ANDHRA PRADESH ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Hyderabad

 

Present

Sri K. Swaminathan, Chairman

Sri K Sreerama Murthy, Member

Sri Surinder Pal, Member


Dated:  22-03-2005

 

O.P. No.   05 of  2005

 

Anakapalli Rural Electric Co-operative Society Limited            …….     Applicant

 

The Commission having considered the ARR/ERC filings, the additional information and documents made available by the applicant (hereinafter referred to as the “RESCO”) and having stood over for consideration till this day passed the following:

 

ORDER

 

1.       The Anakapalli Rural Electric Co-operative Society Limited has been exempted from the requirement of obtaining a Distribution and Retail Supply Licence for the supply area specified in the Licence granted to it earlier under AP Electricity Reform Act, 1998 for one year, from 10-06-2004 to 09-06-2005 as per the orders of the Commission dated 15-06-2004.  As per terms and conditions contained in the said exemption order, the RESCO is required to file its Aggregate Revenue Requirement / Expected Revenue from Charges (ARR / ERC) for the ensuing year by 30th November of each year.

 

2.       The RESCO filed its ARR/ERC for the year 2005-06 on 29th November 2004. The ARR/ERC filings by the RESCO were found to be deficient in certain aspects and therefore, clarifications were sought from it. The staff of the Commission was asked to discuss with the officials of RESCO on 16-02-2005 on various issues related to the ARR / ERC calculations of the RESCO. The clarifications made and further details furnished by the RESCO were placed before the Commission.  

 

3.       The Commission analyzed the RESCO’s filings and the representations made to the Commission in the filings, and considered the additional information submitted and clarifications provided by the RESCO. The Commission’s decisions thereon are detailed herein.

 

4.                 REVENUE REQUIREMENT

 

(a)      CAPITAL BASE

 

 

(i)      Original Cost of Fixed Assets (OCFA) and Capital Works – in - progress (CWIP):

 

The RESCO has projected Rs.2,825.49 lakhs under OCFA and                Rs. 214.78 lakhs under CWIP in the ARR / ERC filings for the year 2005-06. Based on the audited accounts for the year 2003-04 and the approved ARR for FY 2004-05 and projections for the ensuing year submitted by the RESCO, the OCFA is arrived at Rs.2,750.49 lakhs, after adjustment of consumer contributions and grants from other sources received by the RESCO.

 

(ii)     Working Capital:

(a)  Average Cost of Stores

(b)  Average Cash and Bank Balances

 

The RESCO has projected Rs. 2.50 lakhs towards average cost of stores and Rs. 32.00 lakhs towards average cash and bank balance.  The Commission admits Rs.2.67 lakhs towards average cost of stores representing one month’s average repairs and maintenance expenses and Rs.32.86 lakhs towards average cash and bank balance representing one month’s all other expenses excluding power purchase cost. 

 

(iii)    Accumulated Depreciation:

 

The figure projected by the RESCO (Rs. 1,234.82 lakhs) in the filing has been accepted without change, based on the latest audited accounts for the year 2003-04 and the projections for the current year and the ensuing year.

 

(iv)    Other items:

 

The projections by the RESCO towards Consumer Security Deposits (Rs.75.35 lakhs) and Development / Tariff & Dividend Reserve (Rs.85.60 lakhs) have been allowed as per its filing.  Interest on consumer security deposits (Rs.18.41 lakhs) has not, however, been considered on the negative side of capital base.  The RESCO has pre-closed its loans from REC and loans from Public Enterprises Department, Govt. of A.P.   

 

(v)     Summary of Capital Base:

 

With the above changes, the Net Capital Base of Rs. 1,660.59 lakhs projected by the RESCO comes down to Rs. 1605.03 lakhs as per the details given in the following table:

 

Table- 1

Statement of Capital Base

                                                                   (Rs. in Lakhs)

Sl. No.

Positive elements

RESCO

APERC

1

Original Cost of Fixed Assets

2825.49

2750.49

2

Capital Works in Progress

214.78

214.78

3

Working Capital

 

 

 

a) Average Cost of Stores

2.50

2.67

 

b) Avg Cash and Bank balance

32.00

32.86

A

Total of positive elements of Capital Base

3074.77

3000.80

 

Negative Elements

 

 

1

Accumulated Depreciation

1234.82

1234.82

2

Approved Loans

0.00

0.00

3

Consumer Security Deposit

75.35

75.35

4

Interest on consumer security deposits

18.41

0.00

5

Development/Tariff & Dividend Reserve

85.60

85.60

B

Total of negative elements of Capital Base

1414.18

1395.77

 

Net Capital Base (A-B)

1660.59

1605.03

 

 

 

(b)     Expenditure Items

 

(i)      Wages and Salaries:

 

The RESCO made a projection of Rs.265.00 lakhs. Based on the additional information furnished, an amount of Rs.262.00 lakhs is approved by the Commission under this Head.

 

(ii)     Administration and General Expenses and Repairs and Maintenance :

 

The RESCO made projections of Rs.45.00 lakhs and Rs. 40.00 lakhs under these heads which are reduced to Rs.38.00 lakhs and Rs.32.00 lakhs respectively based on the audited accounts for the year 2003-04 and approved ARR for FY 2004-05.

 

(iii)           Other expenditure items :

The projections of the RESCO under Rent, Rates & Taxes (Rs. 2.50 lakhs), legal charges (Rs. 1.00 lakh) and Auditors' Fees (Rs. 4.50 lakhs) have been allowed without any change based on past trend. Depreciation (Rs.154.00 lakhs), Contribution to Employee funds (Rs.40.00 lakhs), Contribution to Contingencies Reserve (Rs. 5.00 lakhs), Interest on Security Deposits           (Rs. 2.10 lakhs) and other expenses (Rs.30.00 lakhs) have been adjusted to the actual calculated figures of Rs.154.38 lakhs, Rs.36.00 lakhs, Rs.6.88 lakhs, Rs.4.52 lakhs and Rs.19.30 lakhs respectively based on prescribed norms.

 

(iv)    Total expenditure:

 

Based on the above changes, the total expenditure (exclusive of expenditure on power purchase) works out to Rs. 561.08 lakhs as against the RESCO's projection of Rs. 589.10 lakhs as detailed below:

 

Table – 2

Statement of Expenditure

                                                                   Rs. in Lakhs

Sl. No.

Particulars

RESCO

APERC

1

Wages and Salaries

265.00

262.00

2

Admn & General Expenses

45.00

38.00

3

Repairs and Maintenance

40.00

32.00

4

Rent, Rates & Taxes

2.50

2.50

5

Approved Loan Interest

0.00

0.00

6

Depreciation

154.00

154.38

7

Contbn. to Employee Funds

40.00

36.00

8

Contbn. to Contingency Reserve

5.00

6.88

9

Interest on Security Deposit

2.10

4.52

10

Legal Charges

1.00

1.00

11

Auditors' Fees

4.50

4.50

12

Other Expenses

30.00

19.30

13

Total Expenditure

(excluding purchase of energy)

589.10

561.08

 

(c)      Reasonable Return:

 

Based on the above changes to the Capital Base (accepted by the RESCO), the reasonable return woks out to Rs.256.80 lakhs as against Rs.266.12 lakhs projected by it.

 

(d)     Non-tariff Income:

 

The RESCO has projected an amount of Rs. 201.20 lakhs (including customer charges) under this head and the Commission has accepted the same.

 

(e)     The Revenue Requirement for the FY 2005-06

(Excluding power purchase cost)

 

The Aggregate Revenue Requirement (excluding power purchase cost) works out to   Rs. 616.68 lakhs as against Rs. 654.02 lakhs projected by the RESCO. This is after taking into account the Reasonable Return of Rs. 256.80 lakhs and Non-Tariff income of Rs.201.20 lakhs.

 

(f)      Efficiency Gains:

           The RESCO has not projected any efficiency gains for FY 2005-06.  The Commission desires that the RESCO should improve its efficiency to reduce losses and collect all the outstanding arrears towards sale of energy.  The Commission has fixed Rs.20.00 lakhs towards the efficiency gains, considering its total power demand of 90 MU and efficiency already achieved during the last five years. Thus, the net aggregate revenue requirement works out to Rs.596.68 lakhs. 

 

 

(g)      Expected revenue from charges:

 

The RESCO has filed the Expected Revenue from Charges at Rs.1187.21 lakhs (excluding customer charges) based on current Tariff Rates effective from 01-04-2004 except for agricultural category, where the revenue has been revised by the RESCO as per new modified Agricultural policy of Government of Andhra Pradesh.  This is adopted for the calculation of amount available with the RESCO for power purchases.  Category-wise sales and revenue projected by the RESCO and as approved by the Commission are given in the table below:

Table – 3

Category -wise Sales and Revenue

 

Sl.

 

RESCO

APERC

No.

CATEGORY

Sales

Revenue

Sales

Revenue

 

 

MU

Rs. Lakhs

MU

Rs. Lakhs

1

LT I - Domestic

32.33

595.66

32.33

595.66

2

LT II - Non-Domestic

3.36

180.82

3.36

180.82

3

LT III - Industrial

7.30

338.68

7.30

338.68

4

LT IV - Cottage Industries

0.03

0.61

0.03

0.61

5

LT V - Irrigation and Agriculture

28.75

8.86

28.75

8.86