LUCKNOW: For the seventh consecutive year, Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has kept power tariffs unchanged in the state.The commission led by chairman Arvind Kumar and member Sanjay Kumar Singh, on Thursday announced the tariff order for all five state-owned discoms for the financial year 2026-27.While the discoms had sought approval to recover Rs 1,18,742 crore through electricity charges, UPERC approved a lower aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) of Rs 1,13,785 crore after reducing several expenses.ARR is the total annual expenditure of a power company that it needs to recover through electricity bills, government subsidy, and other income.The state govt has also increased its electricity subsidy from Rs 17,100 crore to Rs 20,400 crore. With this subsidy, the utilities are expected to earn about Rs 1,11,205 crore under the existing tariff structure, avoiding the need for a tariff hike.One of the biggest decisions was the rejection of a proposal to recover Rs 3,838 crore spent on smart meters from consumers. The Commission said the power utilities had not submitted enough evidence to prove that smart meters had improved their finances. Therefore, the cost cannot be passed on to consumers.UPERC also asked for discoms to improve their efficiency. It reduced the approved distribution loss level to 12.91 per cent, compared to the 13.71 per cent proposed by UPPCL.Lower distribution losses mean less electricity is wasted or lost due to theft and technical reasons.The Commission fixed the average cost of supply at Rs 7.96 per unit, while the Average Billing Rate has been set at Rs 7.78 per unit. The small difference between the two will be covered through govt subsidy and better operational efficiency.According to the tariff order, changes in the Multi Year Tariff (MYT) regulations are expected to give UPPCL a surplus of around Rs 2,579 crore in 2026-27.To encourage the use of electric vehicles, UPERC introduced a single-part tariff for battery swapping and EV charging stations. It also announced a 20 per cent discount on electricity used for charging electric vehicles between 9 am and 4 pm.The Commission also decided to continue the 10 per cent rebate for consumers served by Noida Power Company, rejecting a proposal to withdraw the benefit.Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad (UPRVUP) chairman and state advisory committee member Avdhesh Kumar Verma welcomed the tariff order claiming it was the first time any state had maintained electricity tariffs at the same level for seven straight years.UP energy minister Arvind Kumar Sharma, in a post on X, said tariffs had been kept unchanged for the seventh consecutive year even as the state achieved record electricity supply of 32,673 MW.
