The state discoms have spent Rs 3,992 crore to buy additional power for the first seven months of the 2012-2013 fiscal.
This has put an additional burden on the discoms, upsetting their financial situation. Last year, the distribution companies spent Rs 3,498 crore to purchase power from other states.
The additional power purchase, in fact, has been constantly on the rise for the last three years. It stood at from Rs 2,082 crore in 2010-11.
The four discoms in Andhra Pradesh are already reeling under a financial crisis. At the same time, the Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA) claims amount, already been spent on by the discoms over the last three years, is now unrecoverable till another ruling is passed in their favour by the Supreme Court.
The discom claims for FSA for the earlier three years is of Rs 6,500 crore, of which Rs 3,000-crore claim has been turned down.
Also, the discoms have over Rs 10,000 crore accumulated losses to deal with. While officials have been saying that the sector in the state is on the verge of a collapse, the approval of FSA claims for the last four years are yet to be collected.
Currently, the FSA claims for the first quarter of 2011-2012 is being collected from consumers, but that does not help the discoms much in managing the funds.
The energy department’s plan, in fact, to invest Rs 6,000 crore per annum for long-term power purchases annually will also be upset by the short-term purchases., say sources.