Your electricity bills set to rise by rs 10,000 a year

Upwardly mobile households with two air-conditioners (ACs) and a host of gadgets at home will now have to shell out at least Rs
10,000 more on their power bills a year. This would be a 12 per cent hike against previous year – double the national inflation rate.
Experts say next year the rise would be higher as a new environment norm kicks in.

“These household run ACs for about nine hours a day and consume around 800 units of power a month on an average. This
category of consumers end up paying a shade over Rs 8 for every unit of power consumed and their monthly average bill is around
Rs 6,500,” said an energy analyst.

“Since January, cost of power generation and transmission charges have gone up by about 70 paise per unit,” an executive from a
power company said. “For a 70 paise per unit hike in power input costs for distribution companies, these category of consumers
will see their monthly bill rise to Rs 7,300 per month. The rise would be the effect of the hike in power and transmission costs,
proportionate rise in government duty and other charges,” said an executive from a power distribution company.