Subsidy allocation for domestic power consumers declined over the years: Report

According to the report, “Monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of Tangedco”, the average State government subsidy per unit sold was Rs 0.92 per unit in 2014-15, which came down to Rs 0.87 per unit in 2018-19. 

For the domestic consumers, the average subsidy per unit sold was Rs 1.12 in 2014-15, which went up to Rs 1.8 in 2016-17 before falling to Rs 1.10, said the report.

On the other hand, the average agriculture subsidy granted per unit sold that was Rs 2.77 in 2014-15 went up to Rs 3.59 in 2018-19.

The report said that the State-run utility incurred losses on certain low voltage (LT) consumer categories, including domestic, huts, and agriculture, despite government subsidies and tariff cross-subsidies. “For all HT tariff categories, the utility earns a net positive revenue except the HT IV Lift Irrigation. This is one of the reasons for the poor financial performance of Tangedco,” it said. Tangedco incurred a revenue loss for every unit sold to HT and LT consumers at Rs 1.97 per unit in 2014-15, which increased by more than 50 percent to Rs 3.05 in 2018-19.

There is a growth in both the capacity and generation of Renewable Energy and Distributed Renewable Energy during the reporting period from FY 2014-15 to FY 2018-19. However, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission had reported in 2017 that Tangedco did not meet its Renewable Energy Purchase Obligation in any of these years. Due to this, the CO2 equivalent released increased by 10.05 percent during this period, the report said.

Inspired by the method of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, the report prepared by Auroville Consulting attempts to consolidate data on Tangedco’s performance. For this report, 34 key performance indicators were introduced and grouped under four categories: environment, social, governance and finance. “These KPIs would help Tangedco track its performance,” it said.

The report pointed out that there was also a lack of timely reporting of balance sheets and profit/loss statements to the public. “Data related to the KPIs under governance would be relatively new for Tangedco to start reporting. But this would help it track its own performance and help to set new targets,” the report added.