High power bills shock APEPDCL consumers

Nearly 73 lakh consumers of Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL), headquartered in Visakhapatnam, are facing unusually high electricity bills. Many allege that authorities are adding extra charges to recover expenditures or losses incurred in previous years.

According to one electricity bill (No. 116597XXXXXX741), 342 units were billed, and the total net amount came to ₹2,444.55. This included ₹169.46 under Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA1), ₹83 under FPPCA2, and ₹0.45 under FPPCA3. As a result, all APEPDCL consumers are seeing monthly bills with these additional FPPCA charges.

When questioned earlier this month, DISCOM officials explained that the collection of FPPCA, or true-up charges, began in 2008. These charges are collected according to orders from the A.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) and guidelines issued by the State Government. DISCOMs submit annual expenditure reports to APERC showing the costs of power procurement. If the actual costs exceed estimates, DISCOM requests recovery of the excess from consumers via FPPCA or through government subsidies.

APEPDCL had collected true-up charges for 2014–19 at a rate of seven paise per unit in 18 instalments, with the Visakhapatnam circle alone recovering around ₹696 crore during that period. Currently, the DISCOM is collecting FPPCA1 for 2022–23 in instalments from November 2024 to January 2026, FPPCA2 for 2023–24 in instalments from December 2024 to November 2026, and FPPCA3 for 2024–25 in instalments starting April 2024.

“In Visakhapatnam district, we completed collection of ₹696.15 crore in true-up charges for 2014–19. So far, we have collected around ₹500 crore through FPPCA 1, 2 and 3, and another ₹500 crore is to be collected from 10.15 lakh electricity connections in the Visakhapatnam circle,” a senior APEPDCL official at the corporate office told The Hindu. The official added that earlier, DISCOMs collected true-up charges for periods ranging from one to five years, but under the latest guidelines, these charges are recovered based on the previous month’s electricity consumption. This approach benefits consumers, as they no longer have to pay additional charges for prior consumption.

Currently, FPPCA of ₹0.40 per unit is levied on electricity bills. This charge reflects the actual costs of fuel and power procurement, which can fluctuate due to market conditions. APERC allows automatic monthly adjustments to bills to account for such variations.