AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) Chairman Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy said that a financially weak DISCOM not only affects consumer services but would also have an adverse impact on the economy.
In his message to the power sector stakeholders on the eve of the completion of the online public hearings on the DISCOMs’ annual revenue requirement and tariff filings for the 2022-23 financial year, Justice Nagarjuna Reddy observed that there was a need to balance the interest of consumers and DISCOMs and to focus on improving their financial stability and operational efficiencies.
He said protection of the consumers’ interests and strengthening power utilities were the two major objectives of the commission, and as power utilities in the State faced severe financial crisis, APERC felt that it was high time for the consumers and other stakeholders to support the DISCOMs to enable them to provide reliable, quality power.
He insisted that the APERC and power utilities should work together for the development of the sector.
Justice Nagarjuna Reddy said he and commission members P. Rajagopal Reddy and Thakur Rama Singh were closely monitoring the investment proposals of DISCOMs and that they had introduced automatic compensation in case of failure to meet certain service standards.
The commission is periodically tracking the standards of performance and other service issues related to the consumers, the APERC chief added.
