BUILDING SERVICES

SWARNIM JAIN
SHUBHANGI PAHUJA
PRATYUSH GUPTA
DEEKSHA MALHOTRA
3C

Electricity Meter:
An electricity meter measures the electrical consumption and
displays it on the screen. But we are used to the electricity meters
(electromechanical or electronic)which measure the total
electricity consumption of the entire house or office.

MDI Maximum Demand Indicator

When you signup for commercial electricity connection from a
utility, you have to specify the maximum demand (in kVA) that
you need. During the month if you exceed your maximum
demand you have to pay penalty (or extra price) for the same.
That is the MDI penalty that appears on electricity bills.
Multiplication Factor (MF)

MF means Multiplying Factor which is used to calculate your

bill.

Energy meters are generally designed to withstand

continuously 440 Volts and a maximum of 60 A current.

If customer's load is more than 60 A or supply voltage is

higher than 440 Volts, Current and voltage transformers are
used in metering circuit to restrict the current and voltage to
the rated capacity of meter.

These transformers reduce the voltage & current applied to

meter in certain proportion which is called transformation
ratio.

The consumption recorded by the meter is therefore less

than the actual consumption of the customer in the same
proportion.

To arrive at actual consumption of customer, consumption

registered by meter is multiplied by proportionality factor
which is called Multiplying factor or MF.

Thus MF = CT ratio X VT ratio

The ratio for CT & VT for a particular customer is designed in

accordance with customer's load requirement and load
patter
Time of Day
Time of Day (or TOD) tariff is a tariff structure in which
different rates are applicable for use of electricity at different

time of the day. It means that cost of using 1 unit of

electricity will be different in mornings, noon, evenings and
nights. This means that using appliances during certain time
of the day will be cheaper than using them during other
times.

Fixed ChargesConnected Load is the total pool of supply that is given to a meter.
This is calculated in kW (or Killo-Watts). This is the total peak kW
given to a meter based on the appliances connected to the meter.
This is not your actual energy consumption and only impacts fixed
charges on your electicity bill. Connected load also determines if
the connection will be a single phase or three phase. If load is
more then supply is three phase and thus fixed charges are more.
Utilities also charge more fixed cost for incremental connected
load.
FSA (Fuel Surcharge Allowance) Charge
Or FAC (Fuel Adjustment Charge) or FCA (Fuel Cost Adjustment) or
FPPCA (Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment) is amount that
utilities apply on bills based on varying price of fuel or Coal. The
price of coal or fuel changes every month based on demand and
supply of coal and thus cost of producing electricity changes
accordingly. The electricity generation companies pass on this cost
to distribution companies who there by pass it on to consumers.
Electricity Duty/Tax
Electricity duty is charged on consumption and is mostly a rate
that is applicable per unit of electricity consumed. So higher the
number of units, higher will be the electricity duty amount. In
some states it is also applied as percentage of total charges
(electricity usage + fixed charges) and in some states both are
applicable. So the best way to reduce this amount is to reduce the
units consumed per month. Thus taking energy efficiency
measures or energy conservation measures will also reduce the
electricity duty amounts on your electricity bills.
Slab Calculation
In all states the tariff structures for residential consumers are
designed in such a way that per unit charge is less if your
consumption is less and more if your consumption is more. In fact
it increases significantly as you increase your electricity
consumption. For e.g. in Mumbai Reliance energy has following
tariff:

First 100 units: Rs 2.96/unit

Next 200 units (from 101 to 300): Rs 5.56/unit
Next 200 units (from 301 to 500): Rs 9.16/unit
Any units after that (above 500): Rs 10.61/unit
So taking the above case, if your consumption is less than 100
units, you just pay Rs 2.96 per unit. But if your consumption
increases beyond 500 units, every unit above 500 is charged at Rs
10.61 per unit. So if you consumed 540 units in a month, your bill
will be calculated as:
First 100 units @ Rs 2.96 = Rs 296
Next 200 units @ Rs 5.56 = Rs 1112
Next 200 units @ Rs 9.16 = Rs 1832
Final 40 units @ Rs 10.61= Rs 424.4
So if you see you pay higher amounts per unit as your
consumption increases. The motive behind such structure is to
motivate people to consume less electricity.
Monthly Minimum Charges are Rs 46 per kW. Minimum
Fixed charge of Rs 160 per month for consumption less than 150
units, Rs 175 per month for consumption between 150-300 units,
Rs 210 per month for consumption between 300-500 units and Rs
225 per month for consumption above 500 units . No impact of
connected load.

Harya
na

Fixed Charges are Rs 100 per kW for 1st 2 kW and

additional Rs 60 per kW after 2 kW

Excess load Surcharge

Excess connected load Surcharge. If the connected load of a
consumer exceeds the sanctioned load, the excess load shall be

treated as unauthorized load. Wherever use of unauthorized load if

detected by the Nigam, the excess load shall be charged at the
rate of Rs. 70/- per kW per month for the preceding six months and
onwards till complete papers along with Advance Consumption
Deposit are submitted for regularizing such extension in connected
load.
Line Service Charge
Line Service Charges (per month) At a flat rate of 4% of the cost of
service line (excluding the cost of 30 metres) and equipment
(other than meter(s)) except in the case of industrial/Bulk
supply/NDS connections who have paid service connection charges
Tariff Structure: It is very important to note the tariff structure
on your bill, as this is the best indicator of how the bill can be
reduced. Typically for residential and SMB commercial connections,
the structure is slab based (unlike industrial connections where
units are charged at a high flat rate). The intent behind the slab
structure is to reward low energy users and charge extra to those
who have high consumption. The slabs are based on the Units
Consumed that we discussed earlier. As the number of units
consumed increase, energy charge changes and also the fixed
costs associated with the slab increases. Below is a sample of tariff
structure from a bill from Mumbai:

2(
a)

Meter Installation Charges: The licensee shall recover

meter installation charges as per following rates irrespective
of the fact whether the meter has been supplied by the
consumer or the licensee.
(i) Single Phase
Meter

Rs. 100 Per meter

(ii) Three Phase

Meter

Rs. 200 Per meter

(iii) Three Phase

Meter (with CTs &
PTs)

3% of the cost of the meter / metering

equipment subject to a minimum of Rs.
500/-.