Andhra Pradesh industrial electricity tariff: HT III(A) and LT III(A).

Who this page covers

Andhra Pradesh has three distribution companies: APEPDCL (Eastern Power Distribution Company), APCPDCL (Central Power Distribution Company) and APSPDCL (Southern Power Distribution Company), which have taken over the areas of the rural electric co-operatives (RESCOs). All three bill on one retail supply tariff set by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC). It applies from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

Industry is billed under two schedules:

• HT Category III(A) Industry (General): supply at 11 kV, 33 kV, 132 kV or 220 kV, with demand charges per kVA and every unit priced by the hour it is used.
• LT Category III(A) Industry (General): low-tension supply up to a connected load of 150 kW (200 HP), with fixed charges per kW. Above 75 kW (100 HP) the consumer may choose HT supply instead.

HT industry rates for 2026-27

HT III(A) industry pays a demand charge of ₹475 per kVA of billing demand a month. There is no single energy rate: every kVAh is billed at the rate of the hour it is used, and the peak rate is higher in the months of high grid demand.

Energy charges in ₹ per kVAh.

Every HT service also pays a customer charge of ₹1,406 a month at 11 kV and ₹2,813 at 33 kV and above. Other HT industry categories:

If colony consumption is not metered separately, 15% of the plant’s units are billed at ₹7.00 and the rest at the industry rates. A seasonal industry pays its off-season demand charge on the recorded demand or 30% of contract demand, whichever is higher, and is billed as III(A) during its season. HT commercial pays ₹1.00 per kVAh more from 6 to 10 pm.

LT III(A) industry rates

Energy charges in ₹ per kWh or kVAh.

The fixed charge is on the higher of contracted load and recorded demand. Three-phase LT industry is billed in kVAh, and then the ₹ per kW rate is applied per kVA. The LT customer charge goes by load: ₹63 a month up to 20 HP, ₹250 from 21 to 50 HP and ₹938 from 51 to 200 HP. Off-season, a seasonal LT industry pays ₹75 per kW on 30% of contracted load or the recorded demand, whichever is higher, and ₹7.45 per unit. Cottage industries up to 20 HP pay ₹20 per kW and ₹3.75 per unit.

A 60 kW LT industry using 12,000 kVAh a month, 2,500 of them from 6 to 10 pm and 4,000 from 10 am to 3 pm, pays about ₹84,338 before duty: ₹4,500 fixed, ₹78,900 energy and ₹938 customer charge.

Billing demand and the minimum energy charge

On HT, the demand charge is on the higher of the maximum demand recorded in the month and 80% of contract demand. Maximum demand is read over 30-minute blocks, or 15-minute blocks above 4,000 kVA of contract demand. A 500 kVA plant pays for at least 400 kVA every month, ₹1,90,000 at ₹475. At 470 kVA it pays for 470 kVA.

There is also a minimum energy charge: HT industry is billed for at least 50 kVAh per kVA of billing demand a month. At 470 kVA of billing demand, that is 23,500 kVAh; a month that uses fewer is billed as if it used 23,500.

Maximum demand above contract demand

When recorded maximum demand goes above contract demand, the demand above it is billed at two times the normal demand charge, ₹950 per kVA. From 120% upwards, a share of the month’s energy is penalised too. That share is the excess demand divided by the maximum demand, times the units of the month.

The MD penalty guide explains how one spike sets a whole month’s charge.

Time of day

For HT III(A) industry, time of day is not an extra charge on top of a normal rate: the rates in the table above are the energy rates. Moving a kVAh from a peak hour to an off-peak hour at 11 kV saves ₹2.25 from February to May and in September and October, and ₹1.75 in the other months. The off-peak rate is 75 paise below the normal rate, which the DISCOMs describe as an incentive for industrial use in off-peak hours.

On LT III(A), time of day applies above 15 kW, all year: only 6 to 10 pm is peak and only 10 am to 3 pm is off-peak. Aqua and poultry hatcheries and feed mixing plants are billed at the normal rate without time of day.

kVAh billing and power factor

HT energy and most LT energy are billed in kVAh, so there is no capacitor surcharge: a low power factor raises the units themselves. A plant that uses 1,35,000 kWh at a power factor of 0.90 is billed for 1,50,000 kVAh. At 0.98 it would be billed for about 1,37,755 kVAh, about ₹78,000 less a month at the worked example’s average rate of ₹6.35. The kVAh billing guide explains the difference.

HT consumers should keep power factor between 0.95 lag and 0.95 lead. A consumer below 0.95 lead for two months in a row must bring it back within three months, or supply may be disconnected.

Other lines on the bill

• FPPCA (fuel and power purchase cost adjustment) and any true-up are added per unit as APERC orders. Take the current figure from your bill.
• Green tariff: 75 paise per unit over the normal tariff, only for consumers who opt for renewable energy from the DISCOM.
• Voltage surcharge: existing HT services taking supply below the voltage set for their contract demand pay 12% more on demand and 10% more on energy.
• Late payment: on HT, a delayed payment surcharge of 5 paise per ₹100 a day, at least ₹550. On LT III(A), 5 paise per ₹100 a day, at least ₹150.

Worked example: a 500 kVA plant at 11 kV

An illustrative HT III(A) general industry at 11 kV with a contract demand of 500 kVA, in a high-demand month such as October. Its maximum demand is 470 kVA, and it uses 1,50,000 kVAh in the month: 40,000 in the peak hours, 70,000 off-peak and 40,000 in normal hours.

Illustrative figures from the APERC tariff schedule. In a low-demand month the peak rate is ₹7.30 and the same bill is ₹11,57,156. Add FPPCA and electricity duty from your bill. Work out your own bill with the electricity bill calculator.

What one demand spike costs

Suppose the same plant has one bad 30-minute block, say several heavy motors restarting together after a power cut, and maximum demand reaches 560 kVA. The demand charge goes up to the full 500 kVA, ₹14,250 more, and the 60 kVA above contract demand pays ₹950 each, ₹57,000. The bill goes from ₹11,77,156 to ₹12,48,406: ₹71,250 more.

If the spike reaches 620 kVA, 124% of contract demand, the excess demand costs ₹1,14,000. And 120 ÷ 620 of the month’s 1,50,000 kVAh, about 29,032 kVAh, is excess energy billed at 1.5 times: at the average rate of ₹6.35, ₹92,177 more. The bill becomes ₹13,97,583: ₹2,20,427 more, for one spike.

What the peak hours cost

The plant above pays ₹7.80 for each of its 40,000 peak-hour kVAh, against ₹5.55 off-peak. Moving 10,000 kVAh a month from the peak hours into 10 am – 3 pm saves ₹22,500 in a high-demand month and ₹17,500 in a low-demand month, about ₹2.4 lakh a year.

Where Andhra Pradesh plants usually save

• Keep maximum demand at or below contract demand. Every kVA above it costs ₹950 for the month.
• Never let maximum demand reach 120% of contract demand. Above it, the excess share of the month’s energy costs 1.5 times.
• Move load out of 6–10 am and 6–10 pm into 10 am – 3 pm. Each kVAh moved saves up to ₹2.25 at 11 kV.
• Keep power factor near unity. With kVAh billing, every point of power factor lost is paid for in units.
• Size contract demand to real demand. Billing demand is never below 80% of it, so a plant that never goes above 300 kVA on a 500 kVA contract pays for 100 kVA it does not use, ₹47,500 a month.

How KONDUKTOR® EMS helps

KONDUKTOR® EMS reads the multifunction meters already on your panels and shows, while the month is still running, the numbers this tariff bills you on.

• Running maximum demand against contract demand, with a warning before 100% and 120% are crossed.
• kVAh by time of day for each meter, so peak-hour units are seen the same day.
• Power factor for each meter, so a drop that inflates kVAh is caught early.
• Twelve months of maximum demand history, to size contract demand.