The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : It was a mixed year for power sector

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 28, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

It was a mixed year for power sector

B. S. Satish Kumar

2007 started with load-shedding and ends with the same problem

Early in the year, a near crisis gripped the State
The shortfall was up to 20 million units a day

BANGALORE: For the power sector, 2007 was a year of successes and failures. The highlight of the year was an unprecedented increase in power consumption especially during the summer months. The year started with load-shedding (in rural and semi-urban areas) due to shortage of power in the wake of a sharp increase in consumption. It is an irony that the year is coming to an end with load-shedding due to the same problem.

The sharp increase in consumption early in the year came as a shock to the power sector which was already facing power shortage.

A near crisis gripped the State as it faced a shortfall of 15 million units to 20 million units a day during the summer months. Getting additional power from other States was a near impossible as most of them were also facing shortages. Besides, whatever little additional power was available came at a price which was more than double the normal rates.

The only solace for the power supplying companies and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited was that the power supply situation here was better than its neighbouring States during the summer.

The State just could not make any substantial capacity addition to the power grid this year through new power generation projects, barring upgrading works on the old ones.

In the absence of any increase in power generation capacity, it was nature that came to the State’s rescue with a bountiful rainfall during the South-West Monsoon.

Meanwhile, the 4,000-MW ultra mega thermal power plant, sanctioned by the Union Government, to the port town of Tadadi in Uttara Kannada district is in a limbo due to opposition from the local people who fear that the project may affect the bio-diversity of the region. The State Government is yet to take a decision on the project.

The State Government opened up the power generation field to private sector in a big way by offering three thermal projects with a capacity of 1,000 MW each to them. One of them, Chamalapura power project near Mysore, is also facing opposition from the local people who fear it will cause environmental damage.

The only long-term measure taken was the formation of Power Company of Karnataka Limited as a special purpose vehicle to look into statutory clearances for some of the new power projects besides the task of getting additional power through bids.

The setting up of new sub-stations brought about an improvement in power transmission in some areas of the State.

However, the problem of urban-rural divide in terms of power supply quality is yet to be tackled in full measure. Though a beginning has been made to ensure round-the-clock power supply for rural areas (domestic purposes) through the introduction of Rural Load Management System, the novel initiative is yet to cover the entire State.

The increasing revenue gap of all electricity supply companies, including Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, continued to haunt the State. It was also a year of legal battle for the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission as almost all its orders, including those on transmission tariff were challenged by KPTCL and the electricity supply companies.

Despite holding public hearings on the tariff revision plea of the electricity supply companies, the KERC could not pronounce its final order as the legal battle regarding its previous order is far from over.

Will the New Year help throw light on the darker areas of the power sector to find a solution to its age-old ills?

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