Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission Caps Open Access Surcharge at 20% of Supply Cost in Intra-State Regulations Amendment

The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (CSERC) has issued a set of regulations to amend the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Intra-State Open Access in Chhattisgarh) Regulations, 2011. These amendments, titled the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Intra-State Open Access in Chhattisgarh) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2023, will come into effect from April 1, 2024.

One of the key amendments pertains to Clause 33 (6) (iii) of the Principal Regulations. The new amendment states that the surcharge imposed on consumers will be determined based on the existing level of cross subsidy of the consumer’s tariff category, tariff slab, or voltage level. This calculation will be done using the average cost method, taking into account the difference between the average tariff for the consumer’s supply voltage and the average cost of supply for the licensee. However, the surcharge imposed cannot exceed 20% of the adjusted average cost of supply for that year.

To illustrate, if the calculated cross subsidy surcharge for the fiscal year 2024-25 is 200 paise per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and the adjusted average cost of supply for the same year is Rs. 6.75/kWh, the maximum permissible surcharge would be 135 paise per unit (20% of Rs. 6.75/kWh). In this case, the surcharge of 200 paise per unit exceeds the permissible limit, so the applicable surcharge for the fiscal year 2024-25 would be 135 paise per unit.