4/17/2016

AssamPowerDistributionCompanyLtd.

AssamPowerDistributionCompanyLtd.

(CIN:U40109AS2003SGC007242)

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Home>FAQ

WhatYouNeedtoKnowaboutAssam'sPowerScenarioandTariffs

FreequentlyAskedQuestions:

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1.

Howelectricitytariffisdetermined?Whodeterminestheelectricitytariff?

2.

WhatisFuel&PowerPurchasePriceAdjustment(FPPPA)charge?DoesAPDCLhavetheauthoritytolevyFPPPA
charge?

3.

WhythepresentFPPPAchargeof69paise/unitislevied?

4.

WhatisTransmission&Distribution(T&D)loss?

5.

WhatmeasuresAPDCLhastakentoreduceTechnical&Commercialloss?

6.

HastheT&DlossofAPDCLdecreasedinthelastfewyears?WhatistheT&DlosstargetfixedbyAERC?

7.

WhythepowertariffofAssamishigherthanmostofthestatesofIndia?

8.

IsthenumberofemployeesinAPDCLveryhigh?

9.

WhataretheusualsourcesofpowerforAPDCLandAveragequantumofSupply?

10.

Whatistheshortfallinavailabilityofpower?WhatmeasureshasAPDCLtakentomeettheshortfall?

11.

Whatistheprojecteddemandforpowerinthenextfiveyears?Willthepowersituationimproveinthefuture?

12.

IsittruethatGovernmentestablishmentsarebilledonlumpsumbasis?Dotheypaytheirelectricitybills?

13.

Whatarethereasonsofpowerfailure/frequenttripping?WhatmeasureshaveAPDCLtakentoreduceit?

14.

WhyAPDCLdoesnotgiveadvancenoticeforLoadShedding/tripping?

1.

Howelectricitytariffisdetermined?Whodeterminestheelectricitytariff?

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Electricity tariff is fixed by the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC). Assam Power
Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) makes an annual or three years assessment of the revenue
requirement based on cost of power purchase, operation & maintenance, employees' salary,
administrative & general expenditure and files a petition before theAERC for fixation of the tariff for

differentcategoriesofconsumers.AERCfixesthetariffafterpublichearingwhereallthestakeholders
areinvolved.
2

WhatisFuel&PowerPurchasePriceAdjustment(FPPPA)charge?DoesAPDCLhavetheauthoritytolevyFPPPA
charge?
Tariffisgenerallyrevisedonceinayear.FPPPAchargeisleviedtotakecareoftheincreaseinfuelcost
to generating company and consequent increase in power purchase price by the distribution
companiesduringtheyearafterfixationofthetarifffortheyear.APDCLhastheauthoritytolevyFPPPA

charge as per the provision of the AERC (Fuel and Power Purchase Price Adjustment Formula)
Regulations,2010notifiedbytheCommissionundersection62(4)and181oftheElectricityAct2003.
3.

WhythepresentFPPPAchargeof69paise/unitislevied?

InJune2010,CentralGovt.enhancedthepriceofAPMandNonAPMnaturalgasby119%and58%
respectively.APDCLgets48%ofaveragepowersupplyfromgasbasedpowerstations,thegenerating
stationshavebeenraisingtheirbillsconsideringrevisepriceofgas.Theimpactofthepricehikein
natural gas as well as revision of tariff by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has added
incremental cost to APDCL on account of power purchase which need to be recovered by levying
FPPPAchargeof69paise/unit.TheentireamountrecoverablebylevyingFPPPAchargesisformaking

paymenttothegeneratingcompaniesforsupplyingpowertoAPDCLatincreasedprice.Thisisnotto
compensateanyotherloss.
4.

WhatisTransmission&Distribution(T&D)loss?

Thesumtotalof'Technical'and'Commercial'lossesaretermedasTransmission&Distribution(T&D)
Loss.TechnicalLoss:EveryelementinapowerSystem(alineoratransfomeretc)offersresistanceto
powerflowandthusconsumessomeenergywhileperformingthedutyexpectedofit.Thecumulative
energy consumed by all these elements is classified as "Technical Loss." Commercial Loss: Losses
occur on account of nonperforming and under performing meters, wrong applications of multiplying
factors,defectsinCT&PTcircuitry,metersnotread,pilferagebymanipulatingorbypassingofmeters,
theft by direct tapping etc. These are all due to nonmetering of actual consumption and are called

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commercial losses.The total of "Technical" and "Commercial" losses are termed are T&D loss.It is
unfortunatethatinadditiontotheabove,thereisalsoalossinrevenueduetononrealisationofbilled
demand.ThisisinadditiontocommerciallossesandtheaggregateofT&Dlossandrevenuelossdue
to nonrealisation is termed as "AT&C loss" (Aggregate technical and Commercial loss). Therefore
AT&Closstotheutilityisthesumtotaloftechnicalloss,commerciallossesandshortageduetonon
realisationoftotalbilleddemand.Example:

Units
Input
Unit
billed
T&D
Losses

100
MU
70
MU
30
MU

Revenuecollectionwithreferenceto
90%
billeddemand
Thismeansoutof70MUsales
63%
realizationisfor90%of70MU
ATClosses

37%

AggregateTechnicalandCommercial(AT&C)losses,whichincludetheft,nonbilling,incorrectbilling,
inefficiency in collection, and transmission and distribution losses.AT&C losses are calculated as
follows: (1 ATC Loss) = (1 T&D Loss) x (Collection Efficiency) = [(Units billed)/(Units input)] x
[(Rupeesrealised)/(Rupeesbilled)]Thereisanotherinterpretationofthisformula.Rearrangethetwo
terms in parentheses on the right hand side as follows: = [(Rupees realised)/(Units input)] x [(Units
billed)/(Rupeesbilled)]Thefirstterminsquarebracketsisthe"AverageRealisationRate".Theinverse
of the second term is the "Average Billing Rate". Therefore, (1 ATC Loss) = (Average Realisation
Rate)/(AverageBillingRate)
5.

WhatmeasuresAPDCLhastakentoreduceTechnical&Commercialloss?
a.Replacementofstoppedanddefectivemetersregularly
b.Installationofcheckedmetersinindustrialhouses&highpowerconsumingcustomers

c.Massivedisconnectiondrive
d.Useofcomputerizedsystemsformetering&billing

e. Infrastructure development through RAPDRP, Chief Minister's Power SupplyAssurance Mission,

AssamBikashYojana,ADBfinancedschemesetc.
f.Creationof12specialpolicestations?Creationof24hour'CentralElectricityTheftControlCentre'at
Guwahati(Dial9678005171)
g.Handingoverofruraldistributionfeederstofranchiseesforimprovedcollectionandservice.
6.

HastheT&DlossofAPDCLdecreasedinthelastfewyears?WhatistheT&DlosstargetfixedbyAERC?

Yes, the T&D loss of APDCL has been decreasing significantly in view of the steps taken by the
companyasapartofReformProgramme.
20030439%20070831%
20040537%20080927.5%
20050632%20091026.5%
20060731.5%20101125%

ThedistributionlossofAPDCLis25%,buttheoverallT&Dlossofthestatetakingintoaccountofthe
transmission loss ofAssam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited is 28% against the national average
T&Dlossof30%intheFYof201011.AERChasfixedtheT&DlosstargettoAPDCLis24.17%inthe
FY201112aspertarifforder20102013.OnlythelossapprovedbyAERCcanbepassedontothe
consumers.TherestofthelossmustbeabsorbedbyAPDCLitself.
7.

WhythepowertariffofAssamishigherthanmostofthestatesofIndia?
Costofdistributionishighbecauseoftheextensivenetworkofdifficultterrain.
Domesticconsumersconstitute88%ofthetotalconsumers.
LowVoltageconsumptionconstitutesmorethan50%ofthetotalconsumption.
Quantum of energy handled is less in comparison with states with higher population. For
example,WestBengal

StateElectricityDistributionCompanyLimitedwith22000employeeshandlesaverage30000Million
UnitsperyearwhereasAPDCLwith14525employeeshandlesonly5000MillionUnits.Thereforefixed
costperunitinAPDCLisaround25%whereasitisonly10%incaseofWBSEDCL
8.

IsthenumberofemployeesinAPDCLveryhigh?
The total employees ofASEB in 198081 were 22822 to handle less than 300 MW. In 200203, the
manpowerwas17316tohandle500MWpeakload.Butthepresentmanpowerstrengthofsuccessor

companiesofASEBtohandle1100MWis14525including11232nos.ofAPDCL.
9.

WhataretheusualsourcesofpowerforAPDCLandAveragequantumofSupply?

Allotment

NEEPCO

558MW

347MW

469MW

NHPC

31MW

25MW

30MW

NTPC

162MW

70MW

10MW

APGCL

340MW

175MW

265MW

11MW

11MW

628MW

885MW

Total
Allotment
10.

AverageAvailability

OtherSource 28.5MW
119.5MW

OffPeak

Peak

Whatistheshortfallinavailabilityofpower?WhatmeasureshasAPDCLtakentomeettheshortfall?

Daytodayavailabilitydependsuponwaterdischargeintotherivers,gas/coalavailability&availability
of machines. As such APDCL does not receive the entire allotted power. Hence APDCL is always

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experiencingashortfalltothetuneof3070MWinoffpeakand200250MWinthepeakloadhours.
To meet this shortfall on the average 150 MW at peak hours have been purchased from Power

Exchangecontinuouslyathighrates.
11.

Whatistheprojecteddemandforpowerinthenextfiveyears?Willthepowersituationimproveinthefuture?

TheCentralElectricityAuthorityprojectsthepeakpowerdemandtobe1134MWinthecurrentyeari.e.
201112.By201516,thedemandisexpectedtoreach1606MW.
However,thepowersituationofAssamislikelytoimprovebytheyear2012,whenAPDCLwillreceive

additional240MW,120MWeachfromBongaigaonTPS&PalatanaTPSrespectively.Alongwithother
sourcestheavailabilityofpowerisexpectedtoincreasebyanadditional300MWbytheendof2012.It
isalsoexpectedtoreceiveadditional300MWin2013fromthetwopowerstationsmentionedabove.
12.

IsittruethatGovernmentestablishmentsarebilledonlumpsumbasis?Dotheypaytheirelectricitybills?

Governmentestablishmentsarenotbilledonlumpsumbasis.APDCLhasbeenraisingelectricitybills
toGovernmentestablishmentsonthebasisofenergymeterreadings.Thusthroughindividualmetering
power consumption of all Govt. establishments is accounted and paid for. However, the State
Government may provide electricity internally to some of the consumers on lumpsum basis but this
actiondoesnotimpactthepowertariff.

TheGovernmentofAssampaysafixedamountofRs.6croreinadvanceeverymonthonaregular
basiswhichisadjustedagainsttheactualbillingamount.Iftheactualamountismorethanthisfixed
payment,theremainingamountiskeptoutstanding.Ason31stMarch2011,anarrearofRs.52croreis
outstandingasduestobepaidbytheGovernment.TheStateGovernmenthasprovidedfortheamount
inthebudgetof201112tobepaidtoAPDCL.
13.

Whatarethereasonsofpowerfailure/frequenttripping?WhatmeasureshaveAPDCLtakentoreduceit?

Loadsheddingduetononavailabilityofpower
Inspiteofvastimprovementdistributionnetworkstillfragile
Preventive/breakdownmaintenance
Linefaultduetobreakdownoflinematerial
Transientfaultontheline
Overloadingoftheequipments
Breakdownofcircuitbreaker,CT,PTetc.
Sabotagebymiscreantsetc.

Toreducefrequenttripping,thesubtransmission&distributionsystemofAPDCLisbeingupgraded
underdifferentprojectssponsoredbyState/CentralGovt.likeADB(PhaseII),RAPDRP,AssamBikash
Yogana,AdditionalCentralAssistance,TradeDevelopmentFundandChiefMinister'sPowerSupply
AssuranceMissionetc.underAnnualPlan.Aftercompletionoftheprojects,mostoftheunscheduled
trippingcanbeavoided.
14.

WhyAPDCLdoesnotgiveadvancenoticeforLoadShedding/tripping?

Alleffortsaremadetogiveadvancenoticebutonmanyoccasionssuddenloadsheddingbecomes
absolutely necessary to prevent grid collapse or maintain the system. Fragile infrastructure and
weatherconditionsalsocausetripping.However,asmentionedaboveAPDCLismakingitsbestefforts

andtakingnecessarystepstoreduceunscheduledloadsheddingortripping.

Baseline:APDCLappealstotheiresteemedconsumerstobearwiththemandalsotoextendtheirfullsupportandco
operationtodetecttheftofenergyandadoptenergyconservationmeasures.

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