribed in Regulation 26 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations

2018. The rate of interest applied on the working capital is @9.50% as per the SBI

MCLR (one year) of 8.00% (w.e.f.10.11.2019) plus 150 basis points as on the date of

filing of the petition i.e.15.11.2019.

The Commission has considered closing Security Deposits from the Consumers as

approved in Table 6.59 above.

The Commission based on the expenses/costs approved, has computed the

working capital requirement and interest on working capital for the control period


Table 6.63: Interest on working capital considered for FY 2020-21

(Rs. Crore) SI. No.

Particulars Approved for NBPDCL

Approved for SBPDCL




4

Less:




d. Grant received from State Govt. for purchaser of power -- --

mailto:@14.75%25



SI. No.

Particulars Approved for NBPDCL

Approved for SBPDCL

and other O&M expenses

Sub-total (a+b+c+d) 1159.88 1458.32

5 Net working capital requirement (3-4) 312.52 170.80



The Commission, accordingly, approves interest on working capital for FY 2020-21

as detailed in the table above.

6.30. Annual Revenue Requirement


The Discoms have submitted the ARR for FY 2020-21, as detailed in the Table 6.64 below:

Table 6.64: ARR projected for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No. Particulars

Projected by NBPDCL

Projected by SBPDCL Total

1 Purchase of power 6260.00 6876.00 13136

2 PGCIL & Other transmission charges 490.00 614.00 1104

3 BSPTCL & BGCL transmission charges and SLDC charges 1195.00 1402.00 2597

4 RE Purchases 41.00 41.00 82

5 O & M Expenses (A+B+C+D) 768.07 825.55 1593.62


B R&M expenses 218.48 214.55 433.03

C A&G expenses 245.12 118.11 363.23


6 Depreciation 230.70 223.71 454.42

7 Interest on loan 374.75 425.13 799.88


9 Return on equity 297.89 277.46 575.35

10 Interest on SD 23.40 35.00 58.39

11 Deposit for RPO obligation 0.00

12 Contingency Reserve 0.00 0.00 0.00 13 Interest on working capital 32.73 8.06 40.79





18 Gross Gap / (Surplus) (16-17) 831.02 -323.26 507.76

19 Add: Trued up Gap/(Surplus) carried forward for FY 2018-19 with carrying cost 481.00 1129.00 1610

20 Net Gap / (Surplus) for FY 2020-21 (18+19) 1312.02 805.74 2117.76



costs approved in the preceding paragraphs for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the Table

6.65 below:



Table 6.65: ARR approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


for NBPDCL Approved

for SBPDCL Total




4 REC Purchases 19.49 24.72 44.21

5 O & M Expenses (A+B+C+D) 731.83 841.28 1573.10


B R&M expenses 195.40 209.16 404.55

C A&G expenses 151.06 136.71 287.77


6 Depreciation 180.77 204.77 385.54

7 Interest on loan 301.09 266.39 567.48


9 Return on equity 221.90 238.25 460.15

10 Interest on SD 23.40 35.00 58.39

11 Contingency Reserve 0.00





The Commission, accordingly, approves ARR for FY 2020-21 as detailed in the

table above.

6.31. Trued up net Revenue Gap / (Surplus) of FY 2018-19

The Commission has approved the consolidated net revenue gap of Rs.118.64

Crore (NBPDCL Rs.25.60 Crore and SBPDCL Rs.93.04 Crore) for FY 2018-19 in true

up for Discoms.

Regulation 14 (e) of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations 2015

specify “the Revenue gap/surplus arising out of truing up shall be considered by

the Commission while determining the ARR of ensuing year and allow the

carrying costs as determined of such expenses/revenues”.

The Commission, in terms of regulation 14 (e) has carried forward the trued up

consolidated revenue gap along with carrying cost in the ARR of FY 2020-21.

The Commission has considered carrying cost @ 12.20% (SBI Advance Rate) for half

year of FY 2018-19, @10.05% for full year of FY 2019-20 and @9.50% for half year

of FY 2020-21 on the trued up revenue Gap/(surplus) of FY 2018-19 assuming that

the Gap/(surplus) has been created over FY 2018-19 and adjustment/recovery



would have been made over the year 2020-21 following the methodology adopted

by the Hon’ble APTEL order dated 08.04.2015 in Appeal No.160 of 2012 (Reliance

Infrastructure Limited Vs MERC & others) as detailed in the Table 6.66 below:

Table 6.66: Trued up approved Revenue Gap/(Surplus) of FY 2018-19 carried forward to ARR of FY 2020-21

(Rs. Crore)

Sl. No.


1 Revenue Gap /(Surplus) approved in true up for FY 2018-19 to be carried forward 25.60 93.04 118.64

2 Interest for FY 2018-19 [(SBI Base Rate 8.7%+3.5%) 12.20%] for half year 1.56 5.68 7.24

3 Interest for FY 2019-20 (SBI MCLR 8.55%+1.5%) @10.05% for 1 year 2.57 9.35 11.92

4 Interest for FY 2020-21 (SBI MCLR 8%+1.5%) @9.50% for 6 months 1.22 4.42 5.64

5 Sub-total (Interest) (2+3+4) 5.35 19.45 24.80

6 Total gap/(Surplus) with interest (1+5) 30.95 112.49 143.44

The Commission, accordingly, carried forward and adjusted the revenue

Gap/(Surplus) of FY 2018-19 along with carrying cost in to the ARR of FY 2020-21.

6.32. Revenue from sale of power at existing tariff


The Discoms have submitted the category wise revenue based on the existing tariff


Table 6.67: Projected Revenue from sale of power at existing tariff for FY 2020-21

Category

NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crs)

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crs)

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crs)

Domestic 7950.27 4804.57 8988.70 5788.16 16938.97 10592.73

Kutir Jyoti 1842.40 1181.08 1718.12 1059.34 3560.52 2240.42

DS-I (Rural) 3583.60 1853.76 4061.28 2218.28 7644.88 4072.04

Unmetered 1254.26 285.06 1254.26 285.06

Metered 2329.34 99.19 2329.34 99.19

DS-II (Urban) 2524.27 1769.73 3209.30 2510.54 5733.57 4280.27

DS III (Optional) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Non-Domestic 2015.60 1492.66 1208.00 1050.43 3223.60 2543.09

NDS-I (Rural) 233.96 158.18 210.00 145.84 443.96 304.02

NDS-II (Demand Based) 1781.64 1334.48 998.00 904.59 2779.64 2239.07

Contract Demand < 0.5 kW 71.92 46.47

71.92 46.47

Contract Demand > 0.5 kW 1692.56 1288.00

1692.56 1288.00



Category

NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crs)

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crs)

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crs)


257.00 163.18 903.00 531.44 1160.00 694.62

IAS-I (Pvt Tubewell) 77.15 30.01 737.00 402.38 814.15 432.39

Unmetered 61.72 15.98 61.72 15.98

Metered 15.43 14.03 15.43 14.03

IAS-II (State Tubewell) 179.85 133.17 166.00 129.06 345.85 262.23

Low Tension Industrial Supply

268.46 259.39 348.00 311.00 616.46 570.39

LTIS-I (Contract Demand < 19 kW) 226.95 219.61

214.00 172.00 440.95 391.61

LTIS-II (Contract Demand 19-74 kW)) 41.51 39.78

134.00 139.00 175.51 178.78

Public Water Works 108.08 96.27 123.00 126.00 231.08 222.27

Public Water Works 43.79 52.37 102.00 111.00 145.79 163.37

Har GharNal - Metered (Connected Load) 64.29 43.90

21.00 15.00 85.29 58.90

Street Light Services 25.07 24.93 39.00 40.00 64.07 64.93

SS-I (Metered) 5.00 3.89 11.00 9.00 16.00 12.89

SS-II (Unmetered) 20.07 21.04 28.00 31.00 48.07 52.04

High Tension Supply 722.84 630.46 2142.00 1664.34 2864.84 2294.80

HTS-I (11 kV) 472.30 424.83 676.00 610.25 1148.30 1035.08

HTS-II (33 kV) 135.53 120.13 460.00 410.12 595.53 530.25

HTS-III (132 kV) 50.09 45.79 173.00 142.66 223.09 188.45

HTS-IV (220 kV) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

HTSS (33 / 11 kV) 64.92 39.71 833.00 501.31 897.92 541.02

RTS (132 kV) 226.10 195.78 292.02 229.52 518.12 425.30

Nepal 1355.16 783.17 0.00 0.00 1355.16 783.17

Grand Total 12928.58 8450.41 14043.72 9740.89 26972.30 18191.30


Tariff for sale of electricity from Bihar to Nepal was discussed in the 13th Indo-Nepal

PEC meeting held on 26.12.2018 and later, the tariff for FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20

has been agreed as shown below:

Financial Year Tariff at 132 kV level (Rs./kWh)

Tariff at 33 kV level (Rs./kWh)

2017-18 5.55 6.00

2018-19 5.86 6.33

2019-20 6.18 6.68

An increase at 5.5% on existing tariff of FY 2017-18, on year on year basis for two

year i.e. FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20 was accepted. The tariff for further years after

FY 2019-20 is not yet decided. Most of the power from Bihar is being transmitted to



Nepal at 132 kV level. Therefore, considering an escalation at 5.5%, the tariff for

sale of power to Nepal is considered at Rs.6.52/kWh (6.18*1.055).

The Commission has computed the revenue from sale of power at existing tariff,

however on terms and conditions approved for FY 2020-21 as detailed in Chapter 8

Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff Schedule based on the category wise consumers,

connected load and energy sales approved for the Discoms for FY 2020-21 as given

in the table 6.68 below:

Table 6.68: Revenue from sale of power at tariff applicable for FY 2020-21

NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crore)

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crore)

Sales (MU)

Revenue (Rs. Crore)

12686.41 8886.79 13812.99 10027.85 26499.40 18914.64

Detailed computation of revenue from sale of power with existing tariff for Discoms

FY 2020-21 is annexed as Annexure V and VI (NBPDCL and SBPDCL).

6.33. Consolidated approved ARR of DISCOMs for FY 2020-21

The Commission, based on the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) approved for FY

2020-21 and estimated revenue from sale of power with existing tariff has arrived

the revenue gap/(surplus) for FY 2020-21 as given in the Table 6.69 below:

Table 6.69: Approved revenue gap/(surplus) for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


1 Net ARR for FY 2020-21 (Table 6.65) 8795.29 9732.84 18528.14

2 Less: Revenue from Existing tariff (Table 6.68) 8886.79 10027.85 18914.64

3 Revenue Gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21 (1-2) (91.50) (295.01) (386.50)

4

Carried forward trued up revenue gap/(Surplus) of FY 2018-19 along with carrying cost (Table 6.66) 30.95 112.49 143.44

5 Net Revenue Gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21 (3+4) (60.55) (182.52) (243.07)

The Commission approves the net consolidated revenue Surplus of Rs.243.07 Crore

for DISCOMs for FY 2020-21.

6.34. Revenue with revised tariff

The Commission, based on the approved revenue surplus in Discoms, has decided

to reduce the tariff by 10 paise/Unit across all categories of consumers uniformly

and no increase in fixed charge is considered.



The Commission has revised the retail electricity supply tariffs in this order as

detailed in the Chapter 9 Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff Schedule. The

Commission, accordingly, had computed the expected revenue from sale of power

for FY 2020-21 considering the fixed charge per consumer and energy charges per

unit as given below:-

Table 6.70: Revenue with revised tariff and approved revenue Gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21

(Rs. Crore)

SI. No.


1 Net ARR for FY 2020-21 8795.29 9732.84 18528.14

2 Carried forward trued up revenue gap/(Surplus) of FY 2018-19 along with carrying cost 30.95 112.49 143.44

3 sub-total (1+2) 8826.24 9845.33 18671.57

4 Revenue with revised tariff 8798.32 9891.35 18689.67

5 Net Gap / (Surplus) (3-4) 27.92 (46.02) (18.10)

The revenue reduction due to revision of tariff is at Rs.224.97 Crore (Rs.88.47 Crore

for NBPDCL and Rs.136.50 Crore for SBPDCL) for FY 2020-21 as detailed below:


Revenue with existing tariff 8886.79 10027.85 18914.64

Revenue with revised tariff 8798.32 9891.35 18689.67

Revenue reduction due to tariff revision (1-2) 88.47 136.50 224.97

6.35. Average Tariff as a percentage of Average Cost of Supply

The Commission has approved tariff for various consumer categories considering

gradual reduction in cross subsidy in line with the requirement of Tariff Policy. The

average tariff as a percentage of average cost of service approved in Tariff Order

for FY 2019-20 and that approved for FY 2020-21 (present tariff order) is as shown

in the Table below:

Table 6.71: Average billing rate as a percentage of average Cost of supply

Sl. No.

Category

FY 2019-20 (approved in Tariff Order dated

25.02.2019)

FY 2020-21 (approved by Commission)

Average billing rate

(Rs./kWh)

Average cost of supply

(Rs./kWh)

% of cost of supply


(Rs./kWh)


(Rs./kWh)

% of cost of supply

A Domestic 6.70 6.84 98% 6.73 7.35 92%

B Non- Domestic

8.62 6.84 126% 7.53 7.35 102%



Sl. No.

Category


25.02.2019)



(Rs./kWh)


(Rs./kWh)

% of cost of supply


(Rs./kWh)


(Rs./kWh)

% of cost of supply

C Irrigation and Agriculture

6.6 6.84 96% 6.09 7.35 83%

D LTIS 8.85 6.84 129% 10.19 7.35 139%

E Public Institutions

9.56 6.84 140% 9.99 7.35 136%

F HTS 8.42 6.84 123% 8.08 7.35 110%

* average cost of supply is combinedly for SBPDCL and NBPDCL.

The Commission has noted that the average billing rate vis-a-vis average cost of

supply in respect of LTIS and PWW is higher than 120% limit. The average cost

supply for FY 2020-21 is estimated at Rs.7.35/kWh. The average cost of supply

(ACoS) in FY 2020-21 is on higher side mainly due to two reasons. The first reason is

the inclusion of the revenue gap with carrying cost of Rs.143.44 crore arrived in

truing up of FY 2018-19 and the other reason is higher tieup of generating capacity

than the actual requirement, resulting in to more availability than the required,

however, the power purchase quantum is restricted to the actual requirement

allowing full capacity charges as per the power purchase Agreement. Further, the

average billing rate estimated is on higher side as the consumption under LTIS and

Public Institutions are very low i.e.6.63% of load factor for LTIS and 20.66% load

factor for Public institutions.

6.36. Average Tariff as a percentage of Voltage wise Cost of supply

The Commission has determined the voltage-wise cost of supply based on the

limited data/information made available as detailed in Chapter-7. The average tariff

as a percentage of voltage cost of supply approved in Tariff Order for FY 2019-20

and the average tariff as a percentage of voltage-wise cost of supply determined in

Chapter-7 for FY 2020-21 of this tariff order is as shown in the Table below:



Table 6.72: Average billing rate as a percentage of voltage-wise Cost of Supply

SI. No.

Category


25.02.2019)



(Rs./kWh)

Voltagewise cost of supply

(Rs./kWh)

% of cost of supply


(Rs./kWh)

Voltagewise cost of supply

(Rs./kWh)

% of cost of supply

A Domestic 6.70 6.91 97% 6.73 7.42 91%

B Non- Domestic

8.62 6.91 125% 7.53 7.42 101%

C Irrigation and Agriculture

6.60 6.91 96% 6.09 7.42 82%

D LTIS 8.85 6.91 128% 10.19 7.42 137%

E Public Institutions

9.56 6.91 138% 9.99 7.42 135%

F HTS 8.42 6.30 134% 8.08 6.57 123%

* average cost of supply is combinedly for SBPDCL and NBPDCL.

The Commission has noted that the average billing rate vis-à-vis voltage-wise cost

of supply in FY2020-21 in respect of LTIS, Public institutions (PWW and SS) and HTS

is higher than 120% limit for the reasons stated in the earlier para.



7. Voltage-wise Cost of Supply

7.1 Introduction

The Commission has been computing the voltage-wise cost of supply (since the

Tariff Order for FY 2013-14) keeping in view the guidelines indicated by the Hon’ble

APTEL in its order dated 10.05.2012.

The Commission, in Regulation 36(b) to (e) of BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff)

Regulations, 2018 has explained the methodology for computation of voltage-wise

cost of supply.

7.2 Methodology adopted for Computation of Voltage-wise cost of supply


The Discoms have submitted that the Hon’ble APTEL has proposed a simple

methodology to functionalize use of Cost of Supply model. The APTEL notes that

identical consumers connected at different nodes of distribution system need not

to be differentiated. In addition, it is adequate to determine voltage-wise cost of

supply taking into account the major cost elements which would be applicable to all

the categories of the consumers connected at the same voltage level at different

locations in the distribution system. Further, the Discoms submitted that due to the

methodology applied to apportion losses in the various voltage levels, all the

consumer categories at a particular voltage level will have same cost of supply.


Cost of supply is a study of total costs incurred by a utility in providing service to

its consumers, category-wise and voltage level wise. Vital input to cost of supply

study include reliable, accurate and consistent information which is derived

from special studies conducted in the field level i.e. category-wise Load Factors,

category-wise coincident Demand Factors etc., based on which the cost related to

Demand (MW), Energy (MU) and customer charges have to be allocated to various

consumer categories.

The Commission has stipulated the methodology to compute the consumer

category-wise cost of supply in Regulation 36 (b) to (e) of BERC (Multi Year

Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018. The Discoms have not computed the

voltage wise cost of supply as per the methodology suggested in the above



regulations. In response to the directive given in this regard, the Discoms have

submitted that once ERP is implemented and fixed asset register is completed,

voltage-wise cost of supply could be submitted. They have computed the voltage-

wise cost of supply based on the methodology suggested by APTEL.

APTEL’s guidelines on alignment of tariff to cost of supply:

The Hon’ble Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) in its order dated 10th

May, 2012 on the Appeal No.14 of 2011 of Bihar Industries Association and

Appeal No.27 of 2011 M/s.Kalyanpur Cements Limited has commented as below:

“31. We appreciate that the determination of cost of supply to different

categories of consumers is a difficult exercise in view of non-availability of

metering data and segregation of network costs. However, it will not be

prudent to wait indefinitely for availability of the entire data and it would

be advisable to initiate a simple formulation which could take into account

the major cost element to a great extent reflect the cost of supply. There is

no need to make distinction between the distribution charges of identical

consumers connected at different nodes in the distribution network. It

would be adequate to determine the voltage-wise cost of supply taking into

account the major cost element which would be applicable to all the

categories of consumers connected to the same voltage level at

different locations in the distribution system. Since the State Commission has

expressed difficulties in determining voltage wise cost of supply, we

would like to give necessary directions in this regard’’.

Methodology suggested by APTEL

The methodology given by the APTEL for determination of voltage-wise “Cost

of Supply” and the inputs required are briefly given below:

“(i) The technical distribution system losses in the distribution network are to be

assessed by carrying out system studies based on available load data for 33

kV and above voltages and in the case of 11 kV and 0.40 kV (LT), due to

vastness of data, field studies to be carried out with representative feeders for

the various consumer mix prevailing in the distribution system.

(ii) The total losses in the system, which include commercial or non-technical

losses, will be more than the technical losses determined based on the system



studies. Therefore, the difference between the total losses in the system

and the technical losses determined by the studies may have to be

apportioned to different voltage levels in proportion to annual gross energy

consumption at the respective voltage level.

The annual gross energy consumption of all consumers at a voltage level

will be the sum of energy consumption of all consumer categories connected

at that voltage plus the technical losses corresponding to that voltage level as

worked out by the system studies.

(iii) The power purchase cost which is the major component of tariff is to be

segregated for different voltage levels taking into account the transmission

and distribution losses, both technical and non-technical commercial for the

relevant voltage level and upstream system.

(iv) The network costs such as O&M costs, interest on loans, depreciation,

interest on working capital and return on equity are to be pooled and

apportioned equitably on pro-rata basis to all voltage levels to determine

the cost of supply’’.

Pre-requisite for arriving at the voltage wise Cost of Supply (CoS):

As per the APTEL judgment, an assessment of the technical and commercial loss

in the distribution system network by carrying out system studies based on the

available load data for 33 kV and above and field studies for representative

feeders for 11 kV and 0.4 kV of the various consumer mix prevailing in the

distribution system as well as segregation of network costs is a pre- requisite for

arriving at the voltage-wise cost of supply.

The Commission has thus computed the voltage wise cost of supply following the

methodology suggested by the Hon’ble APTEL.

7.3 Determination of Voltage-wise Technical losses


The Discoms have submitted that the Transmission & Distribution losses in a system

comprise of two separate components - Technical losses and Commercial losses.

Technical losses occur naturally and consist mainly of power dissipation in

electricity system components such as transmission and distribution lines,

and transformers.



Commercial losses are caused by actions external to the power system and

consist primarily of electricity theft, non-payment by customers, and errors in

accounting and record-keeping. Since the rationale behind these two

components is quite distinct, quantifying them separately is imperative for

arriving at meaningful conclusions.

At each voltage level, the Technical losses consist of two major components:

Transmission losses which refer to the losses in the current carrying wires; and

Transformation losses which refer the losses incurred during the voltage

transformation in the system. Aggregating the losses in these two elements at each

voltage level would give the technical loss at that level. The remaining losses would

be the commercial losses.

The Discoms further submitted that based on certain assumptions after observing

the available sample feeder data available, technical losses at various voltage levels

are assumed considering the transmission loss percentage of 220/132 KV at 3.92%

and distribution loss percentage at 20% for FY 2020-21 as shown in the Table 7.1

and Table 7.2 below:

Table 7.1: Voltage-wise Technical Losses Considered by SBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Sl. No Voltage Level (KV) Technical Losses (%) Cumulative Loss (%)

1 220/132 3.92% 3.92%

2 33 3.95% 7.72%

3 11 3.97% 11.38%

4 0.4 9.73% 20.00%

Table 7.2: Voltage-wise Technical Losses Considered by NBPDCL for FY 2020-21

Sl. No Voltage Level (KV) Technical Losses (%) Cumulative Loss (%)

1 220/132 3.92% 3.92%

2 33 3.67% 7.45%

3 11 3.90% 11.06%

4 0.4 10.05% 20.00%


Fixation of Voltage-wise Technical Loss:

The voltage-wise technical losses indicated by the Discoms are based on the

limited field study / sample data only. No study has been made to estimate the

technical losses based on the feeder wise load data, conductor size and length etc.

APTEL in its guidelines has indicated that the T&D loss as approved by the



Commission in its Tariff Order has to be considered while computing the voltage -

wise cost of supply. Due to lack of data for segregation of technical and commercial

losses, the Commission could not separately fix the technical and commercial loss

level within the total distribution loss approved for FY 2020-21. It is considered

appropriate to assume technical and commercial loss levels for realistic assessment

of Cost of Supply within overall T&D loss level i.e. Transmission Loss of 3.00% as

approved to BSPTCL and Distribution Loss of 15% approved to the Discoms by the

Commission for FY 2020-21.

The Commission has considered the following voltage-wise technical loss to

Discoms for FY 2020-21 for computing voltage wise cost of supply:

Table 7.3: Voltage –wise technical losses considered by Commission

SI.No. Voltage Level Loss (%) 1 State Transmission Loss (220/132 kV) 3.00% Technical Distribution Losses

2 33 kV 4.00% 3 11 kV 5.00% 4 LT 6.80%

7.4 Computation of Voltage-wise Cost of Supply


The Discoms have submitted that the voltage wise sales have been arrived

considering the projected energy sales for FY 2020-21, across various categories at

the respective voltages as mentioned in the table 7.4 below:

Table 7.4: Classification of Categories on the basis of Voltage of power supply

Sl. No. Voltage Level Categories

1 220/132 kV HTS-III, Railways, Nepal

2 33 kV HTS-II, HTSS

3 11 kV HTS-I

4 LT Domestic, Non Domestic, Agriculture and Others

SBPDCL & NBPDCL have separately computed the voltage wise cost of supply for

FY 2020-21 considering the energy sales projected by them and the T&D losses

assumed at various voltages. The voltage wise cost of supply computed for

FY 2020-21 are as given in the Tables 7.5 and 7.6 below:



Table 7.5: Voltage wise Cost of Supply Projected for FY 2020-21 by SBPDCL

Sl. No.

Supply Voltage

Cost of power

purchase (Rs./kWh)

Network cost

(Rs./kWh)

Cost of supply

(Rs./kWh)

1 220/132 kV 4.98 2.36 7.34

2 33 kV 5.15 2.36 7.52

3 11 kV 5.34 2.36 7.70

4 0.4 kV 5.83 2.36 8.20

Table 7.6: Voltage wise Cost of Supply Projected for FY 2020-21 by NBPDCL

Sl. No.

Supply Voltage

Cost of power

purchase (Rs/kWh)

Network cost

(Rs./kWh)

Cost of supply

(Rs./kWh)

1 220/132 kV 4.50 2.33 6.83

2 33 kV 4.66 2.33 6.99

3 11 kV 4.84 2.33 7.17

4 0.4 kV 5.36 2.33 7.69


The Commission has computed the voltage wise cost of supply based on the

energy sales and T&D losses approved for FY 2020-21 combinedly for both the

Discoms since the common tariff rates have been approved for both Discoms for

FY 2020-21.

Energy Sales approved for FY 2020-21:

The Commission has considered the approved energy sales for FY 2020-21 for

Discoms and segregated as per voltage-wise as given in the Table 7.7 below:

Table 7.7: Voltage wise Energy Sales (MUs) approved for FY 2020-21

SI. No

Voltage and Category Sales approved

for SBPDCL (MUs)

Sales approved for NBPDCL

(MUs)

Total (MUs)

A 220/132 kV

HT Industry (HTS-III) 173.27 50.09 223.36

Nepal 0 1355.16 1355.16

Sub – Total 173.27 1405.25 1578.52

33 kV

B HTS-II 460.14 135.53 595.67

HTSS 832.81 65.00 897.81

Sub – Total 1292.95 200.53 1493.48

11 kV

C HTS-I 676.42 472.30 1148.72

Sub-Total 676.42 472.30 1148.72



SI. No

Voltage and Category Sales approved

for SBPDCL (MUs)

Sales approved for NBPDCL

(MUs)

Total (MUs)

LT

D Domestic, Non-Domestic, Agriculture and Others

11670.34 10608.31 22278.65

Total (A+B+C+D) 13812.98 12686.39 26499.37

Voltage-wise Technical Loss considered for FY 2020-21:

As per APTEL guidelines, Distribution system technical losses have to be assessed

by carrying out system studies based on available data. Since the DISCOMs have

not provided such data, the Commission has assumed the technical losses at

various voltage levels as shown in the Table 7.3 above.

As stated in para 33 of APTEL order dated 10.05.2012, the voltage-wise commercial

losses are to be arrived at by segregating the total commercial losses

in proportion to grossed up sales (Actual consumption + technical loss) voltage-

wise.

In para 34 of APTEL order it is reiterated that the power purchase cost is to be

segregated for different voltage levels taking into account the transmission and

distribution losses, both commercial and technical, for relevant voltage level and

upstream system. Thus the losses (technical) at 33 kV shall be the losses at that

voltage and also at upstream 132 kV voltages, the losses (technical) at 11 kV shall

be the losses at that voltage and also of upstream 33 kV voltage and 132 kV voltage

level and similarly for LT voltage.

The technical Losses have been arrived on the basis of the formulae given in the

following table:

Voltage Level

Sales (MU)

Volt. Wise Tech. Loss (%)

Energy Input (MU)

Tech. Losses (MU)

1 2 3 4 5 132/220 KV A w =A/(1-w%) =(4)-(2) 33 KV B x =B/(1-x%)(1-w%) =(4)-(2) 11 KV C y =C/(1-y%)(1-x%)(1-w%) =(4)-(2) LT D z =D/(1-z%)/(1-y%)(1-x%)(1-w%) =(4)-(2)

Total (A+B+C+D)

The technical losses and commercial Losses are computed as given in the Tables

7.8 and 7.9 below:



Table 7.8: Computation of Technical Losses

Sl. No.

Voltage (kV)

Voltage-wise

Technical losses (%)

Cumulative loss (%)

Energy sale (MUs)

Energy input (MUs)

Technical loss (MUs)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7=(6-5)

1 220/132 3.00% 3.00% 1578.52 1627.34 48.82

2 33 4.00% 6.88% 1493.48 1603.82 110.34

3 11 5.00% 11.54% 1148.72 1298.52 149.80

4 0.4 6.80% 17.55% 22278.65 27021.31 4742.66

Total 26499.37 31550.99 5051.62

Table 7.9: Computation of Commercial Losses

Sl. No

Voltage level (kV)

Energy sale (MUs)

Technical loss (MUs)

Sales + Tech. Loss

(MUs)

Commercial loss (MUs)

Energy sales + tech

+ commercial loss (MUs)

1 2 3 4 5=(3+4) 6 7=(5+6)

1 220/132 1578.52 48.82 1627.34 17.66 1645.00

2 33 1493.48 110.34 1603.82 17.41 1621.23

3 11 1148.72 149.80 1298.52 14.09 1312.61

4 LT 22278.65 4742.66 27021.31 293.24 27314.55

Total 26499.37 5051.62 31550.99 342.40 31893.39

Note: 1. Commercial losses are obtained by reducing the sales + technical losses from the energy

input at state periphery (31893.39-31550.99=342.40). The commercial losses so arrived are allocated in proportion to the sales and the technical losses to each voltage level.

2. Energy required at state transmission periphery is at 31893.39 MUs as worked out in Table 6.16 Energy requirement.

Allocation of Power Purchase Cost for FY 2020-21

The power purchase cost (excluding PGCIL Losses) has been allocated for

different voltage levels taking into account the State Transmission loss and

Distribution loss, (both commercial and technical) for the relevant voltage level and

upstream as per methodology indicated by APTEL.

Out of the total power purchase of 32384.24 MU approved for both the Discoms,

on which CTU loss of 1.516% is applicable. Therefore the CTU loss works out to

490.95 MUs (32384.24*1.516%).

The Commission, after deducting the regional transmission losses from the total

power purchase computed the average power purchase cost per unit as detailed

below:



Table 7.10: Average Power Purchase Cost (including Discom to Discom sale/adjustment)

(Rs/kWh)

SI. No.


1 Gross Power Purchase (MU) 17487.49 14896.75 32384.24

2 PGCIL Loss (MU) 265.11 225.84 490.95

3 Discoms to Discoms sales (MU) -476.49 476.49

4 Net Power availability at transmission periphery (MU) (1-2+3)

16745.89 15147.40 31893.29

5 Total Power Purchase Cost (Rs. Crore) 7335.47 6248.74 13584.21

6 Discom to Discom sales/adjustment (Rs. Crore) -199.87 199.87

7 Net Power Purchase cost (Rs. Crore) (5+6) 7135.60 6448.61 13584.21

8 PGCIL Charges (Rs. Crore) 628.99 535.80 1164.79

9 Total Power Purchase Cost (Rs. Crore) (7+8) 7764.59 6984.41 14749.00

10 Average Power Purchase Rate (Rs./kWh) (9/4)*10 4.64 4.61 4.62

Table 7.11: Allocation of power purchase cost

SI. No.

Voltage Level (kV)

Energy Sale (MUs)

Energy Sales+ Technical loss + Comml. loss

(MUs)

Voltage-wise Power

Purchase Cost (Rs. Crore)

Cost of Power per unit sale

of Energy (Rs./kWh)

1 2 3 4 5 6= (5÷3)

1 220/132kV 1578.52 1645.00 760.73 4.82

2 33 kV 1493.48 1621.23 749.73 5.02

3 11 kV 1148.72 1312.61 607.01 5.28

4 LT 22278.65 27314.55 12631.53 5.67

Total 26499.37 31893.39 14749.00 5.57

Network Cost

The network costs approved by the Commission for FY 2020-21 are as given in table

7.12 below:

Table 7.12: Network Cost approved for FY 2020-21 (Rs. Crore)

Sl. No. Particulars NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

1 Employee expenses 366.71 475.25 841.96

2 R&M expenses 195.40 209.16 404.56

3 A&G expenses 151.06 136.71 287.77

4 Holding company expenses 18.66 20.16 38.82

5 Depreciation 180.77 204.77 385.54

6 Interest on loan 301.09 266.39 567.48


8 Return on equity 221.90 238.25 460.15

9 Interest on SD 23.40 35.00 58.40


11 Total (1 to 10) 1542.61 1666.70 3209.31



Sl. No. Particulars NBPDCL SBPDCL Total

12 BSPTCL Transmission cost 870.90

13 SLDC Charges 7.55

14 BGCL Transmission Cost 460.20

Total cost (11 to 14) 4547.96

Hon’ble APTEL in its order has indicted the method for allocation of network costs

at different voltage levels as under:

“ ………… all other cost such as Return on Equity , interest on loan , interest

on working capital and O&M costs can be pooled and apportioned equitably, on

pro- rata basis to all the voltage level to determine the cost of supply”.

In the public hearing also, the stakeholders especially M/s Bihar Industries

Association emphasised the need for allocating the network cost among various

voltage level consumers depending on their usage instead of loading equally to

EHT, HT, LT consumers, since the lower voltage level consumers also use the

upstream voltage network.

The Commission has apportioned the network cost of Rs.4547.96 Crore arrived in

the above table among the consumers of various voltage level i.e., 220/132 kV, 33

kV, 11 kV and LT levels, equitably on pro-rata basis as detailed below:

Table 7.13: Allocation of Network cost

SI. No. Voltage Level (kV)

Energy Sales (MUs)

Energy sales + technical loss + commercial loss

(MUs)

Voltage-wise Network

cost (Rs. Crore)

Network cost per unit of energy sale (Rs./kWh)

A B C D E F=E/C

1 220/132 KV 1578.52 1645.00 234.58 1.49

2 33 KV 1493.48 1621.23 231.19 1.55

3 11 KV 1148.72 1312.61 187.18 1.63

4 0.4 KV 22278.65 27314.55 3895.02 1.75

Total 26499.37 31893.39 4547.96 1.72

Cost of supply at different voltage levels

Based on the power purchase cost and network cost as above, the cost of supply

at different voltage levels is arrived at as table 7.14 below:

Table 7.14: Cost of supply at different voltage levels approved for FY 2020-21 for Discoms

SI. No.

Supply voltage Cost of Power Purchase

(Rs./unit)

Network cost

(Rs./unit)

Cost of supply

(Rs./unit)

1 2 3 4 5=(3+4)



SI. No.

Supply voltage Cost of Power Purchase

(Rs./unit)

Network cost

(Rs./unit)

Cost of supply

(Rs./unit)

1 220/132 kV 4.82 1.49 6.31

2 33 kV 5.02 1.55 6.57

3 11 kV 5.28 1.63 6.91

4 LT 5.67 1.75 7.42

Total 5.57 1.72 7.28

The Commission is of the view that in the absence of actual data of voltage-wise

technical losses as well as voltage-wise network costs, the voltage- wise cost of

supply worked out based on above methodology as suggested by Hon’ble APTEL

will not be a true reflection of actual voltage-wise cost of supply. There is a need to

work out the voltage-wise cost of supply in a more scientific manner, considering

the actual data of voltage-wise technical loss levels derived from field studies and

in accordance with the methodology suggested by the Commission in the BERC

(Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018

The Commission reiterates its earlier directive to the DISCOMs to undertake a

detailed study to estimate the technical loss levels at each voltage level and

compute the voltage-wise cost of supply for FY 2021-22 and include the same in

next tariff petition, keeping in view the methodology suggested in BERC (Multi Year




8. Tariff Principles, Design and Tariff Schedule

8.1 Introduction

The Commission in determining the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for

FY 2020-21 and the retail supply tariff for FY 2020-21 has been guided by the

provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003 (Act), National Electricity Policy 2005, revised

Tariff Policy 2016 (TP), BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018 and

Regulations on Terms and Conditions for Determination of Tariff issued by the

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

Section 61 of the Act lays down the broad principles, which shall guide

determination of retail tariff. As per these principles, the tariff should progressively

reflect cost of supply and also reduce cross subsidies. The Act also lays special

emphasis on safeguarding consumer interests and also requires that the costs

should be recovered in a reasonable manner. The Act mandates that tariff

determination should be guided by the factors, which encourage competition,

efficiency, economical use of resources, good performance and optimum

investment.

The National Electricity Policy (NEP) aims at increased access to electricity, supply

of reliable and quality power at reasonable rates, minimum life line consumption,

financial turnaround and commercial viability of electricity sector and protection of

consumers’ interest.

The revised Tariff Policy (TP) dated 28th January 2016 notified by the Government of

India provides comprehensive guidelines for determination of tariff and revenue

requirement of power utilities. The Tariff Policy mandates that tariff should be

within ±20% of the average cost of supply. The Commission has endeavoured to

follow these guidelines as far as possible.

The Commission has computed the average cost of supply on the basis of the

annual revenue requirement and the energy sales approved by the Commission for

FY 2020-21. The Commission has also determined the voltage-wise cost of supply,

as per the guidelines provided by APTEL. The Commission has also considered the

suggestions during State Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting and comments of

stakeholders at large while determining the tariffs.



8.2 Simplification of Tariff Structure


The Discoms have submitted that they have followed the key guiding principles

given below for proposing the tariff structure and tariffs, which would be applicable

for financial year FY 2020-21.

1. Merging or elimination of category /sub-category has been done based

on relevance, whether the categorization is still valid in the current scenario;

2. Ensure that each major tariff category has a maximum of 4 energy slabs to

maintain simplicity of structure;

3. Introduction of two part tariff for all metered consumer categories;

4. Undertaking an action plan with target timelines for phasing out of

unmetered consumers and therefore of the unmetered tariff sub-

categories, through large targeted metering drives over the next twelve to

eighteen months

5. Preserving kVAh based billing for all consumer categories wherever feasible.

The Discoms have further submitted that based on the above principles, the

following key changes have been proposed in the tariff structure and schedule for

the ensuing year.

1. DS-II : The applicability of tariffs under the DS-II sub-category (Urban

Domestic), would be as notified by the Department of Urban Development,

Govt. of Bihar from time to time.

2. NDS-II:-This is applicable for Non-domestic premises situated in urban areas

notified by the Department of Urban Development, Govt. of Bihar from time

to time.

3. All other areas, excluding the ones falling under the Urban category, would

fall under the Rural category.

4. Kutir Jyoti tariff would be applicable for all huts (Kutir) and dwelling houses of

rural and urban families below the poverty line (BPL), as per the list /

notification published by Rural Development Department, Govt. of Bihar from

time to time.


The Commission noted that the above changes in Tariff Structure were already



proposed by the Discoms in their last year’s petitions and the Commission has also

accepted certain proposals and implemented in the Tariff Order dated 25.02.2019.

However, based on the detailed deliberations and consensus in SAC meeting held on

06.02.2020 the following changes are approved in this Tariff Order:-

(1) Meter Rent:

The Commission has observed that the Discoms have been submitting their

CAPEX Year on Year where in the meters cost has also been part of the CAPEX.

The Commission considers that once CAPEX including meters cost is approved

the expenses allowed towards such CAPEX is part of ARR and consequently the

approved tariff includes share of such metering Capex. Hence, the cost of meter

is fully recovered through approved tariff and there should not be further

charging of meter rent separately. Allowing meter rent to be recovered

separately tantamount to recovery of double the cost of meters. Therefore, the

Commission decides to abolish the Meter Rent.

(2) Un-metered sub category in Kutir Jyoti (KJ) and Domestic – Rural (DS-I):

The Commission has been constantly directing the Discoms to complete 100%

metering of consumers so that un-metered categories can be removed. The

Commission has already removed un-metered categories of NDS-I and IAS-II in

the Tariff Order dated 21.03.2018 retaining only four (4) un-metered categories –

Kutir Jyoti (KJ), Domestic Rural (DS-I), Irrigation and Agriculture un-metered

services (IAS-I) and Street Lights un-metered services (SS) for another one year

i.e.FY 2019-20 and on the undertaking on affidavit dated 24.01.2019 by both the

Discoms that 100% metering in aforesaid four un-metered categories shall be

completed by March 2020. However, they have requested to retain these un-

metered categories till March 2021 citing the reasons that installation of pre-paid

meters is in progress and these categories have been planned to be installed with

pre-paid smart meters. The Commission does not find the reasons justifiable and

is not inclined to give any more time. Therefore, the Commission decides to

remove un-metered sub-category in Kutir Jyoti (KJ) and Domestic (Rural) (DS-I)

categories. However, the Commission, keeping in view the scattered and

remotely located, connections is inclined to continue un-metered sub-categories

in IAS-I (Private Tube wells) and SS (Unmetered) categories till FY 2020-21.



Discoms are directed to install meters in these two un-metered categories till

31.03.2021.

(3) Demand Based Tariff:

At present the fixed charges for DS-I and NDS-I categories are billed based on

their sanctioned load and these category of consumers are subject to

inspection/re-rating of their connected loads. Further, fixed charges are levied on

the full connected / sanctioned load. The Commission is of the view that all the

connected loads are not being used simultaneously and these category of

consumers are unnecessarily paying more fixed charges than their actual use.

Therefore, the Commission decides to introduce demand based tariff to DS-I and

NDS-I categories for whom the installed meters are compatible to record the

actual demand. DS-I and NDS-I category consumers will be allowed to revise

their sanctioned load / contract demand based on their actual usage by applying

to the concerned Discom officials.

Similarly for IAS-II (Government Tube Wells) category, the Commission approves

the demand based tariff. The rates in terms of HP and kWH will be converted

into appropriate KVA and kVAh in accordance with the formulae give below:

Fixed Charge in KVA = (Fixed charge in HP/0.746)*0.90

Energy Charge in kVAh = Energy charge in kWH*0.90

Where, 0.746 is conversion factor to convert HP into kW and 0.90 is an average

power factor.

kVAh energy charge in place of kWH energy charge is introduced so that the

consumers’ will make endeavour to maintain higher power factor which not only

reduces their consumption charges but also improves the system power factor.

(4) Billing Demand:

Billing demand is the maximum demand recorded during the month or 85% of

the contract demand whichever is higher is the present provision. The contracted

demand/sanctioned load is generally higher than the maximum demand

recorded by the meter during its running condition especially for domestic and

commercial establishments. With present provision of minimum billing of 85% of

the sanctioned load/contract demand, any consumer having less than 6 kw load



cannot avail benefit of such provision. Therefore, the Commission decides to

implement the billing demand at 75% of the contract demand or actual recorded

demand whichever is higher from FY 2021-22 for all the consumers covered

under the demand based billing.

(5) Recovery of full Fixed Charges:

According to Clause 5.1 of BERC (Fixation of Charges for Supply of Electricity by

Distribution Company) Regulations 2018, the licensee shall be entitled to recover

fixed charges in full only if supply of power is maintained as per scheduled supply

hours as approved by the Commission in tariff order from time to time. The

Commission is of the considered view that recovery of fixed charges may be

linked with the availability of supply recorded by the meters installed in the

consumer's premises. The Discoms have stated that the supply in rural areas is

around 21 hours and in urban areas it is more than 22 hours. Therefore, the

Commission considers that the demand charges shall be recovered in full only if

the supply of power duly recorded by a consumer meter (except street lights,

Agriculture and all unmetered categories of consumers) is maintained for atleast

21 hours / day during the billing month. In any month if the supply of power is

less than 21 hours / day, then the demand charge for that month shall be levied

on pro-rata basis.

(6) Additional Demand Charges

At present, consumers covered under demand based tariff, upon over drawl in

excess of 10% of contracted demand, is penalized only for additional demand

and not for the corresponding over-drawl of energy. However, the Discoms are

levied deviation and additional deviation charges on the over-drawl of scheduled

energy. Such deviation charges imposed upon the Discoms are more than that

presently be charged to the consumers for additional demand charge and such

loss is socialized and spread on all the consumers which does not seem

justifiable. Hence, the Commission decides to levy penal charge for use of load

beyond contracted demand on the pro-rata additional energy consumption also

in addition to levy of additional demand charge. It is also proposed to limit the

over-drawl limit to 105% of contract demand against existing 110%



(7) Time of day tariff

Time of day tariff is mandatory to all HT consumers at present. Energy charge is

85% of normal rate when power is used in off peak period i.e. 11.00 PM to 5.00

AM next day. There is a lot of scope for LTIS-I, LTIS-II and PWW consumers to shift

usage of power to off peak hours, especially from peak hours (where charges are

at 120% of normal rate) and to save electricity consumption charges. This will be

beneficial to the industries which operate more than one shift and PWW where

the higher capacity motors can run for more no.of hours in non peak hours. This

will shift the peak demand of Discoms to off peak to some extent and thus the

load curve of the system will be more flat.

Therefore, the Commission introduces ‘Time of Day Tariff’ optional for LTIS-I, LTIS-

II and PWW consumers from FY 2020-21

(8) Minimum contract demand to avail supply at 33 kV

The minimum contract demand limit to avail supply at 33 kV level is reduced

from the existing 1000 KVA to 500 KVA in accordance with Bihar Electricity

Supply Code 2007 (6th amendment) notified on 14th March 2020.

The consumers had also demanded the same during the hearings as well as

during the SAC meeting held on 06.02.2020. This will also help in reduction of

distribution loss as higher the voltage, lower is the losses.

8.3 Terms and conditions of LT and HT Tariff


Discoms have proposed the following changes in Terms and Conditions of LT Supply

and HT Supply

LT Supply

Proposed Existing

1. Delay Payment Surcharge (DPS) In case a consumer does not pay energy bills in full within 10 days grace period after due date specified in the bill, a delayed payment surcharge of one and half (1.5) percent per month or part thereof on the outstanding principle amount of bill will be levied from the originaldue date for payment until the payment is made in furll without prejudice to

1. Delay Payment Surcharge (DPS) In case a consumer does not pay energy bills in full within 10 days grace period after due date specified in the bill, a delay payment surcharge of one and one fourth (1.25) percent per month or part thereof on the outstanding principle amount of bill will be levied from the due date of for payment until the payment is made in full without prejudice to right of the



right of the licensee to disconnect the supply in accordance with Section 56 of the Electricity Act 2003. The licensee shall clearly indicate in the bill itself the total amount, including DPS, payable for different dates after the due date after allowing for the grace period of 10 days. No DPS shall be charged on DPS arrear.

licensee to disconnect the supply in accordance with Section 56 of the Electricity Act 2003. The licensee shall clearly indicate in the bill itself the total amount, including DPS, payable for different dates after the due date after allowing for the grace period of 10 days. No DPS shall be charged on DPS arrer. The bill shall indicate the energy charges for the month, arrears of energy charges and DPS separately.

2. Contract Demand for billing under Domestic Tariff ( Para 9.2.9)

For computation of the connected load of a domestic consumer either load of coolers/ fans or room heaters whichever is higher shall be considered. For the premises having Air conditioner (without heater) and that of geysers, the computation of connected load shall be as per the provision of Bihar Electricity Supply Code, 2007.

The contract demand of those consumers for the monthly billing purpose in the premises who have opted for demand based tariff, the recorded demand or the contract demand, whichever is higher, shall be considered.

Subject to the minimum load of 1 kW, the fraction of the load below 500 W shall be rounded to its nearest lower level of whole number and 500 W and above shall be rounded to its nearest higher level of whole number, as specified in the Bihar Electricity Supply Code, 2007.

In case of demand based tariff verification of connected load is not required.

2. Demand based Tariff (Sl. No. 1)

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 85% of the contract demand whichever is higher (minimum demand shall be taken as 1 kW except for NDS-II where separate 0.5 kW cap is there and SS-unmetered). If in any month the recorded maximum demand of the consumer exceeds 110% of the contract demand, that portion of the demand in excess of the contract demand shall be billed at twice the normal rate.

3 Advance Payment This Clause has been deleted by the petitioner.

3 Advance Payment

If the consumer makes advance payment against his future bills he shall be allowed interest at 6% per annum. Such amount of interest shall be adjusted in subsequent monthly regular electricity bills on reducing balance, provided that the minimum amount of advance payment shall not be less than Rs.2000 (Rupees Two Thousand)

HT Supply

Proposed Existing

1. Delay Payment Surcharge (DPS) In case a consumer does not pay energy bills in full within 10 days grace period after due date specified in the bill, a

1. Delay Payment Surcharge (DPS) In case a consumer does not pay energy bills in full within 10 days grace period after due date specified in the bill, a delay payment surcharge of one and



delayed payment surcharge of one and half (1.5) percent per month or part thereof on the outstanding principle amount of bill will be levied from the originaldue date for payment until the payment is made in furll without prejudice to right of the licensee to disconnect the supply in accordance with Section 56 of the Electricity Act 2003. The licensee shall clearly indicate in the bill itself the total amount, including DPS, payable for different dates after the due date after allowing for the grace period of 10 days. No DPS shall be charged on DPS arrear.

one fourth (1.25) percent per month or part thereof on the outstanding principle amount of bill will be levied from the due date of for payment until the payment is made in full without prejudice to right of the licensee to disconnect the supply in accordance with Section 56 of the Electricity Act 2003. The licensee shall clearly indicate in the bill itself the total amount, including DPS, payable for different dates after the due date after allowing for the grace period of 10 days. No DPS shall be charged on DPS arrer. The bill shall indicate the energy charges for the month, arrears of energy charges and DPS separately.

2. Exceeding Contract Demand (para 8.3.7)

a) If the actual recorded demand of a consumer exceeds 110% consecutively for three months Licensee may issue a notice and inform the consumer to get additional contract demand sanctioned or to limit their drawal as per their contract. Otherwise Licensee will take action as per provisions of the Act/Rules/Regulations.

b) In case the consumer do not respond to the notice within 30 days of issue of notice, to get additional demand sanctioned or limit their drawal as per the contract, the Distribution Licensee may revise and enhance the contracted demand of the consumer to the extent of highest demand in the past three months of the violation.

2. Exceeding Contract Demand a) For HTS-I, HTS-II,HTS-III, HTS-IV

If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 110% of contract demand, that portion of the demand in excess of contract demand shall be billed twice the normal charges.

b) For HTSS If in any month the recorded maximum demand of the consumer exceeds contract demand, that portion of the demand in excess of contract demand shall be billed charged at twice the normal charges.

3. Advance Payment b) This Clause has been deleted by

the petitioner.

3. Advance Payment a) If the consumer makes advance payment

against his future bills he shall be allowed interest at 6% per annum. Such amount of interest shall be adjusted in subsequent monthly regular electricity bills on reducing balance, provided that the minimum amount of advance payment shall not be less than Rs.2000 (Rupees Two Thousand)

Commission’s view

The Commission has viewed the above proposed changes in Terms and Conditions



of LT and HT supply and observed that the Terms and Conditions already available

in the Tariff order dated 25.02.2019 issued for FY 2020-21 are expressed clearly and

does not need any modifications.

Apart from above proposal the petitioner has proposed procedure for

determination of security deposit from HT Consumers procedure for billing in case

where meter is burnt/ defective/damaged and charges to Tatkal Connections. The

Commission has not considered the proposal as the procedure for billing in case

where meter is burnt/ defective/damaged is already there in Bihar Electricity

Supply Code, 2007 as amended from time to time (The Code). Further, for

determination of Security Deposit the Petitioner shall file a separate petition

in accordance with Clause 7.15 (2) of the Code for both LT and HT consumers

which will be considered by the Commission.

8.4 Recovery of Fixed charges


The fixed costs include the establishment and network costs, as well as the fixed

costs payable to the Generators, irrespective of whether the power is drawn from

them or not. The variable cost is the energy cost paid to Generators for supply of

energy. On the one hand, the cost structure of the two Discoms is heavily tilted

towards fixed charges, on the other hand the recovery of revenue through the

existing tariff approved by the Commission is tilted more towards energy tariffs.

Due to this skewed nature of tariff recovery, the Discoms have limited revenue

assurance and therefore they face uncertainty.

Commission’s view

The Commission has notified BERC (Fixation of Charges for Supply of Electricity by

Distribution Licensee) Regulation, 2018 wherein it has been specified that fixed or

Demand charges are the expenses incurred on up-gradation and up-keeping of the

network.

Accordingly, the Commission has arrived at the fixed costs while determining the

ARR and tariff for FY 2020-21.

8.5 Miscellaneous and General charges


The Discoms have not proposed changes in Miscellaneous and General charges



except for monthly meter rent to be recovered from the consumer.

Commission’s view

As detailed in earlier paragraph 8.2 of this chapter, the Commission has abolished

the Meter Rent and no other changes are made in the Miscellaneous and General

charges except deletion of meter rent.

8.6 Revenue gap/(Surplus) for FY 2020-21

NBPDCL and SBPDCL, in their tariff petitions for FY 2020-21, have projected the

total revenue gap of Rs.1312 Crore and Rs.808 Crore respectively totalling Rs.2120

Crore which also includes the revenue gaps claimed for FY2018-19 along with

carrying cost. NBPDCL has proposed to recover Rs.221 Crore through tariff hike and

Rs.1091 Crore to be treated as Regulatory Asset. Similarly SBPDCL has proposed to

recover Rs.288 Crore through tariff hike and Rs.520 Crore to be treated as

Regulatory Asset. The Discoms have proposed an uniform tariff rate across whole

State of Bihar. They have not proposed any changes in the existing energy charges

and requested additional cost to be allowed through changes in fixed charges.

However, on detailed scrutiny and prudence check of the annual revenue

requirement filed by the Discoms, the Commission has arrived at a revenue

surplus of Rs.386.50 Crore (Rs.91.50 Crore revenue surplus for NBPDCL and

Rs.295.01 Crore revenue surplus for SBPDCL) for FY 2020-21 on a standalone basis.

The Commission has also considered trued up revenue gap of FY 2018-19 with

carrying cost Rs.143.44 Crore (Rs.30.95 Crore revenue gap for NBPDCL and

Rs.112.49 Crore revenue gap for SBPDCL) resulting in to a net surplus of Rs.243.07

Crore (Rs.60.55 Crore revenue surplus for NBPDCL and Rs.182.52 Crore revenue

surplus for SBPDCL) for FY 2020-21.

The Commission has been approving same retail supply tariff for Discoms (NBPDCL

and SBPDCL) in order to have uniform tariff for same category of consumers in the

State of Bihar. Keeping the fixed/demand charges at the same existing tariff level,

the Commission decides to reduce the energy charge rates by 10 paise/unit of kWH

or kVAh across all the consumer categories for FY 2020-21.

After the tariff revision the consolidated revenue surplus of Rs.18.10 Crore

(Rs.27.92 Crore revenue Gap for NBPDCL and Rs.46.02 Crore revenue Surplus for

SBPDCL) is arrived at based on estimates/projections of the Discoms. It has been



the experience of the Commission that the financial performance of the Discoms

may vary with the actuals reported in the audited accounts.

A table showing approved tariff retail rates of electricity for FY 2020-21 is placed

at the end of this paragraph.

Section 65 of the Electricity Act 2003 stipulates that if the State Govt. wishes to give

subsidy to any consumer or class of consumers, it shall pay such subsidy amount in

advance.

Regulation 35 of the BERC (Multi Year Distribution Tariff) Regulations, 2018 has

following provisions for subsidy:-

“(a) The Commission shall determine the ARR and Tariff without considering

subsidy. Provided that if the State Government declares subsidy for the

categories of consumers after notification of Tariff Order, the licensee shall

incorporate the same in the tariff and intimate the Commission with the revised

Tariff Schedule that shall be charged if the subsidy is received in advance:

Provided further that in case the State Government declares subsidy in advance or

during tariff filing proceedings and the licensee incorporates the subsidy in the

petition, the Commission shall notify two tariff schedules, one with subsidy and the

other without subsidy:

Provided also that the Government’s subsidy provided for or declared shall be

supported by documentary evidence of time schedule of payment, mode of

the payment of the subsidy and categorization of the subsidy amount into

subsidized consumer categories:”

The Petitioners (Discoms) have not indicated any resource gap assistance or Tariff

subsidy in the ARR of their tariff petitions for FY 2020-21. Consequently, the

Commission has determined the ARR without taking into consideration the State

resource gap assistance or Tariff subsidy to consumers.



Approved Retail Tariff for NBPDCL and SBPDCL for FY 2020-21

SI No.

Category/Subcategory of Consumers

Approved Tariff for NBPDCL and SBPDCL area for FY 2020-21

Fixed charge Energy Charge Unit slabs

A LOW TENSION SUPPLY

1 Domestic

1.1 Kutir Jyoti (Metered) (BPL) Rs.10/Month/Connection Rs.6.05/unit 0-50 units

As per DS-I or DS-II Above 50 units

1.2 DS-I Rural (Metered) (Demand based)

Rs. 20/kW or part/month

Rs.6.05/Unit 0-50

Rs.6.30/Unit 51-100

Rs.6.60/Unit 101-200

Rs. 6.95/Unit Above 200

1.3 DS-II (Demand based)

Rs.40/kW or part/month

Rs.6.05/Unit 1-100

Rs.6.85/Unit 101-200

Rs.7.70/Unit 201-300

Rs.8.50/Unit Above 300

1.4 DS-III (Demand based upto 74 kW)

Rs.40/kW or part/month Rs.7.40/Unit All Units

2 Non Domestic

2.1 NDS-I Rural (Metered) (Demand based)


Rs.6.30/Unit 1-100

Rs.6.85/Unit 101-200


NDS-II (Demand based)

2.2 NDS-II Contract load upto 0.5 kW

Rs. 100/month/connection Rs.6.30/Unit All Units

2.3 NDS-II Contract demand above 0.5 kW and upto 70kW


Rs.6.30/Unit 1-100

Rs.6.85/Unit 101-200


3 Irrigation and Agriculture Services (Connected load based)

3.1 IAS-I (Unmetered) Rs.800/HP or part/month 0

3.2 IAS-I (Metered) Rs. 30/HP or part/month Rs.5.50/Unit All Units

3.3 IAS-II (Metered) (Demand based)

Rs. 240/kVA or part/month Rs.5.90/Unit All Units

4 Low Tension Industrial (Demand Based, kVAH)

4.1 LTIS-I Rs.144/kVA or part/month Rs.6.40/kVAh All Units

4.2 LTIS-II Rs 180/kVA or part/month Rs.6.40/kVAh All Units

5 Public Water Works

5.1 PWW (Demand based, kVAh)

Rs 315/kVA or part/month Rs.7.95/kVAh All Units

5.2 Har Ghar Nal (Connected load based)

Rs 40/HP or part thereof/month

Rs.6.65/Unit All Units

6 Street Light Services

6.1 SS-Metered (Connected load based)

Rs 50/kW or part/month Rs.7.40/Unit All Units

6.2 SS-Unmetered Rs 375/100W or part/month 0

B HIGH TENSION SUPPLY

1 HTS-I Rs.300/kVA/Month Rs.6.55/kVAh All Units

2 HTS-II Rs.300/kVA/Month Rs.6.50/kVAh All Units

3 HTS-III Rs.300/kVA/Month Rs.6.45/kVAh All Units

4 HTS-IV Rs.300/kVA/Month Rs.6.40/kVAh All Units



SI No.

Category/Subcategory of Consumers

Approved Tariff for NBPDCL and SBPDCL area for FY 2020-21

Fixed charge Energy Charge Unit slabs

5 HTSS (33kV) Rs.700/kVA/Month Rs.4.05/kVAh All Units

6 Railway Traction (RTS) Rs.280/kVA/Month Rs.6.70/kVAh All Units

8.7 Tariff Schedule

The approved Tariff Schedule which shall be effective from 1st April 2019 is given in

APPENDIX - I.

Part A- Tariff Schedule for Low Tension

Part B- Tariff Schedule for High Tension

Part C- Miscellaneous and General Charges



Appendix – I

TARIFF SCHEDULE FOR

RETAIL TARIFF RATES AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SUPPLY FOR FY 2020-21 (Effective from 1st April, 2020)

PART - A: LOW TENSION SUPPLY

System of supply: Low Tension – Alternating Current, 50 cycles per second

Single Phase supply at 230 Volts

Three Phase supply at 400 Volts

The tariffs are applicable for supply of electricity to L.T consumers with a connected /

contracted demand up to 70 kW for domestic, non-domestic and Street Light Category, up

to 74 kW for industrial (LTIS) and for public water works (PWW) category and up to 100 HP

for irrigation category under single or three phase supply as detailed below:

Single Phase supply up to 7 kW

Three Phase supply 5 kW and above.

Consumers having load between 5 kW and 7 kW have the option to take

single phase or three phase supply.

LT Industrial and Agriculture load up to 5 kW have option to avail supply at

single phase or three phase

Category of Service and TARIFF RATES

1.0 DOMESTIC

Service Applicability

This tariff is applicable for supply of electricity for domestic purposes such as lights,

fans, televisions, heaters, air-conditioners, washing machines, air-coolers, geysers,

refrigerators, ovens, mixers and other domestic appliances including motor pumps

for lifting water for domestic purposes. This is also applicable to the common

facilities in the multistoried, purely residential apartments, buildings. This Tariff also

includes Kutir Jyoti connections in rural and urban areas.

1.1 Kutir Jyoti / BPL Connections (KJ/BPL) – Rural / Urban

This will be applicable to all dwelling houses of rural and urban families below the

poverty line (BPL) as per the list/notification published by Rural Development



Department, Government of Bihar from time to time.

i. The total connected load of Kutir Jyoti connection in a rural and urban area

should not exceed 250 watts and maximum consumption of 50 units per month

shall be allowed under this category.

ii. Use of LED / CFL both in rural areas and urban areas should be encouraged.

iii. In case it is detected that the connected load exceeds the norms prescribed in

para (i) above, the excess units consumed shall be billed at the tariff rates

applicable to DS – I and DS- II category as the case may be.

1.2 Domestic Service – I (DS – I Rural)

This is applicable to domestic premises in rural areas (i.e. areas not covered by areas

indicated under DS-II). If any portion of the premises is used for other than domestic

purpose, a separate connection shall be taken for that portion and NDS-I tariff

schedule shall be applicable for that service.

1.3 Domestic Service – II (DS – II Urban)

This is applicable for domestic premises in urban areas notified by Department of

Urban Development, Government of Bihar from time to time. If any portion of the

premises is used for other than domestic purposes, a separate connection shall be

taken for that portion and NDS-II tariff schedule shall be applicable for that service.

1.4 Domestic Service – III (DS-III Group Connection) (Optional)

This is applicable for group residential consumers willing to avail supply at single

point for the purpose of use of electricity in residential townships, registered

societies, multi-storied residential complex (including lifts, water pumps and

common lighting within the premises). The maximum allowable contract demand

shall be 74KW. If any portion of the premises is used for other than domestic

purposes, a separate connection shall be taken for that portion and NDS-II tariff

schedule shall be applicable for that service.



TARIFF RATES

1.0 Domestic Service

1.1 Kutir Jyoti - BPL Consumers (Connected load based)

Sl. No Category of consumer Fixed charge

(Rs.) Energy charge (Paisa/ Unit.)

(i) K.J. - (Consumption up to 50 units per month)

1 Metered

Rs.10 / connection / per

month

First 50 units at 605 Ps/ unit

Remaining units, rate as per DS-I (Metered) or DS-II as applicable.

The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by the

consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any month if

the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that month shall be

levied on pro-rata basis.

1.2 DS – I: (Demand based)



1 Metered Rs.20 / kW or part thereof per month

First 50 units 605

51-100 units 630 101-200 units 660

Above 200 units 695

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kWH shall be billed at twice the normal charges. The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

1.3 DS – II (Demand based)

Sl. No Category of consumer Fixed charge (Rs.) Energy charges

Consumption in a month (Units)

Rate (Paisa/unit)

1 Metered (Contract

demand up to 70 kW)

Rs.40 / kW or part thereof per month

1-100 units 101-200 units 201-300 units

Above 300 units

605 685 770 850

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kWH shall be billed at twice the normal charges.



The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

1.4 DS – III (Demand based) (Optional)

Sl. No Category of consumer Fixed charge (Rs.) Energy charges


Rate (Paisa/unit)

1 Metered (Contract

demand up to 74 kW) Rs.40 / kW or part thereof per month

All units 740



2.0 NON-DOMESTIC SERVICE (NDS)

Applicability

This is applicable for supply of electrical energy for non-domestic consumers having

sanctioned/contracted load up to 70 kW, using electrical energy for light, fan and

power loads for non-domestic purposes like shops, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics,

dispensaries, restaurants, hotels, clubs, guest houses, marriage houses, public halls,

show rooms, centrally air-conditioning units, offices, commercial establishments,

cinemas, X-ray plants, non-government schools, colleges, libraries and research

institutes, boarding/lodging houses, libraries, railway stations, fuel/oil stations,

service stations, All India Radio/T.V. installations, printing presses, commercial trusts,

societies, banks, theatres, circus, coaching institutes, common facilities in

multistoried commercial office/buildings, Government and semi–government

offices, public museums, Government educational institutions, their hostels and

libraries, Government hospitals and government research institutions and non–

profitable government aided educational institutions their hostels and libraries, non-

profitable recognized charitable cum public institutions, places of worship like

temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches etc. and burial/crematorium grounds, glow



signboards, banners and hoardings for advertisement and other installations not

covered under any other tariff schedule.

2.1 Non-Domestic Service (NDS – I) Rural (Demand based)

Applicable to non-domestic premises in rural areas i.e. areas not covered by areas

indicated under NDS-II.



1 Metered Rs.30 /kW or part thereof per month

1-100 units 630

101-200 units 685

Above 200 units 740

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kWH shall be billed at twice the normal charges. The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

2.2 Non - Domestic Service – NDS – II (Demand based)

Applicable to contracted load up to 70 kW in urban areas notified by Department of

Urban Development, Government of Bihar from time to time. This tariff shall also be

applicable to places of worship like temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches etc.

burial/crematorium grounds, hoardings/glow sign boards/advertising boards.

Sl. No.

Category of Consumer

Fixed charge (Rs.)

Energy charges


Rate Ps/unit

1. Metered Contract load up to 0.5 kW

Rs.100/ month/connection

All Units 630

2 Metered Contract demand above 0.5 kW and up to 70 kW

Rs. 180/kW or part thereof per month

1-100 Units 101-200 units Above 200 Units

630 685 740





3.0 IRRIGATION and AGRICULTURE SERVICE (IAS)

This is applicable for supply of electrical energy for bonafide use for agricultural

purposes including processing of Agricultural Produce, confined to chaff-cutter,

thrasher, cane crusher and rice Huller when operated by the agriculturist in the field

or farm. This is also applicable to hatcheries, poultries (with more than 1000 birds)

and fisheries (fish ponds).

3.1 IAS – I (Connected load based)

This is applicable for all purposes indicated above including private tube wells of load

upto 100 HP.

Tariff Rates



1 Unmetered Rs.800 / HP or part thereof / month

X

2 Metered Rs.30 / HP or part thereof / month

All units 550

Note: There will be no un-metered connections for Hatcheries, poultries and fisheries. They will necessarily have to be metered connections.

3.2 IAS – II (Demand based)

This is applicable to state tube wells/ state lift irrigation pumps / state irrigation

pumps up to 74 kW 100 HP.


(Rs./kVA) Energy charge (Paisa/ kVAh.)

1 Metered Rs.240 / kVA or part thereof / month

All units (kVAh)

590

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kVAh shall be billed at twice the normal charges.

4.0 LOW TENSION INDUSTRIAL SERVICE (LTIS)

This is applicable for supply of electricity to low tension industrial consumers with

connected load /contract demand up to 99 HP or 74 kW, which includes incidental



lighting for industrial processing or agro – industries purposes, arc welding sets, flour

mills, oil mills, rice mills, dal mills, atta chakki, Huller, expellers etc.

4.1 LTIS – I (Demand based)

All those consumers opting for LTIS-I category with contract demand upto 19 KW

shall be required to pay at the rates indicated below:

Sl. No Category of consumer

Demand charge (Rs./kVA)

Energy charges Paise / kVAh

1 Metered Contract demand upto 19 KW

Rs. 144/kVA or part thereof per month.

All units (kVAh) 640

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kVAh shall be billed at twice the normal charges. The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

4.2 LTIS –II (Demand based)

All those consumers under LTS-II category with 3 phase supply and with contract

demand above 19kW and up to 74kW shall be required to pay at the rates indicated

below:




1

Metered Contract demand above 19 kW and upto 74KW

Rs. 180/kVA or part thereof per month.

All units (kVAh) 640

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kVAh shall be billed at twice the normal charges. The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.



5.0 PUBLIC WATER WORKS Applicability

This is applicable to public water works, sewerage treatment plant and sewerage

pumping stations functioning under state government and state government

undertakings and local bodies.

5.1 PWW (Demand Based)




1 Metered Contract demand upto 74 kW

Rs. 315/kVA or part thereof per month. All units (kVAh) 795

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of the contract demand whichever is higher.

If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kVA shall be billed at twice the normal charges.


5.2 Har Ghar Nal (Connected Load based)



1 Metered Rs.40 / HP or part thereof / month

All units 665


6.0 STREET LIGHT SERVICES (SS)

This is applicable for supply of electricity for street light system including signal

system. Also applicable for Traffic Lights, Mast lights/Blinkers etc.

6.1 SS Metered Supply (Connected load based)



1 Metered Rs. 50/kW or part thereof / month

All units 740

6.2 SS Unmetered Supply



1 Unmetered Rs.375 /100W or part thereof / month

X



TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LOW TENSION TARIFF

The above tariffs are subject to the following conditions:

1. Demand based Tariff

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of

the contract demand whichever is higher (minimum demand shall be taken as 1kW except

for NDS-II where separate 0.5kW cap is there and SS-unmetered). If in any month the

recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in

excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such

enhanced demand measured in kWH or kVAh, as the case may be, shall be billed at twice

the normal charges.

Example: If a consumer having contract demand 100 kVA draws 125 kVA and 10000 kVAh in

any month then his enhanced demand 25 kVA shall be charged at twice the normal rate of

demand charge and the incremental energy (10000/125)*25=2000 kVAh shall also be

charged at twice the normal rate of energy charge.

2. Recovery of full Fixed / Demand Charge


consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In any

month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for that

month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

This shall not be applicable to Street light, Agriculture as well as un-metered tariff categories

of consumers.

3. Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA)

In addition to the above tariff Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA)

charges as applicable will be charged extra.

4. Rebate for prompt payment

The due date for making payment of energy bills or other charges shall be 15 days from the

date of issue of the bill. Rebate of 1.5% on the billed amount for timely payment of the bills

for all the consumers served in LT category shall be allowed.

In case a consumer makes full payment after due date but within 10 days after the due date,

no DPS shall be levied for this period and rebate for prompt payment will not be admissible.

5. Rebate for online payment

To motivate the consumers to make online payment of the bills through online web portal a

rebate of 1% of the billed amount in addition to rebate @ 1.5% shall be allowed. However,



online payment rebate shall be applicable if the consumer makes full payment of the bill

within due date.

6. Accounting of Partial Payment

All payment made by consumers in full or part shall be adjusted in the following

order of priority:

a. Statutory taxes and duties on current consumption

b. Arrear of Statutory taxes and duties

c. Delayed payment surcharge

d. Balance of arrears

e. Balance of current bill

7. Delayed Payment Surcharge (DPS)

In case a consumer does not pay energy bills in full within 10 days grace period after

due date specified in the bill, a delayed payment surcharge of one and one-forth

(1.25) percent per month or part thereof on the outstanding principal amount of bill

will be levied from the due date for payment until the payment is made in full

without prejudice to right of the licensee to disconnect the supply in accordance

with Section 56 of the Electricity Act, 2003. The licensee shall clearly indicate in the

bill itself the total amount, including DPS, payable for different dates after the due

date after allowing for the grace period of 10 days. No DPS shall be charged on DPS

arrear. The bill shall indicate the energy charges for the month, arrears of energy

charges and DPS separately.

8. Duties and Taxes

Other statutory levies like electricity duty or any other taxes, duties etc., imposed by

the State Government / Central Government or any other competent authority, shall

be extra and shall not be part of the tariff as determined under this order.

9. Shunt Capacitor Installation and Rebate/surcharge for deviating from norm of

Power Factor.

Any LT consumer except Domestic category and categories having kVAh based billing

in whose case, the meter installed has power factor recording feature and who fails

to maintain monthly average power factor of 90% shall pay/avail a surcharge/rebate

in addition to his normal tariff at the following rates:



Power factor surcharge

(i) For each fall of 0.01 in power factor upto 0.80

One percent on demand and energy charge (Actual Recorded)

(ii) For each fall of 0.01 in power factor below 0.80

1.5 (one and half) percent on demand and energy charge (Actual Recorded)

Power factor Rebate

(i) For each increase of 0.01 in power factor above 0.90 upto 0.95

0.5 (half) percent on demand and energy charge (Actual Recorded)

(ii) For each increase of 0.01 in power factor above 0.95

1.0 (one) percent on demand and energy charges. (Actual Recorded)

10. Advance Payment:

If a consumer makes advance payment against his future bills he shall be allowed for

interest @ 6 % per annum. Such amount of interest shall be adjusted in subsequent

monthly regular electricity bills on reducing balance, provided that the minimum

amount of advance payment shall not be less than Rs.2000 (Rupees Two thousand).

Notwithstanding anything contained above, pre-paid metered consumers shall also

be allowed for interest @ 6 % per annum.

11. Time of Day tariff (ToD) (Optional)

Consumers under LTIS-I, LTIS-II and PWW shall have the option to take TOD tariff

instead of the normal tariff given in the Schedule.

Under the Time of Day (ToD) Tariff, electricity consumption and maximum

demand in respect of LTIS-I and PWW consumers for different periods of the

day, i.e. normal period, peak load period and off-peak load period, shall be

recorded by installing a ToD meter. The maximum demand and consumption

recorded in different periods shall be billed at the following rates on the tariff

applicable to the consumer.

Time of Use Demand Charges

Energy Charges

(i) Normal period (5.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m)

Normal Rate Normal rate of energy charges

(ii) Evening peak load period (5.00 p.m to 11.00 p.m)

Normal Rate 120% of normal rate of energy charges

(iii) off peak load period (11.00 p.m to 5.00 a.m)

Normal Rate 85% normal rate of energy charges



12. Electric Vehicles (EVs) :

Consumers may also charge Electric Vehicles (EVs) from their existing electric

connection and the respective category tariff would be applicable for the electricity

consumed for charging of the EVs.



PART – B: HIGH TENSION SUPPLY

7.1 HTS – I (11 kV)

Applicable for supply of electricity for use in installations with a minimum contract

demand of 50 kVA and maximum contract demand of 1500 kVA.

Character of service: AC, 50 cycles, 3 phase at 11 kV.

TARIFF RATES

Demand charge

Rs./ kVA / Month of billing demand

Energy charges

(Paise / kVAh)

300 All units - 655


the contract demand whichever is higher.

If in any month the recorded maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the

enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy

corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kWh or kVAh, as the case may be,

shall be billed at twice the normal charges.

The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by

the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In

any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for

that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

7.2 HTS – II (33 kV)

This is applicable for use in installations with a minimum contract demand of 500

kVA and maximum contract demand of 15,000 kVA.


TARIFF RATES

Demand charge Rs./ kVA / Month of billing demand

Energy charges (Paise / kVAh)

300 All units – 650 The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or 75% of






The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded by

the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing month. In

any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the demand charge for

that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.



7.3 HTS – III (132 kV)

This is applicable for installations with a minimum contract demand of 7.5MVA.

Character of service: AC, 50 cycles, 3 phase at 132 kV

TARIFF RATES

Demand charge


Energy charges

(Paise / kVAh)

300 All units – 645











7.4 HTS-IV (220 kV)

This is applicable for installation with a minimum contract demand of 10MVA.


TARIFF RATES

Demand charge


Energy charges

(Paise / kVAh)












7.5 HTSS – (33 kV/11 kV)

This is applicable for supply of electricity to all consumers who have contract

demand of 300 kVA and more for induction furnace including Ferro Alloy loads. This

tariff will not apply to casting units having induction furnace of melting capacity of

500 Kg and below.



The capacity of induction furnace shall be 600 kVA per metric ton as existing for

determining the contract demand of induction furnace in the existing HTSS service

connections. However, for new connection and if the furnace is replaced with a new

one for the existing connections, the contract demand shall be based on total

capacity of the furnace and equipment as per manufacturer technical specifications,

and in case of difference of opinion, the provisions of clause Nos. 6.39 and 6.4 0 of

the Bihar Electricity Supply Code shall apply.

Those consumers who are having rolling/re-rolling mill in the same premises will

take additional contract demand for the rolling/re-rolling mill over and above the

contract demand required for induction furnace. The consumer will have the option

to segregate the rolling/re-rolling mill and take separate new connection following

all prescribed formalities with a separate transformer. This new connection, if taken

by the consumer will be allowed to be billed in appropriate tariff schedule. Such

rolling/re-rolling mill will be allowed to avail power at 33 kV.

Character of service: AC, 50 cycles, 3 phase at 33 kV or 11kV.

TARIFF RATES

Demand charge


Energy charges

(Paise / kVAh)


The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or the

contract demand whichever is higher.

If in any month the recorded maximum demand of the consumer exceeds contract

demand, the enhanced demand in excess of the contract demand and the incremental

energy corresponding to such enhanced demand measured in kWh or kVAh, as the case

may be, shall be billed at twice the normal charges.





If the power is availed at 11 kV a surcharge of five (5) % will be charged extra on demand and energy charges.



7.6 RTS (Railway Traction)

Applicable to Railway Traction loads only.

Tariff rates at 132 kV

Demand charge Rs. / kVA / Month of billing demand

Energy charges (Paise / kVAh)


i. 13 Ps/kVAh of rebate shall be provided for availing supply at voltages higher than

132 kV.

ii. 13 Ps/kVAh of surcharge shall be billed for availing supply at lower voltages than

132 kV.

iii. The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or

85% of the contract demand whichever is higher.



TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF HT TARIFF

The above tariffs are subject to the following conditions:

1. Demand based Tariff

The billing demand shall be the maximum demand recorded during the month or

75% of the contract demand whichever is higher. If in any month the recorded

maximum demand exceeds 105% of contract demand, the enhanced demand in

excess of the contract demand and the incremental energy corresponding to such

enhanced demand measured in kWH or kVAh, as the case may be, shall be billed

at twice the normal charges.

Example: If a consumer having contract demand 100 kVA draws 125 kVA and 10000

kVAh in any month then his enhanced demand 25 kVA shall be charged at twice the

normal rate of demand charge and the incremental energy (10000/125)*25=2000

kVAh shall also be charged at twice the normal rate of energy charge.

2. Recovery of full Fixed/Demand Charge

The demand charges shall be recovered in full only if supply of power duly recorded

by the consumer meter is maintained for atleast 21 hours/day during the billing

month. In any month if the supply of power is less than 21 hours/day, then the

demand charge for that month shall be levied on pro-rata basis.

3. Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA)

In addition to the above tariff Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA)

charges as applicable will be charged extra.

4. Rebate for prompt payment

The due date for making payment of energy bills or other charges shall be 15 days from the

date of issue of the bill. Rebate of 1.5% on the billed amount for timely payment of the bills

for all the consumers served in LT category shall be allowed.

In case a consumer makes full payment after due date but within 10 days after the due date,

no DPS shall be levied for this period and rebate for prompt payment will not be admissible.

5. Rebate for online payment

To motivate the consumers to make online payment of the bills through online web

portal a rebate of 1% of the billed amount in addition to rebate @ 1.5% shall be

allowed. However, online payment rebate shall be applicable if the consumer makes

full payment of the bill within due date.



6. Accounting of Partial payment

All payment made by consumers in full or part shall be adjusted in the following

order of priority:

a) Statutory taxes and duties on current consumption

b) Arrear of Statutory taxes and duties

c) Delayed payment surcharge

d) Balance of arrears

e) Balance of current bill

7. Delayed Payment Surcharge (DPS)

In case, consumer does not pay energy bills in full within 10 days grace period after

due date specified in the bill, a delayed payment surcharge of one and one-fourth

(1.25) percent per month or part thereof on the outstanding principal amount of bill

will be levied form the original due date for payment until the payment is made in

full without prejudice to right of the licensee to disconnect the supply in accordance

with Section 56 of the Electricity Act, 2003. The licensee shall clearly indicate in the

bill itself the total amount, including DPS, payable for different dates after the due

date after allowing for the grace period of 10 days. No DPS shall be charged on DPS

arrear.

8. Duties and Taxes

Statutory levies like electricity duty or any other taxes, duties etc., imposed by the

State Government / Central Government or any other competitive authority, shall be

extra and shall not form part of the tariff as determined under this order.

9. Contract Demand for Induction Furnaces

The prevailing practice will continue for determining the contract demand of

induction furnaces in the existing services connections. However, for new

connections and where the furnaces are replaced in existing connections, contract

demand shall be based on the total capacity of the furnace and equipment as per

manufacturer technical specifications and in case of difference of opinion, the

provisions of clause No.6.39 and 6.40 of Bihar Electricity Supply Code shall apply.

10. Advance Payment:

If a consumer makes advance payment against his future bills he shall be allowed for

interest @ 6 % per annum. Such amount of interest shall be adjusted in subsequent



monthly regular electricity bills on reducing balance, provided that the minimum

amount of advance payment shall not be less than Rs.2000 (Two thousand).

Notwithstanding anything contained above, pre-paid metered consumers shall be

allowed for interest @ 6 % per annum.

11. Time of Day tariff (ToD)

ToD tariff shall be mandatory for all HT consumers. Under the Time of Day (ToD)

Tariff, electricity consumption and maximum demand in respect of HT consumers for

different periods of the day, i.e. normal period, peak load period and off-peak load

period, shall be recorded by installing a ToD meter. The maximum demand and

consumption recorded in different periods shall be billed at the following rates on

the tariff applicable to the consumer.

Time of Use Demand Charges Energy Charges (i) Normal period (5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m)

Normal Rate Normal rate of energy charges

(ii) Evening peak load period (5:00 p.m to 11.00 p.m)


(iii) Off-peak load period (11:00 p.m to 5:00 a.m)


12. Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Consumers may also charge Electric Vehicles (EVs) from their existing electric

connection and the respective category tariff would be applicable for the electricity

consumed for charging of the EVs



TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TEMPORARY SUPPLY (LT and HT)

1. Applicability

This tariff is for connection of temporary in nature for period of less than one year.

The applicability shall be as given in the respective category tariff rate schedule.

Temporary supply cannot be claimed by a prospective consumer as a matter of right

but will normally be arranged by the Licensee when a requisition is made giving due

notice subject to technical feasibility and in accordance with electricity supply code

issued by the Commission.

2. Tariff

Fixed charge and energy charge shall be chargeable at one and one-fourth (1/4)

times the normal tariff as applicable to the corresponding appropriate tariff

category.

3. Terms of Supply

a) Temporary supply under any category of service may be given for a period not

exceeding 30 days in the first instance, the duration of which, however may be

extended on month-to-month basis subject to maximum of one year.

b) In addition to the charges mentioned above, the consumer shall have to deposit

the following charges before commencement of the temporary supply:

i. Estimated cost of erection of temporary service line and dismantling.

ii. Cost of irretrievable materials which cannot be taken back to service.

iii. Miscellaneous and General charges as per appropriate tariff schedule.

iv. Rental on the cost of materials as per estimate framed but not payable by the

consumer shall be payable at the rate of Rs.15/- per month on every Rs.100/-

or part thereof.

v. Ten per cent on the total cost of the estimate for the temporary service

connection to cover as security for loss of materials and contingencies. In

case such loss is not noticed, the amount will be refunded.

c) The applicants for temporary supply shall be required to make a deposit in

advance of the cost as detailed above including the energy consumption charges

estimated for full period on the basis of connected load. This will however, be



adjusted against the final bill that will be rendered on disconnection of supply

month to month basis.

d) If the consumer intends to extend the temporary supply beyond the period

originally applied for, he will have to deposit in advance all charges as detailed

above including the estimated electricity consumption charges, for the period to

be extended and final bill for the previous period, as well.

e) The temporary supply shall continue as such and be governed by the terms and

conditions specified above until the supply is terminated or converted into permanent

supply at the written request of the consumer. The supply will be governed by the terms

and conditions of permanent supply only after the consumer has duly completed all the

formalities like execution of agreement, deposit of security money, cost of service

connection and full settlement of the account in respect of the temporary supply etc.



TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SEASONAL SUPPLY (LT and HT)

1. Seasonal supply shall be given to any consumer on written request to the Licensee

subject to the following conditions.

Period of Supply Tariff Rate

Upto 3 consecutive months in a year Appropriate tariff plus 30 percent More than 3 consecutive months and upto 6 consecutive months in a year

Appropriate tariff plus 20 percent

More than 6 consecutive months and upto 9 consecutive months in a year

Appropriate tariff plus 15 percent

More than 9 consecutive months but less than one year

Appropriate tariff plus 5 percent.

2. Miscellaneous and General charges as provided in the appropriate tariff are

applicable to seasonal loads and would be charged extra for the entire period of

supply.

3. The supply would be disconnected after the end of the period unless the consumer

wants the supply to be continued. Any reconnection charges have to be borne by

the consumer.

4. Consumer proposing to avail seasonal supply shall sign an agreement with the

Licensee to avail power supply for a minimum period as specified in Bihar Electricity

Supply Code, 2007 amended from time to time.

5. The consumers must avail supply in terms of whole calendar month continuously.

6. The consumer is required to apply for seasonal supply and pay initial cost and

security deposit as an applicant for normal electricity supply.

7. The consumer shall ensure payment of monthly energy bills within 7 days of its

receipt. The supply will be disconnected if payment is not made on due date.



PART – C: MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL CHARGES

10 Miscellaneous and General Charges

The Miscellaneous and General charges approved by the Commission are as below:

10.1 Application fee for new connection / reduction of load / enhancement of load / request for permanent disconnection / request for tatkal connection:

Sl. No. Category / class Rate

(i) Kutir Jyoti Rs.20.00 (ii) LT Single phase except Kutir Jyoti Rs. 75.00 (iii) LT Three phase Rs. 200.00 (iv) LT Industrial Rs. 300.00 (v) HT Connection Rs. 750.00 (vi) For tatkal connection Two (2) times the normal rate

10.2 Testing / Inspection of consumer’s Installation: Sl. No. Category / class Rate

(i) Initial Test / Inspection Free of cost (ii) Subsequent test and inspection

necessitated by fault in installation or by not complying with terms and conditions of supply

Rs. 100.00 for single phase connection Rs. 200.00 for three phase LT connection Rs.800.00 for HT connection.

10.3 Meter Testing Fee:

The meter testing fee at the following rates shall be charged from the consumers

opting to provide their own meters

Sl. No.

Category /Class Rate

(i) Single Phase meter (L.T.) Rs. 100.00 (ii) Three Phase meter (L.T.) Rs. 200.00 (iii) Three Phase meter with CT Rs. 300.00 (iv) Tri-vector and special type meter Rs. 1800.00 (v) 33 kV or 11 kV metering equipment Rs. 5000.00 (vi) 132 kV/220 kV metering equipment Rs. 8000.00

Note: 1) No meter testing fee shall be charged from the consumers if the meter has been

provided by the licensee. 2) If the meter is tested at third party testing laboratory at the request of the

consumer then the fees charged by the testing laboratory shall be payable by the consumer.

10.4 Removing / Re-fixing / Changing of Meter / Meter Licensee at consumer’s request:

Sl. No. Category / class Rate Cost of material, as required, will be borne by the consumer

(i) Single Phase meter Rs. 200.00 (ii) Three Phase meter Rs. 400.00 (iii) Three Phase meter with CT Rs. 500.00 (iv) Tri-vector and special type meter Rs. 600.00 (v) High tension metering equipment Rs. 1200.00



10.5 Reconnection charge:

Sl. No. Category/class Rate

(i) Single Phase supply, LT Rs. 100.00

(ii) Three Phase supply other than LT industrial Rs. 200.00

(iii) Three Phase LT industrial supply Rs. 900.00

(iv) HT supply Rs. 3000.00

10.6 Supervision, Labour and Establishment charge for service connection:

Sl. No. Category/class Rate

(i) Single Phase LT Rs. 400.00

(ii) Three Phase LT other than industrial Rs. 900.00

(iii) Three Phase industrial Rs. 1500.00

(iv) HT As per approved estimate

(v) For tatkal connection Two (2) times the normal rate

10.7 Duties and Taxes

Statutory levies like GST or any other taxes, duties etc., imposed by the State

Government / Central Government or any other competent authority, shall be extra

and shall not be part of the tariff as determined under this order.

10.8 Initial Security Deposit

All Consumers except BPL (Kutir Jyoti) and Central / State Government departments

shall pay initial security in accordance with provisions under Bihar Electricity supply

Code 2007 as amended from time.

10.9 Other Terms and Conditions:

The other terms and conditions of supply of electricity not specially provided in this

tariff order shall continue to be regulated by the provisions specified in the Bihar

Electricity Supply Code 2007 as amended time to time.



9. Wheeling and Open Access Charges

9.1 Introduction

The Commission has been computing the wheeling and open access charges for

both the Discoms combinedly in its earlier Tariff Orders, since the Retail Tariffs

are common/uniform to all the consumers across the State of Bihar. The

Commission, accordingly, has determined the Wheeling and Open Access charges

for both the Discoms combinedly for FY 2020-21 and in accordance with the BERC

(Terms and Conditions of Intra-State Open Access) Regulation, 2018 dated

13.07.2018.

9.2 Wheeling Charges


The Discoms have submitted that till date complete segregation of accounts

between Wheeling and Retail Supply function has not yet taken place. Thus, ARR

proposals for Wheeling and Retail Supply function is submitted on the basis of an

allocation statement prepared by the Discoms based on their best judgement and

in line with the approach followed by the Commission in its previous Tariff Orders.

The Discoms have submitted that in the instant petition, they have considered the

following allocation for calculating/segregating its wire and retail supply business

and the total costs (net ARR) of both the Discoms are segregated into wire business

and retail supply business.

Table 9.1: Segregation of Wires and Retail Supply Costs

Sl. No

Particulars

% Bihar Rs Crores

Wires Supply

Retail Supply

Total

Wires Supply

Retail Supply

Total

1 Net Power Purchase Cost incl. Transmission & Treatment of Surplus Power

0% 100% 100% -

16,919

16,919

2 Employee Cost 60% % 100% 453 302 755

3 R&M 90% 10% 100% 390 43 433

4 A&G 50% 50% 100% 182 182 363

5 Holding Company Expenses 60% 40% 100% 27 18 45

6 Interest on Loan 90% 10% 100% 720 80 799

7 Other Interest & Finance Charges

10% 90% 100% 11 99 110

8 Depreciation 90% 10% 100% 409 45 454

9 Interest on Working Capital 10% 90% 100% 4 37 41



Sl. No

Particulars

% Bihar Rs Crores

Wires Supply

Retail Supply

Total

Wires Supply

Retail Supply

Total

10 ROE 90% 10% 100% 518 58 575

11 Interest on Security Deposit 0% 100% 100% - 58 58

13 Efficiency Gain 0% 100% 100% - - -

14 Contingency Reserve 100% 0% 100% - - -

15 Gross ARR 2,713 17,841 20,553

16 Less: NTI 10% 90% 100% 179 1,610 1,789

17 Net ARR 2,534 16,231 18,765

It is further submitted that the wheeling charges have been computed on the basis

of total projected costs of their distribution wire business and the total energy

expected to be wheeled through their distribution network. The average per unit

wheeling charge for 33 KV level is calculated as shown in the table below:

Table 9.2: Wheeling Charges at 33 kV Projected by Discoms

Sl. No Particulars Unit FY 2020-21 1 Energy input into 33 kV system MU 32023 2 Total distribution cost Rs. Cr 2534

3 Distribution cost for 33 kV voltage levels (assuming 50% of item 2)

Rs. Cr 1267

4

Wheeling charges for 33 kV voltage level (item 3÷1)

Ps./kWh 40

The wheeling charges calculated by the Discoms cost has been computed for 11 kV

level as shown in the table as below:

Table 9.3: Wheeling charges at 11 kV Projected by Discoms

SI. No.

Particulars Unit FY 2020-21

1 Energy input into 33 kV system MU 32023 2 Losses in 33 kV (5%) % 1500

3 Energy sales in 33 kV system as approved by the Commission

MU 1601

4 Energy input into 11 kV system [1-(2+3)] MU 28921 5 Total distribution cost Rs. Cr 2534


Rs. Cr 1267

7 Wheeling charges for 11 kV voltage level (item 6÷4) Ps/kWh 44


The net distribution ARR for FY 2020-21 for both the Distribution licensees as

approved in Chapter 6 is Rs.18528.14 Crore (Rs.8795.29 Crore for NBPDCL and

Rs.9732.84 Crore for SBPDCL). The distribution ARR approved is segregated into

wires business and retail supply business in the percentages given below:



Table 9.4: Allocation matrix for segregation of expenses between Distribution Wire Business and Retail Supply Business

Sl.

No. Particulars Wire

Business Retail

Supply

1 Power purchase expenses -- 100% 2 Employee expenses 60% 40% 3 Administration and General expenses 50% 50% 4 Repair and Maintenance expenses 90% 10% 5 Holding Company expenses 60% 40% 6 Depreciation 90% 10% 7 Interest on loans 90% 10% 8 Other finance charges 10% 90% 9 Interest on Security Deposit -- 100%

10 Interest on working capital 10% 90% 11 Contribution to RPO fund -- 100% 12 Return on equity 90% 10% 13 Contingency Reserve 100% -- 14 Interest during construction 90% 10% 15 Income Tax 0 100%

16 Non-tariff income 10% 90%

The Discoms have considered 100% contingency Reserve under Retail Supply.

The Commission opines that the contingency reserve is created generally to meet

the contingent expenses towards restoration of damaged distribution network

caused by calamities. Accordingly, the Commission has considered 100%

contingency Reserve in wire Business so that any unexpected damages caused by

calamities can be met from this fund with the prior approval of Commission.

The total costs (net ARR) are segregated into wire business and retail supply

business as per the above matrix as given below:

Table 9.5: Segregation of Wires and Retail supply costs

SI. No.

Particulars Wire

business %

Retail supply

business %

Total Cost

(SB+NB)

Wire cost (Rs.Crore)

Retail supply

(Rs. Crore)

Purchase of power (1 to 6) 100% 16131.86 16131.86

1 Purchase of power 100% 13584.21 0.00 13584.21

2 PGCIL & Other transmission charges 100% 1164.79 0.00 1164.79

3 BSPTCL Transmission charges 100% 870.90 0.00 870.90

4 BGCL Transmission charges 100% 460.20 0.00 460.20 5 SLDC charges 100% 7.55 0.00 7.55

6 RE purchases 100% 44.21 0.00 44.21

7 Employee cost 60% 40% 841.96 505.18 336.78

8 R&M Expenses 90% 10% 404.55 364.10 40.46

9 A&G Expenses 50% 50% 287.77 143.89 143.89



SI. No.

Particulars Wire

business %

Retail supply

business %

Total Cost

(SB+NB)

Wire cost (Rs.Crore)

Retail supply

(Rs. Crore)

10 Holding Company expenses allocated 60% 40% 38.82 23.29 15.53

11 Depreciation 90% 10% 385.54 346.99 38.55

12 Interest and finance charges 90% 10% 567.48 510.73 56.75

13 Other finance charges 10% 90% 118.72 11.87 106.84

14 Interest on SD 100% 58.39 0.00 58.39

15 Interest on working capital 10% 90% 45.92 4.59 41.32

16 Contribution to contingency reserve 100% 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00

17 Return on Equity 90% 10% 460.15 414.13 46.01

18 Gross ARR (1 to 17) 19341.15 2324.76 17016.39

19 Less: Non-tariff income 10% 90% 813.02 81.30 731.72

20 Net ARR (18-19) 18528.14 2243.46 16284.67

The wheeling charges have been computed on the basis of total approved costs for

distribution wire business and the total energy expected to be wheeled through

their distribution network. In the absence of segregated data on costs of operation

of 33 kV and 11 kV network, it has been assumed that the two costs are equal.

The wheeling charges worked out for 33 kV voltage level are given in the table

below:

Table 9.6: Wheeling Charges Approved at 33 kV Voltage Level

SI. No. Particulars UoM FY 2020-21

1 Energy input into 33 kV system MU 29529.79

2 Total distribution cost Rs. Crore 2243.46

3 Distribution Cost for 33 KV Voltage Levels (assuming 50% of item 2)

Rs. Crore 1121.73

4 Wheeling charges for 33 kV voltage level (item 3÷1)

Ps./kWh 37.99

The wheeling charges determined for 11 kV voltage level are as given in table

below:

Table 9.7: Wheeling Charges Approved for 11 kV Voltage Level

SI.No. Details UoM FY 2020-21

1 Energy input into 33 KV system MU 29529.79

2 Energy sales in 33 kV system as approved by the Commission

MU 1493.48

3 Losses in 33 kV (4.0% on item 1) MU 1181.19

4 Energy input into 11 kV system [1-(2+3)] MU 26855.12

5 Total distribution cost Rs. Crore 2243.46


Rs. Crore 1121.73

7 Wheeling charges for 11 kV voltage level (item 6÷4)

Ps./kWh 41.77



The Commission approves wheeling charges at 38 paisa/kWh for 33 kV voltage

level and at 42 paisa/kWh for 11 kV voltage level for the FY 2020-21.

9.3 Open Access Charges

The Commission opines that the HT consumers should be provided a facilitative

open access framework for procurement of power from sources other than that

available within the State. For Open access to become a feasible option for HT

consumers open access charges should be rational so that the cost of delivered

power (from sources other than within the State) is comparable to retail tariff.

Pursuant to Section 39, 40 and 42 and all other enabling provisions of the

Electricity Act, 2003, the Commission notified the “Terms and Conditions for open

access” Regulations on 20th May, 2006 and through these regulations introduced

open access in phases in Bihar consumers having a contract demand of 1 MW and

above are made eligible for open access in transmission and distribution system.

The Commission repealing the aforesaid regulations, has notified new regulations

namely BERC (Terms and Conditions of Intra-State Open Access) Regulations, 2018.

The consumer who seeks open access in accordance with these regulations will

have to pay transmission charges, wheeling charges, cross subsidy surcharge,

additional surcharge, reactive energy charges, standby charge and SLDC charges.

The applicability of these charges to any open access consumer shall be as

provided in the regulations for open access. However, no transmission charges are

payable in case of open access transaction of renewable energy generated from

solar and wind sources of energy.

9.4 Transmission Charges

The Commission has approved Rs.1331.10 Crore (Rs.870.90 Crore for BSPTCL and

Rs.460.20 Crore for BGCL) towards transmission charges for FY 2020-21 in

respective Tariff Order dated 20.03.2020

a) Transmission Charges for Long/Medium Term Open Access

Monthly transmission charges leviable for Long/Medium Term open access

customer shall be computed as per the following formula:

Monthly Transmission charges=ATC/SAC x 12

Where,



ATC = Annual Transmission Charges determined by the Commission for the State

Transmission Systems in Rs. Crore

SAC = Sum of Contracted Capacities of Power to the State in MW

Regulation 19 (2) (a) of BERC (Terms and conditions of intra state open access)

Regulations 2018 specify that open access customer using transmission system

shall pay transmission charges on the basis of contracted capacity.

The Commission has noted that there is no Transmission Supply Agreement (TSA)

between BSPTCL and the Discoms (NBPDCL and SBPDCL). Therefore, the details of

contracted capacity by Discoms with BSPTCL could not be ascertained. However,

BSPTCL in its petition has submitted that total maximum projected load of NBPDCL

and SBPDCL is 5916 MW and maximum load of Railways is considered at 100 MW

based on their contracted capacity totalling to 6016 MW. Accordingly, the

Commission has considered the same for determination of transmission charges

applicable to Long/Medium term Open Access consumers as below:-

Total maximum load of the transmission system users for FY 2020-21 = 6016 MW

Monthly Transmission charges = 1331.10 x 107/(6016 x 12)=Rs.184383/MW/Month

Thus, the Transmission Charges shall be Rs.184383/MW/Month for long/medium

term open access consumers. In addition to above transmission charges,

transmission losses of 3.00% shall be reduced in kind from the energy input in to

the state transmission system.

b) Transmission Charges for Short Term Open Access

According to the BERC (Terms and Conditions of Intra-State Open Access)

Regulations 2018, the transmission charges payable for short term open access

customers are determined in terms of Rs/MWh.

Transmission charges payable by Short Term open access customer shall be

computed as per the following formula:

Transmission charges = ATC/(PLST x 8760) (in Rs./MWh)

Where,

ATC = Annual Transmission charges determined by the Commission for the State Transmission system for the year in Rs. Crore



PLST = Peak load projected to be served by the State Transmission system

BSPTCL in its tariff petition for FY 2020-21 submitted that the projected maximum

peak load for FY 2020-21 is 6016 MW which is considered for computation of

transmission charges. Maximum load of NBPDCL and SBPDCL is considered at

5916 MW and maximum load of Railways is considered at 100 MW based on

contracted capacity.

Therefore, the Commission considers the peak load at 6016 MW for FY 2020-21 for

computation of short-term open access charges.

Therefore, short term open access transmission charges = 1331.10 x 107/(6016 x

8760) = Rs.253/MWh

The Transmission charges for Short Term Open Access shall be payable on the basis

of the energy actually scheduled for short term transactions.

9.5 Transmission and Wheeling Charges for Open Access Customers

The Open access charges shall be paid as per the table given below if the

injection and drawl points of the open access customer are at different voltage

levels.

Table 9.8: Open Access Charges

Drawl/ Injection

Transmission (220/132 kV)

33 KV

11 KV

Transmission (220/132 kV)

Transmission Charges plus transmission losses @ 3.00% shall be payable

Transmission charges plus wheeling charges of 33 kV shall be payable. Losses of both transmission and 33 kV network shall be payable (Cumulative loss @ 6.88%)

Transmission Charges plus wheeling charges of 33 and 11 kV network shall be payable. The losses of transmission, 33 and 11 kV network shall be payable (Cumulative loss @11.54%)

33 kV Transmission charges plus wheeling charges of 33 kV shall be payable. Losses of both transmission and 33 kV network shall be payable (Cumulative loss @ 6.88%)

Wheeling charges of 33

kV plus losses of 33 kV

network (Loss @ 4.0%) shall be payable.

Wheeling Charges of 33 and 11 kV network shall be payable. Losses for 33 and 11 kV shall also be payable (Cumulative loss @8.80%)

11 kV

Transmission Charges plus

wheeling charges of 33

and 11 kV network shall be

payable. The losses of

transmission, 33 and 11 kV

network shall be payable

(Cumulative loss @ 11.54%)

Wheeling Charges of 33

and 11 kV network shall

be payable. Losses for 33

and 11 kV shall also be

payable (Cumulative loss

@8.80%)

Wheeling Charges of 11 kV

plus losses of 11 kV network

(Loss @ 5.00%) shall be payable

mailto:@14.20%25

mailto:@10.70%25

mailto:@10.70%25



9.6 SLDC Charges

Open access consumer shall pay all charges payable to the State Load Despatch

Centre (SLDC), as determined by the Commission under section 32 of the Act and

as per the Regulation 19 (1) of BERC (Terms and Conditions for Open Access)

Regulations, 2018.

The Annual SLDC Operating charges for FY 2020-21 are determined as Rs.7.55

Crore in the SLDC Tariff Order dated 20.03.2020. Considering the energy delivered

into transmission system as 31893.39 MUs, the SLDC charges works out to

0.24 Paise/kWh.

9.7 (A) Cross Subsidy Surcharge


The open access consumers are liable to pay cross subsidy surcharge to

compensate the distribution utility for any loss of revenue due to shifting of its

consumer to the open access system. The cross subsidy surcharge for open access

consumers for the 3rd Control Period is calculated as per the following

recommended formula in the BERC (MYT Distribution Tariff Regulations), 2018.

S = T – [C/(1-L/100) +D+R]

Where, S is the Surcharge T is the Tariff payable by the relevant category of consumers, including

reflecting the Renewable Purchase Obligation.

C is the per unit Weighted average cost of power purchase by the Licensee,

including meeting the Renewable Purchase Obligation.

D is the Aggregate of transmission, distribution and wheeling charge applicable

to the relevant voltage level.

L is the Aggregate of transmission, distribution and commercial losses, expressed

as a percentage applicable to the relevant voltage level.

R is the Per unit cost of carrying regulatory asset.

The Discoms have stated that the revised Tariff Policy suggest that the cross

subsidy shall not increase 20% of applicable tariff to the category of consumers

seeking Open Access. The cross subsidy surcharge for 132 kV, 33 kV, 11 kV and

HTSS category of the consumers are approved by the Commission at 20% of



applicable tariff of the respective category of consumers seeking Open Access. The

cross subsidy surcharge for FY 2020-21 computed by Discoms is as shown below:

Table 9.9: Cross Subsidy Surcharge (Rs)

Sl. No

Voltage Level

Proposed Tariff

Wt.avg. Cost of

PP

Intra-state Transmission

Loss

Transmission Charge

33 kV

11 kV

Value 20% of applicable

tariff

CSS

1 132 kV 8.45 4.87 3.92% 0.75 - - 2.64 1.69 1.69 2 33 kV 9.24 4.87 3.92% 0.75 0.40 - 3.03 1.85 1.85 3 11 kV 9.36 4.87 3.92% 0.75 0.40 0.44 2.71 1.87 1.87 4 HTSS 6.28 4.87 3.92% 0.75 0.40 - 0.06 1.26 0.06


The cross subsidy surcharge determined as per the formula stipulated in tariff

policy is worked out as follows:

1. Weighted average cost of power purchase for both Discoms = Rs.4.62/kWh

Sl. No. Particulars Unit Power Purchase Cost

1 Gross Power purchase MUs 32384.24

2 Less: PGCIL loss MUs 490.85

3 Net power purchase MUs 31893.39 4 Power purchase cost including PGCIL charges (Rs. Crore) 14749.00

5 Average power purchase rate (Rs./kWh) 4.62

2. Calculation of cross subsidy surcharge

S = T–[C/(1-L/100)+D+R] Where, S is the Surcharge T is the Tariff payable by the relevant category of consumers, including

reflecting the Renewable Purchase Obligation. C is the per unit Weighted average cost of power purchase by the Licensee,

including meeting the Renewable Purchase Obligation. D is the Aggregate of transmission, distribution and wheeling charge applicable

to the relevant voltage level. L is the Aggregate of transmission, distribution and commercial losses, expressed

as a percentage applicable to the relevant voltage level. R is the Per unit cost of carrying regulatory asset.

3. (a) for 132 kV consumers

= 8.51–[(4.62/(1-3.00%))+(0.42+0)]= Rs.3.33/kWh

(b) for 33kV consumers

= 9.00–[(4.62/((1-3.00%)x(1-4.00%))+(0.42+0.38+0)]= Rs.3.24/kWh



(c) for 11kV consumers

= 9.12–[(4.62/((1-3.00%)x(1-4.00%)x(1-5.00%))+(0.42+0.38+0.42+0)] = Rs.2.68/kWh

(d) for HTSS consumers

= 6.02–[(4.62/((1-3.00%)x(1-4.00%))+(0.42+0.38+0)]= Rs. 0.26/kWh

The revised Tariff Policy suggest that the cross subsidy shall not increase 20% of

applicable tariff to the category of consumers seeking Open Access. The cross

subsidy surcharge for 132 kV, 33 kV, 11 kV and HTSS category of the consumers are

approved by the Commission at 20% of applicable tariff of the respective category

of consumers seeking Open Access.

To encourage the competition among Distribution Company, the Commission

would like HT consumers to seek power purchase options from sources outside the

State also. The Commission, in order to make the cost of delivered power

comparable with the retail tariff, approves the following cross subsidy surcharge for

FY 2020-21.

1. For 132 kV consumers .................................... Rs.1.70 /kWh 2. For 33 kV consumers (other than HTSS)........... Rs.1.80/kWh 3. For 11 kV consumers (other than HTSS).............Rs.1.82/kWh 4. For HTSS consumers (33 kV & 11 kV) .................Rs.0.26 /kWh

9.8 (B) Roadmap for reduction of cross subsidy surcharge


Section 8.3 (2) of the Tariff Policy 2016 specifies that:

“For achieving the objective that the tariff progressively reflects the cost of supply

of electricity, the Appropriate Commission would notify a roadmap such that tariffs

are brought within ±20% of the average cost of supply. The road map would also

have intermediate milestones, based on the approach of a gradual reduction in

cross subsidy”.

The Tariff Policy provides that SERCs may notify a roadmap such that tariffs are in

±20% of ACoS. The First proviso to para 8.5.1 of Tariff Policy 2016 also specifies

that Cross Subsidy Surcharge (CSS) should be capped at 20% of the tariff applicable

to the category of the consumers. The Petitioner aims at gradual reduction of cross

subsidy surcharge in line with National Tariff policy.




The BERC (Fixation of Charges for Supply of Electricity by Distribution Licensee)

Regulations 2018 reads as under:

3.2 ......The Distribution licensee shall submit the road map in such a way that the

cross subsidy, from the present level is progressively reduced and charges

recoverable from different consumer categories should reflect category wise cost of

supply at the end of next control period i.e. FY 2021-22.

The Commission opines that when the DISCOMs achieves the AT&C loss target as

stipulated, optimize power purchase cost and incur capital expenditure after carrying

out cost benefit analysis, the average cost of supply shall reduced and the tariff

rates will be within the permissible limits of +20% of average cost of supply.

The Discoms are directed to take necessary action accordingly and submit the

roadmap for reduction of cross subsidy in next tariff petitions to be filed.

9.9 Additional Surcharge

The Discoms have not proposed any additional surcharges in their petitions. Hence,

the Commission does not determine additional surcharge in the absence of the

proposal supported with necessary data. The same shall be leviable only if it is

conclusively demonstrated by Discoms that open access will lead to stranding of its

fixed cost. Discoms should indicate the quantum of such stranded cost and the

period over which it would be stranded for determination of additional surcharge.

9.10 Reactive Energy charges


The open access consumers should pay a reactive energy charge to Transmission

and Distribution companies as the case may be for drawal / injection of reactive

energy. The DISCOMs have proposed the same reactive energy charges at 4

paisa/kVAR for FY 2020-21.


The Commission approves the reactive energy charges for FY 2020-21 at 4

paisa/kVAR as proposed by the Discoms for FY 2020-21 at the same level as

approved for FY 2019-20 in Tariff order dated 25.02.2019.



9.11 Standby charges


The Petitioners have submitted that as per Regulation 20.A of BERC open

access regulations;

“In case of outage of a power plant supplying power to an open access customer,

the licensee will, on request, provide standby supply to meet the requirement of

load catered through open access. Such standby supply will be provided by the

licensee at day ahead request from the open access customer. The open access

customer will, for that supply, be liable to pay charges under tariff for temporary

connection to that category of consumer.”

The Discoms have requested to approve the same in line with the regulations.

Commission’s analysis The Commission approves the stand-by charges for drawal of power by open

access customer from distribution licensees in accordance with BERC(Term and

Conditions of Intra-State Open Access) Regulations 2018 as below:

(i) In cases of outages of generator supplying to open access customer

under open access, stand-by arrangements shall be provided by the

distribution licensee for a maximum period of 42 days in a year subject

to the load shedding as is applicable to the embedded consumer of the

licensee at a charge under Temporary connection tariff for the category

of consumer as determined by the Commission from time to time.

(ii) Provided that such charge shall not exceed 125% of the normal tariff for

that category of consumers.

(iii) Provided that in cases where temporary rate of charge is not available for

that consumer category the distribution licensee shall charge 125% of the

normal tariff for the category of consumers.

(iv) Provided also that open access customers would have the option to

arrange stand-by power from any other source.

9.12 Application Fee

All applications for Open access i.e. Short Term, Medium Term and Long term

Open Access shall be made in the prescribed form and submitted to the nodal



Agency along with the application fee as stipulated in the BERC Open Access

Regulations, 2018.

9.13 Other Charges

In addition to the charges mentioned in above paras, the regulatory charges,

congestion charges and any other charges imposed by CERC and/or BERC shall be

payable by the open access customers.

9.14 Information to be put on the website

The Commission directs the Discoms to put all information related to open access

facilities/charges on its web site. The information should include open access

regulations, procedure for obtaining open access and details of all charges

payable by an open access consumer and list of existing open access customers.



10. Directives

10.1 Introduction

The Commission in its previous Tariff Orders including the Tariff Order dated 25th

February, 2019 had issued several directives to the Petitioners viz., SBPDCL and

NBDPCL to improve the operational performance, financial performance and also

to improve the service to the consumers. Commission had been monitoring the

compliance of these directives year after year at the time of annual tariff

determination.

On review of the compliance status of directives submitted by the Discoms, the

Commission observes that a few of the directives have been fully complied with

where as other directives have either been complied with partially or have not

been complied with. Therefore, the non-complied and partially complied directives

issued earlier along with a few new directives of the current Tariff Order are being

dealt with in this chapter in the following paragraphs.

The Discoms are directed to submit the compliance reports on quarterly basis in

the Formats already communicated in the tariff Order dated 21.03.2018.

10.2.1 Directive 1: Performance of Discoms

In response to the directive, the Discoms have submitted the status as on

September, 2019 as per the following Table:

Sl. No.

Subject NBPDCL SBPDCL Commission's observations

1 Revenue Billed 2,969.25 4230.19 Billing efficiency and collection efficiency are not in synchronisation with the tariff leading to increase in AT & loss level

Revenue Collected 2,730.45 3863.06

Billing Efficiency 62.73% 73.00%

Collection Efficiency 91.84% 91.32%

AT & C Losses 42.39% 33.34%

2 Timely Delivery of Bills

No. of Consumers 97,96,884 50,43,620 100% bills are not generated and served to the consumers leading to decrease in billing and collection efficiency and consequently increase in AT & C losses

Bills generated during month(Sept' 19)

64,08,647 39,74,005

Percentage of bills generated

65.42% 78.79%

Bills served to consumers 64,08,647 39,74,005

Percentage of bills served Vs bills generated

100% 100%

3 Release of New Connection

No. of applications pending at the beginning of the year

68,599 15,039 Connections were not released in time leading to financial loss to the Discoms



Sl. No.

Subject NBPDCL SBPDCL Commission's observations

No. of applications received during the half year

4,29,487 19,822

No. of connections realised during the half year

3,13,937 23,273

No. of applications pending at the end of half year

58,858 11,588

4 Pilferage of Electricity

No. of inspections done at the beginning of the quarter

19,129 1,328 It seems that inspections are done randomly and without any prior study of consumption profile and tamper events logging of the meters No. of services inspected

during the quarter 20,778 2,104

No. of cases registered 1,049 554

Assessed Amount (Rs. Cr) 365.11 63.01

Amount Collected during the quarter (Rs. Cr)

213.96 27.05

5 Consumer Grievances Redressal

No. of complaints pending at the beginning of quarter

2581 1090 Compliance does not reflect whether such redressals have been done within timeframe given under SOP Regulations No. of complaints received

during the quarter 117992 28174

No. of complaints resolved during the quarter

117687 28950

No. of complaints pending at the end of the quarter

2327 314

6 Separation of Agriculture Feeders

No. of Rural existing feeders

778 483 Report does not reflect whether such separated feeder contains only Agricultural connections Nos programmed for

separation 778 483

Nos so far separated 622 345

Balance to be separated 156 138

7 Rural Electrification

Villages as per 2011 Census 20552 18521 Commission appreciates such achievement Villages electrified upto

sept'2019 20552 18521

Balance NIL NIL


The Commission observes that the billing efficiency and collection efficiency in

both the Discoms are not as per the requirement and accordingly directs the

Discoms to:-

1) Ensure 100% bill generation and service to the consumers

2) Expedite the process of release of new connections such that the pendency

is reduced to the minimum,



3) Inspections be done at targeted consumers based on prior study of their

consumption profile and tamper events.

4) Pay more attention to resolve the consumer grievances through in house

mechanism and CGRF to dispose the same within the stipulated time.

5) Expedite separation of Agricultural feeder connecting all the new and existing

Agricultural consumers on this feeder so as to achieve the benefit of such

separation of Agricultural feeders.

Reiterating the above directives, the Commission directs the Discoms to submit

the quarterly reports on time, duly furnishing the information/data in the

prescribed formats in the tariff order dated 21.03.2018.

10.2.2 Directive 2: Cent Percent Consumer Metering

The Commission had directed the Discoms to expedite providing meters to all the

consumers at the earliest and to take meter readings of all metered consumers on

the due date without fail. In response to the directive, the Discoms have submitted

following reports indicating the status of compliance.

Compliance of NBPDCL: as on September 2019.

Consumer Category

No. of Metered

Consumers

No. of Meter

Reading Taken

No. of Bills generated

No. of bills served to

consumers

% of Bils served as

No. of reading taken

KJ (Metered) 3842611 1320223 1320223 1320208 100%

DS-I (Metered) 3630730 1658649 1658649 1658635 100%

DS-II 1239105 741636 741636 739413 100%

DS-III 30 12 12 12 100%

NDS-I (Metered) 159374 62054 62054 62054 100%

NDS-II (Upto 0.5 KW) 816 816 816 816 100%

NDS-II (Above 0.5 KW) 313665 176147 176147 176147 100%

SS-I 281 48 48 48 100%

SS-II 0 0 0 0 0%

IAS-I (Metered) 52540 15699 15699 15699 100%

IAS-II (Metered) 5821 141 141 141 100%

PWW 1495 228 228 221 97%

Har Ghar Nal 4025 1064 1064 1064 100%

LTIS-I 34420 12967 12967 12938 100%

LTIS-II 754 447 447 431 96%

HTS-I 994 994 994 994 100%

HTS-II 42 42 42 42 100%



Consumer Category

No. of Metered

Consumers

No. of Meter

Reading Taken

No. of Bills generated

No. of bills served to

consumers

% of Bils served as

No. of reading taken

HTS-III 4 4 4 4 100%

HTS-IV 0 0 0 0 0%

HTSS 5 5 5 5 100%

RTS132 10 10 10 10 100%

Grand Total 9286722 3991186 3991186 3988882 100%

Compliance of SBPDCL:

SBPDCL has submitted that there are about 3.5 Lakhs unmetered connections and

they have targeted to complete metering activity by March, 2020, and they shall

accelerate the installation of meters, as the Turnkey Contractor (TKC) of Soubhagya

Scheme has been entrusted with the work of meter installation in the unmetered

consumer premises and also shift meter to door bell location.

Compliance of SBPDCL as on September, 2019

SI. No Category No of Active Consumers

No of meters installed at the

beginning of Qtr

No of meters installed during

the Qtr

No of meters installed at the end of

quarter

% of meters

installed

1 KJY 1,335,858 1,273,255 3,276 1,276,531 96%

2 DS I 1,943,032 1,734,551 18,562 1,753,113 90% 3 DS II 1,216,979 1,206,938 10,040 1,216,978 100%

4 NDS I 66,513 65,299 1,214 66,513 100%

5 NDS II 285,168 283,417 1,751 285,168 100% 6 IAS I 128,722 59,798 3,930 63,728 50%

7 IAS II 3,168 2,993 38 3,031 96% 8 LTIS I 29,863 29,296 567 29,863 100%

9 LTIS II 1,815 1,799 16 1,815 100% 10 PWW 2,451 2,430 21 2,451 100% 11 SS I 607 606 1 607 100%

12 SS II 495 - 272 272 55% 13 HTS I 1,578 1,545 33 1,578 100%

14 HTS II 113 110 3 113 100% 15 HTS III 4 3 1 4 100%

16 HTSS 14 13 1 14 100% 17 RTS 6 6 - 6 100% 18 HGN 1,450 375 1,075 1,450 100%

Total 5,016,386 4,662,059 39,726 4,701,785 94%

Commission’s view

The Commission while noting the compliance submitted by the Discoms with

regard to providing meters to unmetered consumers, observes that they

(DISCOMs) have not adhered to their written assurance filed on Oath to the

Commission in suo-moto proceedings in SMP case 22/2017. The Commission,



based on their affidavit has abolished un-metered tariff category of Kutir Jyoti and

Domestic Rural (DS-I). Therefore they are directed to immediately provide meters

to KJ and DS-I consumers and to the remaining consumers under ISA-I and SS (un-

metered) within Financial Year 2020-21.

10.2.3 Directive 3: Energy Accounting/Audit

The Commission had directed the Discoms to install 100% system metering upto 11

KV level and conduct energy accounting /audit at the end of every month, both for

33/11 KV substation-wise, Division-wise and consolidated circle-wise. DISCOMs

shall send compliance reports regularly. In response to the directive, the Discoms

have submitted the details as on September, 2019 as under:

Compliance of NBPDCL:

NBPDCL has submitted the details of number of 11kV feeders, meters in working

condition and the meters to be provided for replacement as mentioned in the table

below:

Name of the circle

Number of 11 kV feeders

Meters in working condition

Meters to be provided for replacement

Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural

Muzaffarpur 52 140 52 136 0 4

Motihari 47 179 47 173 0 6

Darbhanga 44 225 44 218 0 7

Samastipur 45 174 45 170 0 4

Begusarai 26 93 26 90 0 3

Chapra 56 241 56 238 0 3

Saharsa 43 163 43 155 0 8

Purnea 53 101 53 94 0 7

Kishanganj 27 113 217 109 0 4

Total 393 1429 583 1383 0 46

Compliance of SBPDCL: SBPDCL submitted the details as under:

Name of Circle

No. of 33 KV feeder Meters in working

condition

Meters to be provided or to be

replaced

No. of 33 KV Under construction


PESU (E) 40 35 5 0

PESU (W) 86 80 6 0

Patna 73 62 11 5

Ara 64 61 3 5

Sasaram 75 71 4 2

Bhagalpur 53 41 12 11

Gaya 85 59 26 1



Name of Circle


condition

Meters to be provided or to be

replaced

No. of 33 KV Under construction


Aurangabad 83 59 24 8

Nalanda 101 98 3 3

Munger 33 29 4 3

Jamui 42 39 3 5

Total 735 634 101 43

Name of Circle


condition

Meters to be

provided or to be

replaced

No. of

11 KV

Under

constru

ction Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural

PESU (E) 79 0 79 0 0 0 0

PESU (W) 125 0 124 0 1 0 0

Patna 29 121 29 116 0 5 20

Ara 35 126 35 124 0 2 24

Sasaram 42 187 39 183 3 4 50

Bhagalpur 43 67 38 52 5 15 23

Gaya 48 179 47 152 1 27 24

Aurangabad 20 150 19 139 1 11 32

Nalanda 36 248 36 244 0 4 18

Munger 22 78 17 69 5 9 10

Jamui 16 113 15 100 1 13 16

Total 495 1269 478 1179 17 90 217

SBPDCL has also submitted that they are regularly checking the feeder energy

metering system and evaluates the state. Preventive and corrective maintenance of

feeder metering system for identification of defects leads to following performance

issues:

(a) Preventive maintenance; Random checks of the energy meters for the

predefined sample size across the Discom by MRT.

(b) Corrective maintenance; based on meter data of energy meter issues

impacting its performance along with identification of abnormal energy

accounting parameters.

(c) Module for healthy upkeep of system metering:

Agency appointed for metering of unmetered , defective feeder metering points

Replacement of non-RMR compatible meters

Installation of modems for AMR



All system meters (Existing + New) are to be maintained under Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC)

Buffers stock of meters and metering units are maintained

Engineer In-charge re-inspects the works performed by the agency, as & when required

Agency does GPS based survey of metering points & the same is shared with the Discom

Timelines for defective meter replacement are within 5 working days from the date of reporting

The meters are procured with 5 years of warranty period, with an intent of longer meter lifecycle

Enhanced system reliability by tie up with service providers

Provision for system meter reading via Meter Reading Instrument (MRI) in case of communication failure

Checking/rectification of connection of existing system meters (example laying of control cables from VCB panel to tri-vector meter installed in metering panel, laying of communication cables between existing meter to DCU/modem, etc.)

Proper earthing while installation of metering system for feeder & DT

Software Development for automatic reporting:-

Both the agencies have deployed MDAS system for automatic reading & onward reporting of feeder & DT(town) as per prescribed format by the Commission

Data validation under progress, all systems to be in place by Nov’19

App based monitoring of feeder & DT to be in place by Nov’19

Commission’s view

The Commission notes with pain that despite repeated directions in the earlier

Tariff orders and through ongoing suo-moto proceedings SMP 25/2017 to install

system metering at 11kV level and replacing defective meters for proper

accounting/audit, the DISCOMs have been unable to complete 100% feeder

metering. They are therefore again directed to complete the work expeditiously

and to provide the information as on 31.03.2020 in the prescribed Format by

30.04.2020. The Commission through its suo-motto proceedings will continuously

monitor the progress and the Discoms are directed to send quarterly compliance

reports regularly.

10.2.4 Directive 4 : Consumer Database

The Commission had directed the Discoms to submit the month-wise consumer

data base, showing month-wise, and slab-wise consumption for the consumer

categories where consumption slabs are provided in the Tariff Schedule. In



response to the directive, the Discoms have submitted the details as on September,

2019 as under:


SI. No.

Category of Consumption

No. of Effective

Consumers as on

30.09.2019

Connected load in KW as

on 30.09.2019

Energy sales 01-07-19 to 30-

09.19 (in Kwh)

Electricity Charges billed (in Rs. in

Lakh)01-07-19 to 30-09.19

A Domestic

1 Kutir Jyoti

KJ (Unmetered)

68,538 12,214 7,744,152 476.27

KJ (Metered) - -

First 50 Units 3,842,611 565,511 322,922,194 19,859.71

51-100 Units 41,162,441 2,634.40

101-200 Units 21,519,211 1,441.79 Above 50 Units 29,285,284 2,064.61

Subtotal 3,842,611 565,511 414,889,131 26,000.51

2 DS-I

Unmetered 436,826 442,445 94,709,192 5,824.62

Metered - -

First 50 Units 3,630,730 3,685,859 355,935,630 21,890.04

51-100 Units 89,639,545 5,736.93

101-200 Units 59,785,799 4,005.65

Above 200 Units

47,008,758 3,314.12

Subtotal 3,630,730 3,685,859 552,369,732 34,946.74

3 DS-II (Demand Based)

1-100 U/month 1,239,105 1,503,686 236,496,001 14,544.50

101-200 U/month

96,459,872 6,703.96

201-300 U/month

47,670,481 3,718.30

Above 300 Units

92,179,355 7,927.42

Subtotal 1,239,105 1,503,686 472,805,709 32,894.19

4 DS-III (Demand Based)

30 75 5,638 0.42

B Non- Domestic Services

-

1 NDS-I -

Unmetered -

Metered -

1-100 U/month 158,445 175,518 22,567,114 1,430.98

101-200 U/month

4,338,541 300.50

Above 200 U/month

11,968,979 897.05

Subtotal

158,445 175,518 38,874,634 2,628.53



SI. No.


No. of Effective

Consumers as on

30.09.2019


on 30.09.2019


09.19 (in Kwh)


Lakh)01-07-19 to 30-09.19

2 NDS-II –(Demand Based)

UPTO 0.5 KW 816 472 48,418 3.10

All units - -

Above 0.5 KW 313,665 719,357 - -

1-100 U/month 50,274,695 3,203.60

101-200 U/month

21,780,791 1,509.39

Above 200 U/month

378,071,750 28,339.97

Subtotal 314,481 719,829 450,175,654 33,056.06

C Street Light Services

1 SS-I Metered 281 2,661 702,610 52.69

2 SS-II (Unmetered)

964 16,527 6,827,240 711.40

Subtotal 1,245 19,188 7,529,850 764.08

D IAS

1 IAS-I Unmetered

4,763 10,628 1,769,621 99.10

2 IAS-I Metered 52,540 215,691 18,967,928 1,061.46

3 IAS-II Metered 5,821 37,945 3,000,925 197.63

Subtotal 63,124 264,264 23,738,474 1,358.18 E PWW (Demand

Based)

1 PWW 1,495 18,814 6,913,868 550.36

2 Har Ghar Nal (Demand Base)

4,025 5,603 4,108,597 278.50

Subtotal 5,520 24,417 11,022,465 828.86

F Low tension industrial

1 LTIS-I (Demand Based)

34,420 293,144 54,205,693 3,522.22

2 LTIS-II (Demand Based)

754 30,600 8,028,346 521.39

Subtotal 35,174 323,745 62,234,039 4,043.61

G High tension supply

1 HTS-I 991 203,092 116,779,537 7,848.72

2 HTS-II 42 54,123 35,829,283 2,415.71

3 HTS-III 4 49,670 17,032,818 1,303.81

4 HTS-IV - -

5 HTSS 5 13,687 15,259,364 632.66

Subtotal 1,042 320,572 184,901,002 12,200.90

H Railways

1 RTS (25 KV)

2 RTS (132 KV) 10 81,600 58,943,099 4,030.25

Subtotal

10 81,600 58,943,099 4,030.25



SI. No.


No. of Effective

Consumers as on

30.09.2019


on 30.09.2019


09.19 (in Kwh)


Lakh)01-07-19 to 30-09.19

I Nepal 121,647,678 7,618.06

J Other bilateral sales (Please specify)

Grand Total 9,796,881 8,138,923 2,501,590,448 166,671.28


SI. No.

Category No of

Effective Consumers

Connected Load (kW)

Energy Sales (MUs)

Revenue Billed

(Rs Crores)

1 KJY 1,485,556 189,252 383.2 243.5

a KJ Unmetered 93,716 11,939 11.2 7.9

b KJ Metered

1,391,840 177,313

3.8

c KJ Metered 0-50 Units 228.8 216.5

d KJ Metered >50 - 100 Units 132.9 223.8

e KJ Metered >100 - 200 Units 7.8 151.2

f KJ Metered >200 Units 2.5 97.6

2 DS I 2,189,167 2,264,885 528.5 333.5

a DS I Unmetered 295,249 296,810 56.4 26.7

b DS I Metered

1,893,918 1,968,075

7.1

c DS I Metered 0-50 Units 223.1 137.2

d DS I Metered >50 - 100 Units 158.6 101.5

e DS I Metered >100 - 200 Units 75.8 50.8

f DS I Metered >200 Units 14.5 10.2

3 DS II 1,287,839 3,487,503 981.5 726.9

a DS II Metered

37.7

b 0-100 Units

352.1 216.5

c >101 - 200 Units

322.0 223.8

d >201 - 300 Units

193.9 151.2

e >300 Units

113.5 97.6

4 NDS I 75,804 91,584 61.2 40.7

a 0-100 Units

48.5 31.6

b >101 - 200 Units

7.3 5.1

c >200 Units

5.4 4.1

5 NDS II 306,116 990,457 431.0 351.5

a Upto 0.5 kW 6,547 2,780 2.3 1.6

b Above 0.5 kW 299,569 987,677

42.7

c 0-100 Units

90.9 58.2

d >101 - 200 Units

77.1 53.6

e >200 Units

260.7 195.5

6 IAS I 214,740 619,503 284.5 158.2

a Unmetered 146,971 489,616 141.2 77.2

b Metered 67,769 129,888 143.2 81.1



SI. No.

Category No of

Effective Consumers

Connected Load (kW)

Energy Sales (MUs)

Revenue Billed

(Rs Crores)

7 IAS II 4,612 54,540 13.8 9.8

8 LTIS I 44,950 375,434 107.4 78.8

9 LTIS II 3,425 183,901 57.0 43.7

10 PWW 2,546 37,875 4.6 5.3

11 Har Ghar Nal 1,054 5,852 1.5 1.0

12 SS I 741 2,157 2.2 1.6

13 SS II 561 7,346 1.0 1.2

14 HTS I - 11 kV 1,579 333,702 20.3 40.2

15 HTS II - 33 kV 112 217,509 86.9 75.0

16 HTS III - 132 kV 4 51,500 25.6 21.0

17 HTSS - 11/33 kV 14 132,642 384.1 184.5

18 RTS 3 30,800 27.0 20.5

19 Total 5,618,823 9,076,443 3,401.2 2,337.0

Commission’s view

While examining the compliance submitted by the Discoms it is observed that slab-

wise number of consumers and connected load have not been furnished. The

Commission directs the Discoms to submit the month-wise complete consumer

data base as on 31.03.2020 for the FY 2019-20 along with 1st quarter details of FY

2020-21 on or before 30.06.2020 for review by the Commission.

10.2.5 Directive 5: Reduction of AT&C Losses

The Commission had directed the Discoms to furnish, division-wise and circle-wise

quarterly reports on billing efficiency, collection efficiency and AT&C loss. In

response the Discoms have submitted the details as on September, 2019 as under:

Compliance of NBPDCL: (As on September, 2019)

Sl. No.

Name of Division

Input Units

(In MU)

Unit Billed

(In MU)

Total Assessment

(Rs. in Lakh)

Total Credit(Rs. in Lakh)

Billing Efficiency

(in %)

Collection Efficiency

(in %)

AT&C Loss

(in %)

1 Chapra (E) 280.24 152.30 10,195.26 9,561.34 54.35 93.78 49.03 2 Chapra (W) 253.92 161.25 11,045.63 10,023.83 63.50 90.75 42.37

3 Siwan 377.07 220.41 14,170.02 12,680.22 58.45 89.49 47.69

4 Gopalganj 293.98 174.01 11,146.03 10,105.22 59.19 90.66 46.34

Chapra Circle 205.21 707.97 46,556.94 42,370.62 58.74 91.01 46.54

5 Darbhanga (U) 119.11 105.00 8,147.11 7,515.01 88.15 92.24 18.69

6 Darbhanga (R) 277.44 186.76 12,628.70 12,049.58 67.32 95.41 35.77

7 Jhanjharpur 115.00 65.93 4,472.79 4,341.39 57.33 97.06 44.35

8 Madhubani 236.35 155.82 10,977.87 10,050.90 65.93 91.56 39.64

Darbhanga Circle

747.90 513.51 36,226.46 33,956.88 68.66 93.74 35.64

9 Motihari 299.30 175.71 12,135.68 9,940.70 58.71 81.91 51.91

10 Bettiah 266.19 138.96 9,405.28 7,733.59 52.21 82.23 57.07



Sl. No.

Name of Division

Input Units

(In MU)

Unit Billed

(In MU)

Total Assessment

(Rs. in Lakh)

Total Credit(Rs. in Lakh)

Billing Efficiency

(in %)


(in %)

AT&C Loss

(in %)

11 Bagaha 98.74 57.91 3,798.90 3,522.17 58.64 92.72 45.63

12 Raxaul 211.03 126.28 8,426.81 7,129.21 59.84 84.60 49.38

Motihari Circle

875.26 498.86 33,766.66 28,325.66 57.00 83.89 52.19

13 Muzaffarpur (E)

145.92 88.15 5,606.29 5,254.38 60.41 93.72 43.39

14 Muzaffarpur (W)

250.51 162.57 11,408.14 9,011.34 64.90 78.99 48.74

15 Muzaffarpur (U1)

167.19 131.24 10,247.21 9,990.84 78.49 97.50 23.47

16 Muzaffarpur (U2)

196.44 147.43 11,194.12 10,497.71 75.05 93.78 29.61

17 Hajipur 247.32 198.61 14,760.03 13,774.33 80.30 93.32 25.06

18 Mahua 197.95 107.79 7,271.85 6,284.22 54.46 86.42 52.94

19 Sitamarhi 272.07 157.92 10,677.26 9,752.76 58.04 91.34 46.98

20 Sheohar 54.11 24.86 1,642.82 1,337.97 45.95 81.44 62.58

Muzaffarpur Circle

1,531.51 1,018.57 72,807.72 65,903.54 66.51 90.52 39.80

21 Purnea(E) 155.06 99.39 7,204.01 7,549.57 64.10 100.00 35.90

22 Purnea(W) 173.01 110.40 8,030.58 8,038.86 63.81 100.00 36.19

23 Kishanganj 135.32 101.99 7,320.62 7,388.54 75.37 100.00 24.63

24 Katihar 257.94 146.57 10,487.86 10,291.79 56.82 98.13 44.24 25 Forbesganj 197.60 122.83 8,485.30 8,037.80 62.16 94.73 41.12

Purnea Circle 918.92 581.18 41,528.37 41,306.55 63.25 99.47 37.09

26 Saharsa 182.00 105.68 7,277.06 6,815.03 58.06 93.65 45.62

27 Madhepura 175.61 100.75 7,088.04 6,075.11 57.37 85.71 50.83

28 Supaul 189.41 119.31 8,322.98 7,374.55 62.99 88.60 44.18

29 Khagaria 147.44 93.47 6,664.85 5,869.26 63.39 88.06 44.18

Saharsa Circle 694.47 419.21 29,352.93 26,133.94 60.36 89.03 46.26 30 Samastipur 217.36 144.81 10,525.80 10,244.36 66.62 97.33 35.16

31 Begusarai 218.66 108.76 8,023.41 7,246.05 49.74 90.31 55.08

32 Barauni 163.52 111.41 8,019.39 7,455.89 68.13 92.97 36.65

33 Rosera 87.55 58.74 4,148.30 4,072.06 67.09 98.16 34.14

34 Dalsingsarai 117.02 88.70 6,355.33 6,029.80 75.79 94.88 28.09

36 DF 599.72 453.67 28,115.24 20,866.72 75.65 74.22 43.86 37 Samastipur Circle 4,080.38 2,611.98 184,429.82 167,037.24 64.01 90.57 42.02

Total 10053.65 6351.26 444668.89 405034.44 63.17 91.09 42.46


SBPDCL has submitted that as per UDAY MoU, target for reduction of AT&C loss

level by March 2020 is 15%. However, SBPDCL’s AT&C losses were 36.26% and

33.17% in first and second quarter respectively in FY 2019-20. Despite rigorous

efforts across meter reading billing and collection a major share of units are lost

due to high technical losses in LT consumers.

Circle Division Input

Energy

Billed Units (MUs)

Total Assessment (Rs Crores)

Total Credit

(Rs Crs)

Billing Efficiency

(%)


(%)

AT&C Loss(%)

PESU(W)

New Capital 131.51 111.71 86.06 104.93 84.94% 122% 15.06%

Ashiyana 20.80 14.28 9.98 10.13 68.67% 101% 31.33%

Dakbunglow 60.90 52.59 40.51 48.11 86.35% 119% 13.65%

Patliputra 91.42 80.00 60.98 64.36 87.51% 106% 12.49% Danapur 88.42 66.39 48.91 50.44 75.08% 103% 24.92%




Energy

Billed Units (MUs)


Total Credit

(Rs Crs)

Billing Efficiency

(%)


(%)

AT&C Loss(%)

Gardanibagh 57.78 48.61 36.60 40.11 84.14% 110% 15.86%

Khagaul 83.83 67.47 50.10 50.60 80.49% 101% 19.51%

Total 534.66 441.06 333.13 368.67 82.49% 110.67% 17.51%

PESU(E)

Patna City 115.99 99.53 73.51 73.60 85.81% 100% 14.19%

Gulzarbagh 66.53 50.05 36.86 38.892 75.23% 106% 24.77%

Kankarbagh-I 93.93 72.10 55.27 57.06 76.76% 103% 23.24% Kankarbagh-II 69.71 52.42 38.39 39.39 75.19% 103% 24.81%

Rajendra Nagar 41.38 32.60 23.99 26.40 78.79% 110% 21.21%

Bankipur 48.12 40.94 30.08 32.96 85.09% 110% 14.91%

Total 435.66 347.65 258.09 268.30 79.80% 103.96% 20.20%

Patna

Fatuha 198.63 171.66 127.36 127.03 86.42% 100% 13.81%

Bihta 176.60 108.36 83.68 84.13 61.36% 101% 38.64%

Masaurhi 115.20 84.97 55.50 34.66 73.76% 62% 53.93% Barh 101.61 67.32 46.02 32.47 66.25% 71% 53.25%

Patna (Rural) 41.77 28.69 19.34 15.72 68.68% 81% 44.17%

Total 633.81 460.99 331.91 294.01 72.73% 88.58% 35.57%

Bhojpur

Arrah 125.39 76.67 53.26 49.90 61.15% 94% 42.71%

Jagdishpur 100.73 71.45 47.16 45.41 70.93% 96% 31.70%

Buxar 152.74 96.61 65.38 58.44 63.25% 89% 43.46%

Total 378.85 244.73 165.79 153.74 64.60% 92.73% 40.10%

Nalanda

Biharsharif U 82.08 50.72 33.11 29.83 61.80% 90% 44.32%

Biharsharif R 112.20 72.74 47.69 38.07 64.83% 80% 48.24%

Rajgir 78.34 45.19 29.34 26.59 57.69% 91% 47.72%

Ekangarsarai 72.21 49.66 31.39 27.73 68.78% 88% 39.24%

Nawada 104.58 72.60 47.13 42.93 69.42% 91% 36.77%

Rajauli 71.65 49.94 31.36 22.95 69.70% 73% 49.00%

Total 521.06 340.86 220.02 188.10 65.42% 85.49% 44.07%

Gaya

Gaya(Rural) 82.71 58.63 38.78 27.45 70.88% 71% 49.83%

Manpur 91.12 64.52 40.83 32.01 70.80% 78% 44.50%

Gaya U 142.82 112.74 72.53 67.52 78.94% 93% 26.52%

Total 316.65 235.88 152.15 126.98 74.49% 83.46% 37.83%

Aurangabad

Sherghati 123.17 81.14 51.03 39.27 65.87% 77% 49.32%

Aurangabad 168.98 118.47 78.65 63.46 70.11% 81% 43.43%

Daudnagar 71.61 54.32 35.33 31.09 75.85% 88% 33.24%

Jehanabad 118.14 79.55 51.57 40.88 67.33% 79% 46.62% Arwal 50.17 39.83 25.71 19.55 79.39% 76% 39.64%

Total 532.07 373.30 242.30 194.26 70.16% 80.17% 43.75%

Sasaram

Sasaram 182.83 132.46 88.39 76.21 72.45% 86% 37.53%

Dehri-on-Sone 152.11 98.99 63.62 52.47 65.08% 82% 46.33%

Bhabhua 184.84 121.51 77.50 65.30 65.74% 84% 44.61%

Total 519.78 352.96 229.51 193.98 67.91% 84.52% 42.61%

Bhagalpur

Naugachhiya 38.00 24.64 17.06 15.51 64.83% 91% 41.05% Bhagalpur (E) 115.48 81.44 53.24 44.70 70.52% 84% 40.79%

Bhagalpur (U) 140.07 117.54 77.30 67.43 83.91% 87% 26.80%

Banka 57.35 44.89 29.10 22.50 78.27% 77% 39.50%

Amarpur 38.28 25.63 16.64 13.21 66.96% 79% 46.85%

Total 389.18 294.13 193.34 163.34 75.58% 84.49% 36.15%

Munger

Munger 111.69 85.18 57.47 53.05 76.26% 92% 29.61%

Lakhisarai 91.44 64.79 41.93 34.65 70.86% 83% 41.43% Total 203.13 149.97 99.40 87.70 73.83% 88.24% 34.86%

Jamui

Sheikhpura 64.61 43.10 27.70 22.57 66.71% 81% 45.66%

Jamui 110.05 84.12 55.06 43.16 76.44% 78% 40.09%

Total 174.66 127.22 82.76 65.72 72.84% 79.41% 42.16%

Total 4639.51 3368.75 2308.41 2104.82 72.61% 91.18% 33.79%

Others RTS 31.44 31.12 27.46 27.80 98.97% 101% 1.03%

Other HQ Sug/Ric Mil,

1.32 1.28 1.10 12.81 97.11% 1164% 2.89%




Energy

Billed Units (MUs)


Total Credit

(Rs Crs)

Billing Efficiency

(%)


(%)

AT&C Loss(%)

Solar

Grand Total 4672.27 3401.15 2336.97 2145.43 72.79% 91.8% 33.17%

Commission’s view

The Commission notes with pain that the billing efficiency as well as the collection

efficiency is far away from the stipulated target leading to non-achievement of AT

& C loss target. While taking note of the various steps taken so far by the DISCOMs

to bring the improvement, the Commission having concerned in further

improvement directs the Discoms to take effective steps to improve the billing

efficiency, collection efficiency and AT&C loss to the level of stipulated target given

in MOU of UDAY i.e, 15% by end of March, 2020. Commission is separately

monitoring the progress of the directives through its BERC Case no SMP 25/2017.

The monitoring of directives will continue and DISOCMs are directed to send

quarterly reports regularly.

10.2.6 Directive 6 : Interest on Security Deposit of LT Consumers

The Commission has observed that the Discoms are passing on the interest on

consumers’ security deposit to HT consumers but not to LT consumers. The

Commission had directed the Discoms to consider adhoc security deposit per kW,

from time to time, from the date of release of supply and adjust the interest on

security deposit to LT consumers and to submit quarterly reports of such

adjustment to the Commission. In response, the Discoms submitted as under:


NBPDCL has submitted that interest on security deposit of HT and LTIS category

consumers are being passed on as per the norms specified by BERC. For LT

consumers they are in the process of reconciliation of the deposited Security

Deposit (SD) amount with the Discom. A system based module for streamlining the

process of passing on the accumulated interest amount to LT consumers has been

developed and the interest on SD has already been passed onto 314481 nos. of

NDS-II consumers. Further, necessary training is being imparted to the field

employees of the Discom to check and update the SD amount corresponding to all

the LT consumers, following which interest on security deposit for the remaining LT

consumers will be passed on.




SBPDCL has submitted that the Security Deposit (SD) details are not available for a

large number of LT consumers, hence, Discom is contemplating paper

advertisement to call consumers for updation of correct security deposits reflecting

in the bills/SD receipt previously served to consumers. Once the SD details are

updated data shall be reconciled with the system. Post the reconciliation process,

appropriate permanent provision would be created to pass on the interest on

security deposit for the consumers.

Commission’s view

The Commission notes that while the NBPDCL has complied with the directive to

some extent and passed on the interest on security deposit to 314481 number of

NDS-II consumers; the reply of the SBPDCL is not satisfactory.

The explanation submitted by the Discoms for delay in adjusting interest amount of

security deposit to all LT consumers is not convincing and Discoms are again

directed to comply with the long pending important directive on priority basis

failing which the Commission shall be constrained to impose penalty on the ailing

Discoms. Status report of the progress be submitted to the Commission on

quarterly basis.

10.2.7 Directive 7 : Asset Register

The Commission had directed the Discoms to take urgent action to complete

preparation of fixed asset register and submit compliance by 30th September, 2019.

In response both the Discoms have submitted that they are going to implement ERP

(Enterprise Resource Planning) which is mandatory under UDAY scheme of

Government of India. They are endeavouring to create and maintain component

wise fixed asset register, full details item wise assets to maintain voltage wise cost

of supply and the same will be provided after ERP implementation is done. ERP bid

document has already been finalized and the tender is in the process of finalization.

Commission’s view

The Commission has noted that the Discoms have not even started the preparation

of Fixed Asset register despite repeated directives of the Commission since its

inception. They are waiting to entrust the work to an agency without taking any

action to collect the data at department level. It is being felt that both the Discoms



are not paying required attention to the long pending directive, which is very vital

in approving Net Fixed Assets year on year. The Commission having peeved with

the lack of seriousness on the part of DISCOMs shall be contrained not to allow

fixed assets/capitalisation dependant costs such as Depreciation, Interest on Loan,

Return on Equity, Repair & Maintenance, etc. in the next year onwards truing up.

10.2.8 Directive 8 : Voltage wise Cost of Supply

The Commission had observed that the Discoms are calculating the voltage wise

cost of supply based on assumed technical losses for 33KV, 11KV and LT voltage

level without actually making any study as required. The Commission had directed

to conduct a study to assess technical losses of all 33KV and 11KV feeders and

selected LT lines under selected Distribution Transformers and compute voltage

wise cost of supply using the above data.

In response to the directive the Discoms have submitted that energy accounting is

being done on some 33/11 kV feeders and defective meters are being replaced.

Once ERP is implemented and fixed asset register is complete, voltage wise cost of

supply would be submitted to the Commission.

Commission’s view

Since the directive has not been complied with, the Commission reiterates the

directive and directs the Discoms to pay more attention to the subject and voltage-

wise cost of supply based on technical loss and network costs of various voltage

levels arrived at by conducting a study shall be submitted with next tariff Petition

for FY 2021-22.

10.2.9 Directive 9 : Regulatory Accounting

The Commission had observed that the Discoms have been maintaining and

reporting their financial account in statutory accounting formats which is distinct

from the regulatory requirements. Such financial accounts in statutory

accounting formats do not maintain the record of disapprovals. As such,

substantial differences in opening balances, expenses during the year, closing

balance, etc, at several places have been noticed between the statutory accounts

and regulatory account. Therefore, the Commission had directed the Discoms to

maintain and report their financial accounts duly audited by an auditor in



regulatory accounting formats in next tariff petitions.

In response, the Discoms have submitted that currently nowhere in India similar

kind of work is being done. So, appointing a consultancy firm to carry out such

activity and with such experience is taking some time. Further, guidance from the

Commission is required in arriving at the methodology along with formats for

preparing the Regulatory accounts. The company would update the Commission

about the steps taken in this regard along with the Tariff Petition for FY 2021-22.

Commission’s view

The Commission has observed that the Discoms have not yet commenced the

implementation of the directive and therefore once again directs the Discoms to

comply with the BERC (Power Regulatory Accounting) Regulation, 2018 forth with

and submit audited accounts along with the True up of FY 2019-20 to be filed in

next Tariff Petition for FY 2021-22 without fail. Once the Regulatory Accounts are

maintained by the Discoms, the process of True up of ARR for the relevant year

becomes simple and realistic.

10.2.10 Directive 10 : Outstanding Arrears

The Commission had observed that huge amounts of arrears receivable from the

government departments, semi-governments and local bodies are outstanding and

therefore directed the Discoms to contact the concerned heads of government

departments/organisations for early payment of the outstanding dues. The

Commission has noted that the realisation of arrears pending from government

departments, local bodies etc, is not satisfactory. In this respect attention of the

Discoms had been drawn towards the Clause 1.2(1) of the MoU of UDAY wherein it

was agreed that all outstanding dues from the State Govt. Departments to Discoms

for supply of electricity shall be paid by 15.02.2016. Discoms were directed to take

up this issue with defaulting Departments of the govt and settle the outstanding

dues and report to the Commission. In response, the Discoms have submitted as

under:


NBPDCL submitted that the status of the outstanding arrears from the government

and local bodies as below:



(Rs .Crore)

Outstanding Dues as on 01.07.2019

Amount billed during the

quarter

Total demand during the

quarter

Amount Received during

the quarter Balance Arrears

446.58 45.33 491.91 27.91 464.00

10155 444 9846 38 0.24


SBPDCL submitted that efforts being made regularly to get all the dues from

government department received on Monthly basis. Further, the concerned

departments have been requested to make adequate provision in their budget

allocation for electricity charges so that all the arrears are being paid by the end of

FY 2019-20. Details of outstanding arrears are as under:

Sr. No

Division

Opening outstanding dues at the

beginning of Qtr (Rs Cr)

(Prov.)

Arrears collected

during the Qtr (Rs Cr)

Balance dues

outstanding (Rs Crores)

Cases pending at the end of

Qtr

Cases disposed

off in the Qtr

Amount Realized

(Rs Crores)

1 Bhagalpur (U) 154.96 91.07 63.89 26 19 0.06

2 Bhgalpur (E) 61.10 1.24 59.86 45 - -

3 Naugachia 127.23 0.83 126.40 43 - -

4 Banka 99.33 1.01 98.32 43 - -

5 Lakhisarai 52.01 12.45 39.56 112 - -

6 Munger 142.10 31.38 110.72 242 - - 7 Jamui 156.65 7.90 148.75 33 14 0.02

8 Sheikhpura 42.16 6.29 35.87 35 - -

9 Gaya (U) 166.32 - 166.32 - - -

10 Gaya (R ) 210.55 7.34 203.21 - - -

11 Sherghati 111.82 - 111.82 689 3 0.00

12 Arwal 31.19 4.19 27.00 8 - -

13 Jehanabad 105.75 10.32 95.43 2 - - 14 Aurangabad 193.12 2.04 191.08 4 - -

15 Daudnagar 22.74 0.85 21.89 4 - -

16 Patna (Rural) 28.03 - 28.03 - - -

17 Fatuha 80.67 7.91 72.76 60 1 7.91

18 Masauri 96.54 2.28 94.26 32 - -

19 Bihta 207.83 - 207.83 220 8 0.02

20 Barh 25.65 13.87 11.78 - - 0.09 21 Biharsharif 105.32 3.01 102.31 734 221 26.94

22 Rajgir 79.87 - 79.87 101 - -

23 Ekangarsarai 64.14 - 64.14 63 - -

24 Nawada 120.51 - 120.51 165 - -

25 Ara 163.90 19.37 144.53 2 - -

26 Jagdishpur 16.63 0.19 16.44 - 5 0.13

27 Buxar 186.99 18.88 168.11 484 - - 28 Sasaram 217.05 20.42 196.63 20 21 -

29 Dehri on Sone 420.59 87.00 333.59 31 0 0.07

30 Bhabhua 142.76 28.85 113.91 6 14 2.57

31 Patna City 193.37 - 193.37 102 - -

32 Gulzarbagh 143.82 - 143.82 - - -

33 Rajendra Nagar

8.19 5.97 2.22 - 2 0.07



Sr. No

Division

Opening outstanding dues at the

beginning of Qtr (Rs Cr)

(Prov.)

Arrears collected

during the Qtr (Rs Cr)

Balance dues

outstanding (Rs Crores)

Cases pending at the end of

Qtr

Cases disposed

off in the Qtr

Amount Realized

(Rs Crores)

34 Bankipur 1.32 21.82 (20.50) - - - 35 K'Bagh-I 170.47 0.86 169.61 60 - -

36 K'Bagh-II 8.33 0.19 8.14 19 - -

37 New Cap 390.28 10.50 379.78 - - -

38 Patliputra 29.21 4.00 25.21 5 - -

39 Dakbunglow 11.80 2.70 9.10 5 - -

40 Danapur 153.72 24.25 129.47 6 - -

41 Gardanibagh 46.38 - 46.38 27 - - 42 Khagaul 9.00 0.85 8.15 7 - -

43 Ashiyana - - - - - -

44 Amarpur 4.24 1.01 3.23 5 - -

45 Manpur 13.18 0.07 13.11 - - -

46 Rajauli 100.64 2.23 98.41 25 6 0.03

47 Sub-Total 4,917.46 453.14 4,464.32 3,465 314 37.90

Provision for Doubtful Debts

2,043.79 - 2,043.79 - - -

Total 2,873.67 453.14 2,420.53 3,465 314 37.90

Commission’s view

The Commission notes with concern that huge unrealised amount of arrears are

pending in the government departments, local bodies etc.. Discoms are directed

to pursue with defaulting Departments and realise the outstanding dues with all

sincerity. A report to this effect be submitted to the Commission by 30.04.2020.

10.2.11 Directive 11 : O&M Norms

The Commission had directed the Discoms to include quantitative details of

number of personnel, number of personnel per 1000 consumers, number of

substations and number of personnel per sub-stations in their audited accounts or

submit a separate audit report of said quantitative details for Truing up of each of

the year of the Control Period.

In response, the Discoms have submitted as under:


NBPDCL submitted the details as below:

SI. No. Particulars FY 2019-20

1 Number of Consumers (Nos.) 100,00,000

2 Connected Load (KW) 83,36,997

3 Distribution Line (Circuit Km) 2,02,283 4 Energy Sold (MU) 10,937

5 Total number of employees 4,330

6 Employees per MU of energy sold 3



SI. No. Particulars FY 2019-20

7 Employees per 1000 consumers 2 8 Employee cost in Paisa/kwh of energy sold 25

9 Distribution line circuit km per employee 47


SBPDCL has submitted the details as under:

The total number of consumers upto August, 2019 are around 56.17 Lakhs

(including Manav Bal and the contracted labours) with a total number of

employees 15841. Further employees per 1000 consumers is 0.3546. Other d

details are as given below:


1. Number of consumers 56,17,376

2. Connected Load in KW 66,88,230

3. Distribution line in circuit KM 1,70,110

4. Total No. of Employees 15,841

5. Employees per 1000 consumers 0.3546

6. Distribution line circuit KM per employee 10.73

7. Total No of PSS 484

8. No. of personnel per PSS 6

Commission’s view

The Commission observes that the DISCOMs are not paying attention to this vital

direction of the Commission to include quantitative details of number of personnel,

number of sub-stations, distribution line length in CKT KMs and connected load

(category wise) in their audited accounts which shall be required for truing up of

ARR for FY 2019-20 next year. Hence, the Commission reiterates this directive and

further directs the Discoms to include the actual of the same in their audited

accounts of FY 2019-20 onwards without fail. If no progress is shown in the

compliance of this directive, the Commission may consider its consequential

effect in favour of consumers while doing true-up exercise.

10.2.12 Directive 12 : Consumer Grievance Redressal Mechanism

The Commission had directed the Discoms to monitor the working of established

Call Centres and redress the grievances at field level (section level) in the review

meetings. It had also directed that random checks be done by the higher level



officials to assess the status of redressal of grievances within stipulated time limit.

In response Discoms have submitted as under:


NBPDCL submitted that there exists a 24X7 complaint redressal system (Phone

1912) on which consumers can register complaint relating to billing, defective

meter, power supply and other miscellaneous issues. Consumer may register their

compliant by calling 1912 (Toll Free) helpline number. After registering compliant,

SMS is sent to consumer indicating complaint number etc.


SBPDCL submitted that they have setup 1912 call centre for effectively handling

consumer grievances. The call centre has resolved 63277 complaints in FY 2018-19

and 28950 complaints by end of September, 2019.

Commission’s view

Reply submitted by the Discoms is noted. However, it has been found by the

Commission that despite provision of compensation for non-redressal of grievance

within approved time limit as per the SOP Regulations, Discoms are not passing on

such compensation to the affected consumers. The Commission therefore directs

the Discoms to submit the quarterly report containing details of consumers

grievances resolved in the Format-9 which has been already provided showing

details of amount of compensations passed on to the affected consumers.

10.2.13 Directive 13 : Strengthening of billing & collection system

Based on the feedback received from the consumers during the public hearings of

the Commission, the Commission had directed to:

(i) Increase the number of billing and collection points especially in rural areas

and expand spot billing system.

(ii) Provide basic facilities at Billing/Collection centres like chairs/bench to sit,

drinking water and shelter for rains/heat to the waiting consumer

(iii) Keep open the billing collection centre on Sundays.

The Commission had also directed the Discoms to send quarterly report to the

Commission about the steps taken on the above directions.



In response both Discoms have submitted that the following steps are already in

place to address the above concerns:

Various avenues for billing & collection have been introduced to ensure efficient spot billing & revenue collection from consumers. Billing: Smart meters are being introduced on a pilot-basis, thereby leading to

eradication of the concept of billing on assessed units Collection:

Setting up of Periodic Revenue collection camps ( Done in RAPDRP and RRF area every month)

Increased follow-up by means of calling & reminders to defaulting consumers

Assistance of the public representatives (Local MLAs, Sarpanch) across villages for convincing people for monthly energy bill payment.

Basic facilities, like drinking water pots at field offices, toilets constructed via

Mission 45, benches/chairs for seating, fans & sheds for consumers waiting in-

queue, are being provided at every Discom’s office.

Billing collection centers are open on Sundays with employees working on shifts

& consumers being notified regarding the same through text messages via their

registered mobile nos.

Commission’s view

The reply submitted by the Discoms is noted and the action taken by it is

appreciated.

10.2.14 Directive 14 : Strengthening of vigilance machinery

Noting that many grievances are relating to corruption, especially in rural areas

with respect to replacement of transformer, giving electricity connection, billing,

removing electrical faults etc., the Commission had directed the Discoms to evolve

a deterrent system of vigilance within their organisation to take care of such mal

practices.

In response, both the Discoms have submitted that recently, Special Task Force

(STF) cell is doing work of monitoring and execution for the disposal of different

complaints received against electricity theft in urban as well as rural areas. In

addition to this STF cell has also conducted surprise visit/inspection against

different complaints received related to collection or mal-practice cases.

Commission’s view



From perusal of the aforesaid reply, the Commission opines that the Discoms have

mis-understood the instant directive. The vigilance issues are different than theft

of electricity by the consumers. Vigilance issues arise where malpractices is done

with connivance of Discom’s personnel. Action against the field functionaries

against whom allegations of such malpractices are reported needs to be taken so

that innocent consumers are not harassed unnecessarily or Discoms are not put

into loss. The Commission directs the Discoms to submit details such as number of

complaints (corruption) received, resolved and pending complaints along with

action taken report on the guilty functionaries to the Commission, quarterly.

10.2.15 Directive 15: Power Procurement

The Commission had directed the Discoms to submit the following details of power

purchase from each source during the month by 20th day of succeeding month.

1) Source of purchase 2) Available Capacity (MW) 3) Energy Purchased (MU) 4) Fixed Charges Paid (Rs. Crore) 5) Energy Charge Rate (Rs/Kwh) 6) Total Energy Charges Paid (Rs. Crore) 7) Any other Charges Paid (Rs. Crore) (i) Open Access Charges (ii) Any Other Charges 8) Total Cost Paid (Rs. Crore) 9) Day wise details of UI drawls and amount payable/receivable The Discoms have later submitted the details of month-wise, source-wise power

purchase quantum (MUs) and power purchase cost details after repeated

instructions. The Discoms are directed to submit the details of power purchase as

mentioned in the directive from each source during the month by 20th day of

succeeding month from April, 2020 onwards.

10.2.16 Directive 16: Contingency Reserve

The Commission had directed the Discoms to make proper contribution towards

contingency reserve in terms of Regulation 24 of BERC (Multi Year Distribution

Tariff) Regulations, 2018.

In response, both the Discoms have submitted that as per MYT Regulations, 2018 a

sum not less than 0.25% and not more than 0.50% of the original cost of fixed



assets shall be allowed annually towards such appropriation in the calculation of

ARR.

Commission’s view

The Commission observes that the Discoms have not understood the directive in

the right perspective. The Commission following the MYT Regulations had been

allowing contingency reserves @0.25% and accordingly approves retail tariff

considering such contingency reserves but the petitioners have not been

accounting/maintaining such contingency reserve in its financial account. As a

result such contingency reserves are not considered in the truing up in absence of

its accounting in the audited accounts.

Discoms have not proposed/projected any contingency reserve even in its Tariff

Petition for FY 2020-21. Therefore, the Commission has not considered the same

for FY 2020-21.

The Commission directs the Discoms to submit by 30.06.2020 the year-wise details

of Contingency Reserve Fund maintained with them and its utilisation as on

31.03.2020.

10.2.17 Directive 17: Optimization of Power Purchase Cost

The Commission has noted that the power purchase cost accounts for about three

fourth of the total expenditure in ARR and therefore it has a significant impact on

consumer tariff. Therefore, Commission feels that power purchase cost

optimization needs to be attempted primarily on following two accounts.

(a) Forecasting of Power Demand; and

(b) Purchase of Power as per merit order dispatch principal

The Commission had directed the Discoms to intimate the steps taken in this regard

by end of first quarter of FY 2019-20 as per the provisions of BERC (Power Purchase

and Procurement Process of Licensee) Regulations, 2018.

In response, both the Discoms have submitted that they along with their Power

Management Cell are following various steps to optimize the power purchase cost.

They have clarified following steps in the compliance report:-

1. They follow Merit Order Dispatch considering its merit based on variable cost

among the tied up must run stations (CGS) on day ahead basis. As per Merit

Order Dispatch the cheaper stations are scheduled up to its maximum



capability before scheduling costlier stations till the power requisitioned is

met with an objective to optimize power purchase cost and to meet its

target for supplying 24 x 7 Power to its consumers.

2. Savings due to STOA Bilateral Power Curtailment during month of August

2019 was Rs.2.28 Crore and for September 2019 was Rs.6.86 Crore

3. Profit due to power surrender and purchase from alternative sources

between 24th Sept 2019 to 3rd Oct 2019 has been achieved at Rs.1.03 Crore.

The overall steps as mentioned above would help in availing power at lower tariff

and as an end result lower average cost of supply for its retail consumer.

Commission’s view

The reply of the Discoms has been noted.

As per discussions in the meeting of the State Advisory Committee, held on

06.02.2020, the Commission had directed the Discoms to make continuous

endeavour to optimise the Power Purchase cost by adopting various options such

as Merit Order Dispatch Principle, Security Constraints Economic Dispatch (SCED),

Banking, Buying power through exchange without involving any intermediary, URS

by generator, exploring existing costlier PPA at first opportunity etc. The

Commission further directed that Discoms/PMC shall furnish quarterly reports with

respect to saving in Power Purchase Cost under various head separately as

mentioned above.

New Directives:

10.2.18 Prior approval of Capex

The Commission has been observing that both the Discoms NBPDCL and SBPDCL

have been strengthening its infrastructure either under Central Government

scheme or under State Government scheme without obtaining mandatory prior

regulatory approval of the Commission. The Commission has also been observing

that the respective Discoms have not been adhering to the scheduled completion

time of such capex, including time over-run/cost over-run cost in year on year ARR

and truing-up violating the regulatory provisions. The Commission, accordingly,

directs both the Discoms to strictly adhere to regulatory provisions with respect to

Capex and Capitalisation and obtain prior regulatory approval of the Commission

for the work-wise, scheme-wise capex and capitalisation giving full details of the



same such as funding, scheduled completion date, etc. before starting such capex

work.

10.2.19 General

Both the DISCOMs are directed to submit the compliance reports to the

Commission as per the time line given in each of the directives. The Discoms are

also directed to submit the quarterly reports, in the Formats already communicated

in the Tariff Order dated 21.03.2018.

The Commission shall review and monitor progress of the compliance of the

aforesaid direction on quarterly basis. The Discoms, NBPDCL and SBPDCL are

therefore directed to send quarterly progress report of each directive beginning

July 2020 (for the quarter ending June 2020), October 2020 (for the quarter ending

September 2020) and January 2021 (for the quarter ending December 2020)

respectively.

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/- (R.K.Choudhary) (Rajeev Amit) (S.K.Negi)

Member Member Chairman



Annexure-I

Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC)

Vidyut Bhawan-II, J. L. Nehru Marg, Patna 800 021 ***

Time: 11:00 A.M. Dated: 6th February, 2020

Minutes of the meeting of the State Advisory Committee (SAC) held on 06.02.2020 in

the Conference Room of the Commission to discuss the Tariff petitions of NBPDCL,

SBPDCL, BSPTCL, SLDC and BGCL for the FY 2020-21.

1. The meeting of the State Advisory Committee (SAC) was held on 06.02.2020

under the Chairmanship of Shri S. K. Negi, IAS (Retd.), Chairman, BERC and SAC.

The list of participants of the meeting is enclosed with the minutes.

2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed all the members and other participants of

the meeting and impress upon the contribution of the members towards the

holistic development of the electricity industry in the State. The Chairman further

apprised the participants that the State Advisory Committee which has been

constituted u/s 87 of the Electricity Act, 2003 has been reconstituted recently

with 23 members with tenure of three years. The Chairman underlined the

objectives of this committee which include to advise the Commission on matter of

policy relating to electricity supply, quality, continuity and extent of services

provided by the licensees, protection of consumers interest, overall standard of

performance by utilities etc. It was pointed out that the SAC meeting is intended

to be conducted at least twice in a year but due to scant attendance of the

members in the past, the timing of the meeting has been scheduled with annual

tariff determination exercise. The Chairman, therefore, requested the nominated

members to attend the meeting personally and refrain from deputing proxy

members in future for the sake of meaningful discussion in the listed agenda

items.

3. It was explained that although the agenda of this meeting as circulated earlier is

related to the discussion on tariff petitions for FY 2020-21 submitted by BSPTCL,

SLDC, BGCL, NBPDCL and SBPDCL, yet, the members may put up any policy

matters for discussion which comes under the purview of the State Advisory

Committee.



4. The Chairman apprised the SAC members that the Commission had conducted

public hearings at Muzaffarpur on 10.01.2020, Gaya on 18.01.2020 and would

conduct hearing at Bhagalpur on 12.02.2020. Hearings at Patna would be held on

13.02.2020 and 14.02.2020. Objections/suggestions on the petitions shall be

considered before finalizing the tariff. It was further stated that the suggestions of

SAC shall also be taken into consideration in finalizing of the tariff for FY 2020-21.

After introductory session, agenda items as circulated earlier were taken up for

discussion.

4. Presentation of Tariff Petitions by NBPDCL and SBPDCL:-

The Discoms jointly gave PowerPoint presentation on the tariff petitions for truing

up for 2018-19, APR of 2019-20 and ARR of FY 2020-21. The Discoms while

highlighting the gist of petitions disclosed before the Commission and the SAC

members that although they have proposed overall gap in the ARR of FY 2020-21

including gap in the true up of FY 2018-19 which shall be bridged partly by tariff

increase of 2.80% in 2020-21 and partly creating a regulatory asset.

After the presentation, the members of the SAC discussed the proposed

Regulatory Asset and mechanism for its recovery. The Discoms stated that they

had not proposed any methodology for recovery of Regulator Asset for the time

being.

The members of SAC suggested that the controllable expenditure should be

considered as per norms and regulations.

Shri Amit Mukherji, Member, Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries (BCCI) in

his written suggestion has stated that there is reduction in power purchase cost

by 5% in FY 2019-20 and 4% in FY 2020-21 benefit of which should be passed on

to the consumers by reducing tariffs proportionately. The distribution loss is at

32.29% in FY 2018-19 and projected at 20% for FY 2020-21. The reduction in

losses shall lead to reduction in power purchase cost by 12% and it should be

directly passed on to the consumers alongwith government grant to

accommodate disallowed line losses. It is suggested that steel industry to survive

in Bihar, amendment to Supply Code and new power tariff be formulated for FY

2020-21 as per following:

a. Demand charges to power intensive units should be reduced to Rs.400/KVA



and should be charged on actual consumption basis rather than on 100%

contract demand basis;

b. Reduce the energy charges to Rs.3/unit to sustain the industry;

c. Electricity duty of 6% in Bihar is higher which may be abolished or reduced to

compare with neighbouring states; and

d. Extend rebate for availing power at higher voltage level i.e. 33kV under HT

and 220kV under EHT.

Shri Sanjay Bhartiya Vice-president, Bihar Industries Association (BIA) submitted a

written suggestion and views which deals, inter-alia, the following main points:-

(i) SAC meeting should be arranged for at least for two days, one day for

Discoms and other day for Transcos;

(ii) Power requirement should be worked out as per distribution losses

trajectory set by the Commission for FY 2018-19, FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-

21. Surplus/extra power purchase should not be allowed as pass through;

(iii) Transmission losses shall not be more than 3%. Transcos (BSPTCL and BGCL)

shall provide details of energy input and energy output in their system

(iv) Transcos should submit their Grid Map showing their respective

transmission system and infrastructure;

(v) Grant of multiple transmission licences in the State has resulted in increase

in intra-state transmission charges;

(vi) Details of loans and grants from State Government shall be verified;

(vii) Subsidy provided to the consumers should be disclosed to the SAC. The

erstwhile industrial subsidy @Re.1/unit should be revived; and

(viii) Depreciation should be allowed on straight line method.

Shri Rajeev Amit, Member, BERC clarified the SAC members that the cost of

additional power purchase is being met by the State Government under UDAY

scheme and the same is not being included in the tariff petition for FY 2018-19

and FY 2019-20.

The SAC was also apprised by the Commission that uniform retail distribution

tariff is in vogue in Bihar. However, this has resulted in piquant situation as one

Discom having surplus ARR whereas another Discom ending with gap in ARR.



Commission in the past have been advising BSHPCL to take appropriate steps to

rectify this situation but no steps seems to have been taken by the petitioners on

such issues. In this context, issue of allocation of power sales to Nepal between

the Discoms and methodology for reallocation of Power Purchase Agreement

(PPAs) between Discoms to balance the revenue requirement were discussed

once again and emphasized upon.

After the general discussion on the tariff proposals, following listed agenda items

pertaining to terms and conditions of Discoms tariff petitions were taken up:-

Meter Rent:

The Chairman asked the Members whether meter rent can be abolished as the

cost of meter is considered and approved under capital expenditure and

accordingly RoE, interest on loan, Depreciation, etc. are allowed in the ARR and

hence the approved tariffs include cost of such meter to be recovered over the

life of the meter through tariff. Allowing meter rent to be recovered separately

from consumers in addition to tariff tantamount to doubly charging the cost of

meters incurred by the Discoms. Further meter rent attract GST which is

additional burden on the consumers.

The members representing BIA, BCCI, Discoms and other members have favoured

the proposal to abolish the meter rent.

Shri Ashok Jiwrajka, the Social organisations of Bhagalpur has suggested reducing

the meter rent instead of abolishing totally.

Voltage Rebate

Cost to serve at higher voltage is lower than the cost to serve at lower voltage due

to lower losses, efficiency in utilisation of network, improvement in the voltage

profile of the power system. It is proposed to introduce adequate voltage rebate

to various HT/EHT categories of consumers to go for high voltage.

To implement such provisions, distinction between 11 & 33 kV under HT and 132

& 220 kV under EHT be abolished and Consumers be given option to take

connection either at 11 kV or 33 kV under HT or either at 132 kV or 220 kV under

EHT depending upon feasibility of the existing network system.

The Discoms have expressed that there are constrains in the existing network

system and infrastructure needs to be strengthened and made compatible. It was



stated that they are facing RoW problems and other issues relating to

implementation i.e. creation of substation bays, AB switches and other control

equipments etc. It was also stated that quality power/low voltage problems at

11kV may occur.

The Members representatives of BIA and industries have suggested its

implementation.

Other members suggested prescribing minimum load limit at 500 KVA or 750 KVA

above which the connection shall be considered at 33kV depending upon network

availability.

It was decided that Discoms shall conduct technical feasibility study and submit

report to the Commission.

Load factor rebate

The State has experienced peak demand of 5139 MW whereas the average

demand is around 3212 MW in FY 2018-19 against which there has been PPAs for

around 19333 MW resulting in surplus situation. The peak and average demand is

met to fulfill around average 15% of consumer's load factor. Due to lower

utilization of PPAs, the total capacity charges liable to be paid by the DISCOMs are

spread over the consumer's consumption corresponding to 15% of their load

factor. If the consumption is increased by the consumers keeping their maximum

demand within their contracted demand, the same capacity charges will now be

spread over the higher consumption and the per unit energy charge will be

reduced.

Keeping surplus power situation, the existing telescopic tariff discouraging higher

consumption may be abolished and load factor rebate be introduced to

encourage the consumers to enhance their consumption so as to minimize the

effective per unit rate.

The Discoms have agreed in-principle for implementation across all the

consumers and recommended for flat tariff rates from subsequent tariff years.

Shri Ashok Jiwrajka, All the Social organisations of Bhagalpur has suggested to

implement two slabs of 0 – 200 and above 200 units.

The Members from BIA and industries have suggested to implement for HT

consumers from this tariff year i.e. FY 2020-21.



The Commission has proposed to work into it in future since, the Discoms have

already submitted the tariff proposals and changes, if any in the already proposed

tariff structure may affect the revenue requirement of the Discoms.

Recovery of full fixed charges

According to Clause 5.1 of BERC (Fixation of Charges for Supply of Electricity by

Distribution Company) Regulations 2018, the licensee shall be entitled to recover

fixed charges in full only if supply of power is maintained as per scheduled supply

hours as approved by the Commission in tariff order from time to time. The same

could not be implemented by the Discoms citing the reason that the DT wise and

11kV feeder wise consumer tagging has not yet been completely done.

The Commission proposes that 100% recovery of fixed charges be linked with

availability of 24 hrs supply recorded by meters installed in the consumer's

premises.

The Discoms have stated that the supply in rural areas is around 21 hours and in

urban it is more than 22 hours. It is also stated that availability may be

considered in the range of 85% to 95% for recovery of 100% fixed charges.

The Commission directed the Discoms to submit trajectory in this regard.

Other members suggested that there shall be distinction between rural and urban

for recovery of fixed charges.

Billing demand

‘Billing demand is the maximum demand recorded during the month or 85% of

the contract demand whichever is higher’ is the present provision.

The contracted demand/sanctioned load is generally higher than the maximum

demand recorded by the meter during its running condition especially for

domestic and commercial establishments. With present provision of minimum

billing of 85% of the sanctioned load/contract demand, any consumer having less

than 6 kw load cannot avail benefit of such provision.

The Commission endeavour at limiting the fixed charge collection to actual or 75%

of contract demand.

The Members have concurred with the Commission’s proposal. However, the

members representing BIA and industries have suggested that the billing demand

for HTSS consumers shall also be at 75% of the contracted demand and should be



implemented from FY 2020-21 itself

After discussion, it was agreed to implement the billing demand at 75% of the

contract demand or actual recorded demand from FY 2020-21 for all the

consumers covered under demand based billing.

Power factor:

The consumers are liable to pay surcharge or receive incentive on account of

deviation from specified power factor of 90% which is embedded in the electricity

billing based on KVA & KVAH. The consumer failing to maintain 0.9 (lag) power

factor draws more KVA and KVAH resulting into increase in his electricity bill. High

power factor means better utilization of network, reduction of line loss, stable

and good voltage at consumer's installation, avoidance of capital cost, lower

electricity tariff, etc. The Commission proposed to increase the power factor to

0.95 lagging so as to maximize the efficiency of the existing network.

All the Members (including Discoms) have agreed to the proposals.

Additional Demand Charges:

Deviation in the scheduled energy by the Discoms attracts deviation and

additional deviation charges which is penal in nature and is leviable on the over-

drawl of quantum of energy with respect to scheduled energy. However, the

consumer, upon over drawl, is penalized only for additional demand in excess of

10% of contracted demand and not for the corresponding over drawal of energy.

It is proposed to levy penal charge for use of load beyond contracted demand on

the pro-rata additional energy consumption in addition to the levy of additional

demand charge. It is also proposed to limit the over drawal limit to 105% of

contract demand against existing 110%.

The Discoms have agreed to the proposals, however, the member representing

from BIA have suggested that the same shall be implemented in case of

consumers who overdraw the power in excess of 110% of contract demand.

Introduction of Quality Power Regulations:

The Electricity Act, 2003 mandates obligation on Distribution companies to supply

continuous, reliable & quality power to its consumers. Now all the villages & tolas

have been electrified and consumers are getting electricity supply of around 20-

22 hrs in rural areas and 22-24 hrs in urban areas. As such continuity, reliability



and quality supply of power needs to be ensured.

The Commission intends to frame regulations on quality power envisaging therein

penal provisions for deviations against stipulated norms & quality parameters to

ensure continuous supply of reliable & quality power by Discoms.

The Discoms/BSPTCL have stated that reliable and uninterrupted power

availability is being ensured and quality power can be enforced after achieving the

said parameters. Further, it is stated that at present there is no measurement of

Harmonics of power supply.

The Commission has directed the Discoms/BSPTCL to study the harmonics of

power supply and submit the report.

Abolition of all un-metered tariff sub-categories:

The Commission in terms of section 55 of the Electricity Act, 2003 has gradually

started removing unmetered tariff categories since FY 2018-19. The Discoms have

undertaken, on affidavit, to complete cent-percent metering of all the unmetered

consumers of different categories by March 2020.

The Discoms have stated that at present smart maters/prepaid meters are being

installed and around 5 lakh meters are yet to be installed at the consumer

premises.

The Commission directed the Discoms to file a time frame by which the unmetered connections can be metered and billed accordingly. Optimization of Power Purchase cost:

Shri R K Choudhary, Member/BERC has briefed that Discoms are struggling with

increasing share of power purchase costs due to poor planning & load forecasting

tools that could help Discoms to manage variability in power procurement.

Power purchase cost reduction depends mainly on long-term PPAs (Power

Purchase Agreements) with generators, short term power procurement, accurate

demand forecasting, and planning. Shri R.K. Choudhary, Member, BERC suggested

that DISCOMs should actively consider following issues in order to reduce Power

purchase cost :-

i. Merit Order Dispatch (MOD);

The Discoms stated that Merit Order Dispatch (MOD) principle is being followed

regularly and plant-wise, power procurement based on MOD is being submitted



from January 2020. The Member/IEX stated that the MOD is being followed by

the Discoms in case of power traded through exchange also. Commission

suggested that they should revise the formats for data submission in such a way

that MOD can be checked/monitored in each of the fifteen (15) minutes

block/cycle.

ii. PTC commission on power purchase from exchange;

The Director (Generation) stated that agreement with PTC is for three years and

the commission is being paid to PTC @ Rs. 0.028/kWh.

The Commission suggested the Discoms to purchase power directly from the

Exchange without engaging mediators (PTC) and the commission paid to PTC

should be set off against the interest on working capital allowed to Discoms.

iii. Security constrained economic dispatch (SCED);

Commission pointed out that for energy sold under SCED, DISCOMs are entitled

for incentive and accordingly NLDC/CTU has commenced paying incentives to the

DISCOMs from April-2019. However DISCOMs of Bihar have not considered the

same in tariff petition. Director (Generation) confirmed that the amount of Rs.

7.28 Cr of 1st Quarter of FY 2019-20 has been paid by the SLDC and urged to look

into it and factor it in tariff petition of DISCOMs.

iv. Banking of power;

Director(Generation) noted that they have taken out NIT for banking of

power. Commission appreciates the efforts made by the DISCOMs.

v. URS by Generator;

Commission pointed that un-requisitioned supply of power (URS) if sold by

DISCOMs shall yield less net revenue than if it is sold by Generator as the

DISCOMs would be charged transmission charge two times. Director

(Generation) agreed and assured the Commission that necessary action will be

taken in this regard.

Presentation by BSPTCL on tariff petitions of BSPTCL and SLDC:

BSPTCL has made presentation on the Tariff Petitions of BSPTCL and SLDC. The

following comments/ observations/ suggestions were made.

1. Huge capex is projected in the Business plan but actual execution and

completion of the projects is far below the planned expenditure.



2. The increased capex and capitalisation is impacting the transmission tariffs

resulting in increase in consumer tariffs also.

3. Transmission infrastructure shall be created based on load flow/demand

study.

4. Transmission system network shall be utilised at optimum level.

5. The BSPTCL stated that the transmission infrastructure is being created as per

the norms. The capex plans are discussed with the CEA before they are

envisaged.

6. The POC charges was discussed briefly in the meeting. BSPTCL stated that

CTU transmission charges based upon PoC methodology includes charges of

those components/elements which are not being used by Bihar Discoms

(socialization of HVDC charges, charges of assets created specifically for

target region etc.) It was pointed out that Bihar/BSPTCL has opposed it.

BCCI representatives raised their concern regarding development of huge

Infrastructure but not being utilized by Discoms fully resulting into increase of

retail tariff of the consumers.

In the light of steep increase in Capex of transmission companies retail tariff of

the Transco is bound to increase. The TRANSCO is passing on the entire cost to

Discoms irrespective of their utilization of all commissioned assets. Allocation of

cost should be based on actual utilization (put to use) assets instead of passing

on the entire cost to Discoms.

The Chairman BERC advised that no idle/redundant capacity beyond the

approved norms be created. Director BSPTCL has explained that the

infrastructure associated with transmission is being developed as per guidelines

and norms only. The Director (P)/SBPDCL, has explained that improvement of

infrastructure is required for system stability and to meet growth in demand in

future. The Chairman opined that the rising impact of transmission charges are

cause of concern to all and a study needs to be done to ascertain the optimum

requirement of the transmission infrastructure so that consumers are not unduly

burdened.

The Chairman thanked all the Members and officials present in the meeting for

attending the meeting and giving valuable suggestions. The Chairman assured



the members that the Commission would consider these suggestions while

passing the tariff orders of the Transmission, SLDC and Distribution companies.

The meeting ended with vote of thanks to Chair.

***

List of Participants of SAC

SI. No.

Name Designation Organisation

1 Shri S. K. Negi Chairman BERC

2 Shri Rajeev Amit Member BERC

3 Shri R. K. Choudhary Member BERC

4 Shri Sanjiwan Sinha Managing Director SBPDCL & BSPGCL

5 Shri Sandeep Kumar.R.P. Managing Director NBPDCL & BSPTCL

6 Shri S.K.P.Singh Director (Projects) NBPDCL

7 Shri Alok Kumar Director BREDA

8 Shri B.K.Pathak O.S.D, Representative of CEO JEEVIKA

9 Shri Ashish Sharma Manager IEX

10 Shri Umesh Poddar Chairman, Energy Committee BIA

11 Shri Sanjay Bhartiya Vice President BIA

12 Shri Subhash Patwari Convenor, Industry sub Committee

BCCI

13 Shri Arvind Kumar G.M (Revenue) SBPDCL

14 Shri Kumar Arun Prakash Special secretary MWRD

15 Shri Sheo Bachan Singh Under secretary Transport Dept, Bihar

16 Shri Adesh Titarmare Director Dept. of Agriculture, Bihar

17 Shri Pankaj Kumar Singh Director Industry Department

18 Shri Ashok Jiwrajka Advisor, Vidyuth Upaboktha Sangarsh Samiti

All the Social Organisation of Bhagalpur

19 Shri S.M.Sahay Ex-Member BERC

20 Shri R.P.Das Secretary BERC

21 Shri H.R.Pandey Director (Projects) BSPTCL

22 Shri Bhaskar Sharma Advisor (Technical) BSPTCL

23 Shri Kanik Ram Director (Operations) NBPDCL

24 Shri Ashok Kumar Director (Operations) SBPDCL

25 Shri Arun Kr.Sinha Director (Technical) BSPGCL

26 Shri Uttam Kumar Director (Operations) BSPTCL

27 Shri Sanjay Dayal Special Secretary Urban Development & Housing Department

28 Shri Vineet Kumar Consultant, Discoms PWC

29 Shri Abhijeet Ray Consultant, Discoms PWC



Annexure – II (Page 1 of 4) PUBLIC HEARING AT MUZAFFARPUR on 10.01.2020

Case No. 30/2019

Appearance on behalf of NBPDCL

1. Shri Jayjit Ray DGM (Rev.)/NBPDCL, Patna

2. Shri Pankaj Kumar EEE, NBPDCL, Muzaffarpur

3. Shri Raju Kumar EEE/ESD, NBPDCL, Muzaffarpur

4. Shri Sidharth Vardhan Rev. Officer, NBPDCL, Muzaffarpur

Appearance on behalf of stakeholder/Public

1. Shri Motilal Chhaparia President, North Western Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Chapra

2. Shri Shyam Sundar Bhimsera State-President, Laghu Udyog Bharti, Muzaffarpur

3. Shri Bharat Agrawal Ex Vice-President, Laghu Udyog Bharti, Muzaffarpur

4. Shri Shankar Kushwaha Mukhiya Pratinidhi, Basauli, Muzaffarpur

5. Shri Arvind Varun Secretary, Gandhi Shanti Prastisthan, Muzaffarpur

6. Shri Arjun Kumar Social Worker, Muzaffarpur

7. Shri Ishwar Gupta Manager, Ganesh Foundary & Casting Ltd., Muzaffarpur

8. Shri Ashok Kr. Deshbhakta National Chairman, Human Right Forum India, Muzaffarpur

9. Shri Pramod Kumar Bihar Cold Storage Association, Muzaffarpur

10. Shri Shiv Shankar Pd. Laghu Udyog Bharti

11. Shri Pankaj Kumar Advocate, Patahi, Muzaffarpur

12. Shri Shiv Nath Pd. Gupta Chairman (President), Uttar Bihar Uddami Sangh, Muzaffarpur

13. Shri Arun Dhanuka Chairman, North Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Muzaffarpur

14. Shri Nitin Gupta Manager, NBPDCL Patna



Annexure – II (Page 2 of 4) PUBLIC HEARING AT BHAGALPUR on 12.02.2020

Case No. 31/2019

Appearance on behalf of SBPDCL 1. Shri Arvind Kumar G.M (Rev.), SBPDCL, Patna

2. Shri Shri Ram Singh ESE, Bhagalpur, SBPDCL

3. Shri Sanjeev Kr. Gupta ESE/S/SBPDCL

4. Shri Nadeem Ahmad ESE (Com.), SBPDCL, Patna

5. Shri Prabhat Kr. Ranjan EEE/ESD/Naugachiya, Bhagalpur

6. Shri Irshad Akhtar EEE (Com.), SBPDCL, Patna

7. Shri Pankaj Kumar EEE/ESD/Banka, Bhagalpur

8. Shri Rakesh Kumar Nirala EEE/S/ Bhagalpur (East)

9. Shri Deepak Kumar Choudhary AEE (Com.) SBPDCL, Patna


1. Shri Ashok Kr. Jiwarajka

Advisor, Vidhut Upbokta Sangharsh Samiti & President, Bhagalpur Zila Naagrik Sangh

2. Shri Sandeep Jha Advocate, Consumer Forum, Bhagalpur

3. Shri Krishna Govind Agrawal President, Eastern Bihar Industries Association, Bhagalpur

4. Shri Prakash Chandra Gupta Convenor, Bijli Upbhokta Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

5. Shri Tabi Ahmad Javed Member, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Bhagalpur

6. Shri Pradeep Kumar

Chairman, Lodipur Packs Ltd. and President Kishan Morcha Bhagalpur

7. Shri Nejahat Ansari

Chairman, Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur Ghantaghar Chowk, Bhagalpur

8. Shri Ashfak Ansari

Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur Ghantaghar Chowk, Bhagalpur

9. Shri Shashi Suman Kr.Rai Jila Shanti Sah Anumanda Anushrawan Samiti, Bhagalpur

10. Shri Kailash Prasad Consumer, Pirpaiti, Bhagalpur

11. Shri Md. Juman Ansari Dy. President, Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

12. Shri Alok Agrawal Gen. Secretary, Eastern Bihar Industries Association, Bhagalpur

13. Shri B. Vivek Convenor, AAM AADMI PARTY, Bhagalpur

14. Shri Sanjay Kumar Joint Secretary, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Bhagalpur

15. Shri Dhirendra Singh Consumer, Naya Bazar, Bhagalpur

16. Shri Prakash Chandra Gupta Convenor, Bijli Upbhokta Sangharsh Samiti Bhagalpur

17. Shri Dhirendra Singh Consumer, Naya Bazar, Bhagalpur

18. Shri Yogendra Sah Pleader, Civil Court, Bhagalpur

19. Shri Farukh Azam Member, Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

20. Shri Md. Afjal Ansari Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

21. Shri Md. Sikandar Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur

22. Shri Md. Ayaz Ali Secretary Bunkar Sangharsh Samiti, Bhagalpur



Annexure – II (Page 3 of 4) PUBLIC HEARING AT GAYA on 18.01.2020

Case No. 31/2019

Appearance on behalf of SBPDCL

1 Shri Indra Deo Kumar ESE/ESC/Gaya, SBPDCL

2 Shri Nadeem Ahmad ESE (Commercial), SBPDCL, Patna

3 Shri Irshad Kumar EEE (Commercial), SBPDCL, Patna

4 Shri Abhijeet Kr. Saran EEE/S/ Manpur, Gaya

5 Shri Deepak Kumar EEE/U/ Manpur Gaya

6 Shri Lalit Kumar EEE/S/ Gaya (R)

7 Shri Santosh Kumar Revenue Officer, ESD, Gaya

8 Shri Balbir Pd. Bashist EEE/Project, Gaya

9 Shri Sunil Kumar EEE/S/Sherghati/Gaya

10 Shri Sujeet Kr. AEE/Rev/Gaya

11 Shri Rakesh Kr. AEE/ Bodh Gaya

12 Shri Ritesh Kumar Ojha AEE/S/Gaya

13 Shri Anil Kr. Bharti AEE/S/Gaya

14 Shri LalitRanjan AEE/ESD/Khizirsarai

15 Shri Gulsan Nandan Kr. AEE/Wazirganj

16 Shri Namish Sah Gupta IT Manager, ESD, Gaya (R)

17 Shri Atul A. Singh Sr. Associate, SBPDCL, Patna


1 Shri Shirish Prakash Past-president, Central Bihar Chamber of Commerce, Gaya

2 Shri Brijnandan Pathak Secretary, Vidyut Upbhokta Sangharsh Samitee, Gaya

3 Shri Praveen Kr. More Secretary, Central Bihar Chamber of Commerce, Gaya

4 Shri Prem Narayan President, Vastra Udyog Bunkar Samiti, Gaya



Annexure – II (Page 4 of 4) PUBLIC HEARING AT PATNA on 14.02.2020

Case No. 30/2019 (NBPDCL) and 31/2019 (SBPDCL) Appearance on behalf of SBPDCL

1 Shri Arvind Kumar GM (Rev.), SBPDCL, Patna

2 Shri Vijay Kumar Chief Engineer (Com.), SBPDCL, Patna

3 Shri Alok Kumar Sr. Manager, SBPDCL, Patna

4 Md. Zishan Ansari Accounts Officer, SBPDCL, Patna

5 Shri Nadeem Ahmad ESE (Com.), SBPDCL, Patna

6 Shri Purushottam Prasad ESE (Rev.), SBPDCL, Patna

7 Shri Irshad Akhtar EEE (Com.), SBPDCL, Patna

8 Shri Anand Suman EEE (PMC) BSPHCL, Patna

9 Shri Arun Kr. Sinha Director (Tech), BSPGCL

10 Shri Vineet Kumar Sr. Consultant SBPDCL

11 Ms Aditi Chaturvedi Consultant, PWC

Appearance on behalf of NBPDCL 1 Shri Kanik Ram Director (Operation), NBPDCL, Patna

2 Shri S.K.P. Singh Director (Project), NBPDCL, Patna

3 Shri Vijay Kumar GM (Rev.), NBPDCL, Patna

4 Shri Jayjit Ray DGM (Rev.), NBPDCL, Patna

5 Shri Deepak Kumar Chief Engineer (Comml.), NBPDCL, Patna

6 Shri Rajeev Kumar Singh ESE (Comml.), NBPDCL, Patna

7 Ms Sangita Saurabh AEE (Com.), NBPDCL, Patna

8 Shri Sidhartha Vardhan Revenue Officer, NBPDCL

9 Shri Vineet Kumar Sr. Consultant, NBPDCL

10 Ms AditiChaturvedi Consultant, PWC


1 Prof. Pramod Kumar Sharma President, Vaishali Vidyut Upbhokta Sangh, Vaishali

2 Shri Sanjay Bhartiya Director, Dina Iron $ Steel Ltd., Patna

3 Shri S. K. Patwari Director, Patwari Steels Pvt. Ltd., Patna

4 Shri Basudeo Prasad Director, Triveni Smeltors, Dak Bunglow Road, Patna

5 Shri Ram Saran Singh Convenor, Nav Chetna Manch, Mokama, Patna

6 Shri ArjunLal Advocate, Bihar Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Patna

7 Shri Doman Singh Consumer, DS-II Category Patna

8 Shri Pradeep Mehta Chairman, Jan Sangharsh Morcha, Patna

9 Shri Randhir Kumar Agriculture Consumer, Naubatpur, Patna

10 Shri Chandravardhan Pd. Pandey Consumer, Alamganj Patna City, Patna

11 Ms Swagun Srivastava Advocate, Bihar Steel Manufacturer Association, Patna

12 Shri Sangam Ajati Advocate, Bihar Steel Manufacturer Association, Patna

13 Shri Shikhar Mishra Advocate, Bihar Steel Manufacturer Association, Patna

14 Dr. Anwar Imam Vice President, Jan Sangharsh Morcha Bihar, Patna

15 Ms Sankuntla Prajapati Dy. Chairman, Jan Sangharsh Morcha Bihar, Patna

16 Shri Suman Kr. Thakur Consumer, Saharsa

17 Shri Shri L. B. Mathur Consumer, Patna City

18 Shri Girija Shankar Pd. J.G Foundary Ltd. Patna

19 Shri Sandeep Sahay Bharti Airtel Ltd. Patna

20 Shri Rituraj Kumar Consumer, Barh, Patna



Annexure-III



Annexure-IV



Annexure-V



Annexure-VI

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