Discoms can enhance connected load of Consumers- APTEL

In a development that could mean a more stable power supply in future, though possibly at a higher cost, the Capital's power companies on 02-02-2011 got the legal go-ahead to enhance the load of those consumers in the habit of using more than what is sanctioned to them. The Appellate Tribunal on Electricity ruled in favour of the companies, who have been fighting the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission for the right to enhance load on their own.

Typically, each household has a sanctioned load of 1-2 KW. But nearly all of them use 3-4 KW, due to the use of appliances such as geysers and ACs. This causes overload and breakdown of the grids and transformers, leading to power supply disruptions and faster wear and tear of infrastructure.

"This will help us build a more robust network that sees fewer breakdowns due to overloading and the life of our infrastructure will also improve," said Gopal Saxena, CEO of BSES Rajdhani, Delhi's biggest power company.

But for this to happen, Delhiites may have to pay a slightly fatter power bill.

If your load is enhanced, your security deposit would go up by Rs 600 for every additional kilowatt (KW) of power you consume and you would also have to pay a monthly fixed charge of R12 per KW.

Wednesday's judgement affects almost all power consumers in the city since domestic consumers don't usually get their sanctioned load enhanced to what they actually use, either out of ignorance or to avoid paying a higher security deposit and fixed charges per month.

A consumer using more than the sanctioned load for three months a year will be eligible for automatic load enhancement. It applies only to those who have under-declared their load.

Need of the hour is dynamic regulator: Power companies

India needs a dynamic regulatory framework to augment growth in the power sector and address the perennial energy deficit in India, said top executives of the country’s power firms. 

"A regulatory framework is necessary. It can provide the momentum to the renewable energy sector," said Tulsi R Tanti , chairman and managing director of Suzlon Energy, at the India Economic Summit. Many new schemes were kicked off in the past two years to propel the growth of the renewable energy sector, but more such initiatives are needed, Mr Tanti added. 

"The generation-based incentive and the renewable energy credit have been good incentives," Mr Tanti said at the session ‘Empowering the Underpowered: action for Energy Infrastructure’. 

Ravi Sharma, CEO of Adani Power , agreed with Mr Tanti. He, however, said the government needs to ensure better distribution as it has been a politically-sensitive issue and states are seeking control over power created in the region. 

Another major issue that needs to be tackled is the wastage of power at different levels of production. "We can bring down wastage from roughly 70% to more acceptable levels," Mr Sharma said, adding that the existing infrastructure was capable of delivering much more. 

Even as the stock markets soared to record highs, the financing of the renewable energy sector remains a problem. "Unavailability of long-term (20-25 year loans) finance is a major hindrance," said Mr Tanti. 

Rajiv Lall, managing director and chief executive of development finance institution IDFC, said: "The presence of a deep and liquid corporate bond market is essential.” 

The efforts to develop the corporate bond market have not made much progress, and this is largely the reason why long-term insurance and retirement funds have not invested in the infrastructure sector. But some encouraging signs have emerged after banks have shifted to the base rate regime of pricing loans. Seeing cheaper funds in the markets, companies are beginning to raise larger amount of short term debt through commercial paper. 

Providing power to the underprivileged is the most important factor if India is to achieve the status of a developed country.