Energy Pricing and Tariffs Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: sold entirely to the licensee at a separate rate

Gross metering measures the whole of the generation and sells it to the licensee at a determined rate, while the consumer separately buys everything it consumes at the ordinary tariff. The two flows are kept entirely apart, which lets the regulator set the generation price independently of the retail tariff - the point of the arrangement.

Answer: D

Correct answer: guaranteeing a price for its output for a long period

A feed-in tariff fixes the price the generator will receive per unit for a long term, usually with an obligation on the licensee to buy. The certainty is what makes the project financeable. The alternatives listed are the other support mechanisms: a renewable purchase obligation and tradable certificates.

Answer: A

Correct answer: a state tax on consumption

Electricity duty is a tax levied by the state on the consumption of electricity, collected by the licensee on the bill and passed to the government. It is not part of the utility’s revenue at all, which is why it is shown separately - a change in duty alters what the consumer pays without altering what the utility receives.

Answer: B

Correct answer: 17.75 lakh

Compute the two parts and add: \[ 500 \times 350 = 1\,75\,000, \qquad 200\,000 \times 8 = 16\,00\,000, \] \[ \text{total} = 17\,75\,000 = 17.75\ \text{lakh}. \] The demand charge is about a tenth of the bill here; for a consumer with the same demand but a lower load factor it would be a far larger share, which is what the demand charge exists to capture.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 55.6 per cent

Load factor is the energy actually taken as a fraction of what would have been taken at the maximum demand throughout: \[ \frac{200\,000}{500 \times 720} = \frac{200\,000}{360\,000} = 0.556. \] A high load factor means the capacity provided is well used, which is why tariffs reward it - the demand charge falls per unit as the load factor rises.

Answer: D

Correct answer: 625 kVA

Apparent power is the real power divided by the power factor: \[ \frac{500}{0.8} = 625\ \mathrm{kVA}. \] The network must be sized for the 625 kVA, not the 500 kW, because it is the current that heats the conductors - which is exactly why demand is billed in kVA rather than kW.

Answer: A

Correct answer: 526 kVA

\[ \frac{500}{0.95} = 526\ \mathrm{kVA}. \] Correcting the power factor from 0.8 to 0.95 cuts the apparent demand by about a hundred kVA for the same useful output, and at 350 per kVA that is some 35 000 a month - which is what pays for the capacitor bank, usually within a year or two.

Answer: B

Dividing by the power factor gives the apparent energy, so a consumer billed on this basis pays for over eleven per cent more units than it consumed actively. Correcting the power factor to unity removes the whole difference.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 375 kVA

The ratchet sets a floor at 75 per cent of the contract demand: \[ 0.75 \times 500 = 375\ \mathrm{kVA}. \] Since the recorded 300 kVA is below that floor, the consumer is billed on 375. The clause exists because the utility has held 500 kVA of capacity available whether or not the consumer chose to use it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: 1.40 lakh

The saving is the number of units shifted times the difference in rate: \[ 50\,000 \times (9.60 - 6.80) = 50\,000 \times 2.80 \] \[ = 1\,40\,000 = 1.40\ \text{lakh}. \] Multiplying by the off-peak rate rather than the difference gives 3.40 lakh, which would be the cost of the shifted energy rather than the saving.