Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission , Government of Mizoram, India

JOINT ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

FOR MANIPUR AND MIZORAM

AIZAWL : : : MIZORAM

D-31, M.G.Road, Upper Khatla

Aizawl,Mizoram-796001

Tel. No. : 0389-2310623

Fax: 0389-2301299

Website: www.jerc.mizoram.gov.in

Email: jerc.mm@gmail.com

NO.H.11019/16/09-JERC Dated Aizawl, the 27^th January, 2011.

MINUTES OF THE 5^TH MEETING OF THE STATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR MANIPUR HELD ON 15^TH JANUARY, 2011 AT THE CLASSIC HOTEL, IMPHAL

List of participants appended.

The Chairman gave a warm welcome to the members and others present in the meeting and wished them all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. During the brief opening speech, the Chairman informed that the tenure of the present SAC which was constituted two years ago, expires on 16^th January, 2011 and as such the 5^th meeting is going to be the last meeting for the present committee. The Chairman further stated that a new SAC shall be constituted when Pu C. Hmingthanzuala, Member JERC for Manipur and Mizoram becomes the Chairperson of this Commission w.e.f. 24^th January, 2011 and also welcomed the new Chairman in advance.

Agenda 1: Confirmation of the Minutes of the 4^th Meeting of the State Advisory Committee.

The Chairman sought the consent of the members to the confirmation of the Minutes of the 4^th Meeting of the State Advisory Committee which was circulated already to all Members.

After obtaining nod from each of the Members, the Chairman declared that the minutes of the 4^th SAC Meeting stand confirmed without any change.

Agenda- 2 : Tariff Petition for the FY 2010-2011

Giving adequate importance and priority to the main agenda, the Chairman, with the consent of the SAC, allowed the representative of M/S Feedback Ventures, Consultants for preparation of the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Tariff Petition FY2010, to offer power point presentation on the proposed ARR and Tariff Petition FY2010-11 on behalf of the Electricity Department, Manipur, before start of the discussion.

Shri J. Chauhan, Representative of M/S Feedback Ventures drew the attention of the members to the summary of ARR, Energy purchase & sale and proposed retail tariff circulated already to the members and briefly explained how it had arrived at those figures after the Department made the information and data available to the consultant. The members were then invited to offer their views and suggestions on each of the projections in the proposed ARR and tariff petition. A copy of the power point presentation is enclosed as Annexure-I. Agenda no. 2 was then discussed.

Shri S. Radhadamudor Singh, who represented the Director, Industries Department felt that the raise of the tariff to the extent of 80 p.c. over the existing tariff in respect of small and medium scale industries, is really high and further stated that with this kind of high electricity charge, the industry sector may not be able to attract young industrialists and entrepreneurs in the State.

Shri S. Chaothoi Singh, President, Manipur Industries Union, Imphal stated that the proposal of the Electricity Department to increase the average tariff by 31% is considered very high. He also endorsed the views of Shri Radhadamudor and opined that the hike of the electricity tariff on one hand and drastic cut of power supply on the other, shall not be in the interest of development of the Industry Sector and it will rather discourage.

Shri S. Rishikumar Singh, President, AMEA, Imphal also expressed disapproval to the tariff revision in view of the inadequate power supply, defective meters and lackadaisical attitude of the Department to consumers service. He also stated that recently, there was adoption / application of higher rate of energy by the Department without informing the consumers about the reasons for the increase. He strongly protested against the recent hike.

Shri N. Sarat Singh, Chief Engineer (Power), Electricity Department, Manipur made a deliberate attempt to convince the members that the amount being charged by the Department is far less than the amount the consumers should have paid had the meters been working perfectly. He informed that the application of the higher rate of tariff is due to increase of connected load by the individual consumers and is in accordance to the existing tariff notification. The Chief Engineer (Power) further informed the members of the initiatives taken by the Department under different schemes to replace the old Electro Magnetic type of Energy meters, both defective & good ones, with static type meters or Pre-paid meters.

The Chairman intervened and requested the Members to find out if their meters are perfectly working or otherwise and further added that if meters are not working then Department has to serve bills on minimum basis which was worked out 8 years before in a situation of normal power supply. The minimum charge as per the existing tariff may not be appropriate in the present power scenario. The committee may recommend to the Commission for fixing a reasonable charge at the time of tariff fixation.

Taking part in the discussion, Shri N. Shyamsundar Singh, Chief (Engineering), JERC for (M&M) sought a clarification from the consultant on whether the allocated share from the NHPC includes the 12 % free power and also whether the corresponding cost aspects are taken into considerations at the times of the assessment of ARR. Shri Chauhan asserted that both have been taken into considerations.

The Chairman stated that there is no proposal for purchase of power at any point of time from other sources than the Central Sector Generating Stations from where allocated shares of the State are available. In reply, Shri Chauhan classified that quantum of energy sold (112.50 MU), indicated in the energy calculation of the petition, is the net energy available for sale i.e. after deduction of the purchase from the sale. The Committee was therefore given to understand by the statement that the actual sale is much more than what is projected in the Petition. All members were of the view that sale outside the state when the duration of power supply is 5 to 8 hours a day is not justified. The Committee recommended to collect the correct sale and purchase data from the Department for consideration by the Commission while fixing tariff.

Pu. C. Hmingthanzuala, Member, JERC for (M&M) expressed the desire to know how the repayment of the capital of loan for which Interest & Finance Charges only are projected in the ARR, will be made when the same is not reflected in the proposed ARR. The Chairman also endorsed the view of the Member and sought a clarification on how a huge loan of Rs. 82 crore shall be repaid and also the reason for not indicating the same in the petition. The reply from the consultant was not convincing and therefore, it was decided to collect loan data and payment schedule before hand to have further discussion during the public hearing.

The Committee also found that there is a substantial reduction in the quantum of purchase of power during 2010-11 and the Department has not spelt out anywhere in the Petition the specific reason for that reduction. The Committee also observed that transfer of Rs. 15.15 crore to the next ARR in the form of Regulatory Asset would have a heavy impact on the next tariff. The Committee decided to request the Commission to carry out a detailed analysis of these implications before a proper decision is taken.

Members agreed that various aspects of the Petition have already been discussed and further discussion shall continue during Public Hearing.

Before concluding, the Chairman once again took the opportunity to thank the Members of the first State Advisory Committee of Manipur for their Constant co-operation and valuable contribution to a good cause of the State.

The meeting ended at 1:30 pm with a vote of thanks to the Chair.

(H. Bihari Singh)

Chairman

State Advisory Committee for Manipur

Memo No.H.11019/16/09-JERC : Dated Aizawl, the 27^th January, 2011.

Copy to:

PS to Hon’ble Minister, (Power), Govt. of Manipur, Imphal for kind information of the Hon’ble Minister.
PPS to Chief Secretary, Govt. of Manipur, Imphal for kind information of the Chief Secretary.
PS to Principal Secretary (Power), Govt. of Manipur for information and necessary action of the Principal Secretary.
All Members/Special Invitees of the State Advisory Committee of Manipur for kind information and necessary action.
Guard File.

(RICHARD ZOTHANKIMA)

Assistant Secretary

Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission

For Manipur & Mizoram.

List of Members and Invitees Present in the 5^th Meeting of the State Advisory Committee for the State of Maniupur held on 15^th January, 2011, Imphal.

A. Members: