KSEB to submit proposal to Regulatory Commission for recovery of ‘reasonable expenditure’ incurred on providing service connections

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has proposed a per kilowatt (kW) rate of ₹1,800 for providing service connections under the Low Tension (LT) category.

The KSEB management has decided to submit a proposal in this regard to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission for the recovery of “reasonable expenditure” incurred in providing service connections. The rate proposed for the LT category includes connections that require the installation of transformers, according to the KSEB decision.

For the High Tension (HT) category, the KSEB has proposed two rates: ₹2,006 per kilo-volt ampere (kVA) for connections without ring main unit (RMU) and ₹10,352 for those with RMU.

The KSEB is filing its proposal in response to a direction issued by the commission in December 2024.

While issuing detailed orders on the cost data and per kVA rates for distribution works last year, the commission had directed the KSEB to file a separate petition for approval of per kVA/kW rates.

The Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, notified by the Centre, insists that new service connections be based on per-kVA/kW rates. As per Supply Code, 2014, the distribution licensee can recover ‘reasonable expenditure’ incurred for providing service connections from an applicant based on the cost data approved by the regulatory commission.

The KSEB has drafted its proposal based on an analysis of consumer data between February 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025.