Power to cost more in Punjab from this month

It's not just soaring temperature but also rise in electricity bills that Punjab residents will have to deal with this summer, with the state today announcing an average hike of 7.5% in tariff from this month.

The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) said that the new tariff would translate into an additional collection of Rs 950 crore for the state.

Domestic consumers, who use up to 100 units, will see their bills go up by 29 paise per unit. The ones using 100-300 units will have to shell out 24 paise more per unit and above 300 units it would cost 26 paise more a unit.

"Power tariff for the year 2010-11 has been increased by 7.5%, across all the categories," Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) Chairman Jai Singh Gill told reporters.

For farmers the hike will be 35 paise per unit. The new rates of power in farm sector would now stand at 320 paise per kwh.

They would have to pay to power utility at a rate of Rs 50 per bhp (335 Watts) while the rest of cost (Rs. 223 per bhp) would be borne by state government in the form of subsidy, as decided by the state government this year.

The total power subsidy to farm has been pegged at Rs2,702.87 crore for 2010-11 against last year's subsidy of 2,796.99 crore.

The power rates for industrial segment including small, medium, large and arc furnaces have been raised by 5.72%, he said.