Ranchi: In a move that will affect consumers across the industrial belt, the Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC) on Tuesday announced a revised power tariff for areas served by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for 2026-27.JSERC chairperson Justice Navneet Kumar said, “DVC proposed a 45% tariff hike; however, after a prudent check, the commission approved a 40% hike.”DVC is the primary supplier for Dhanbad and Bokaro districts, as well as several parts of Ramgarh, Hazaribag, Koderma, Giridih and Chatra.Low-tension (LT) domestic consumers will witness their energy charges drop from Rs 4.30 to Rs 4.25 per unit. However, LT commercial tariffs have been hiked from Rs 4.30 to Rs 4.80 per kWh.High-tension (HT) domestic consumers are hit particularly hard, with rates jumping from Rs 3.80 to Rs 5.30 per kVAh. Furthermore, their monthly fixed charges have increased from Rs 100 to Rs 115.Industries with 11 KV connections will see an increase of Rs 1.80 per unit, while 33 KV connection holders face a hike of Rs 1.70 per unit. Fixed charges for these industrial categories have been raised from Rs 400 to Rs 450.In addition to the base tariff, a regulatory asset adjustment surcharge of Rs 0.35/kWh will be levied across all consumer categories, except for irrigation and agriculture.In a bid to promote sustainable energy, the commission introduced a green energy tariff at the approved rate plus Rs 0.45/unit. For rooftop solar PV projects, the tariff has been fixed at Rs 4.16/kW for gross metering and Rs 3.80/kWh for net metering.To encourage timely collections and modernisation, JSERC announced a 2% rebate on bills paid within five days. Additionally, consumers switching to prepaid metering will be eligible for a 3% discount on their energy charges.Kishan Sanghai, an industrialist in Koderma who operates an iron factory, stated that an increase in tariffs would adversely affect production and that they would incur losses. “Moreover, diesel is not readily available; the factory relies entirely on electricity for its operations,” he added.
