The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Escoms fear spurt in demand for power in summer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Escoms fear spurt in demand for power in summer

B.S. Satish Kumar

They may lose
Rs. 500 crore
during the
summer months

BANGALORE: The projection of a sharp rise in demand for power during summer is not only threatening to create a severe shortage, but is also expected to burn a deep hole in the pockets of the five electricity supply companies (escoms) in the State.

According to a senior financial officer of an escom, the increase in power purchase cost might touch an average of about Rs. 120 crore a month during the summer season. Even a conservative estimate would indicate that the escoms would have to bear an additional cost of over Rs. 500 crore to maintain the power supply till the onset of monsoon.

Sources said that such a huge burden would weaken the financial position of the escoms which were already facing a deficit of Rs. 2,000 crore.

For the users, any increase in the deficit of escoms was a bad sign as it posed a threat of a tariff increase.

Already, the petition filed by escoms seeking a tariff increase of 50 paise a unit is pending before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission for some legal reasons. The summer season for the power sector starts from the middle or end of January and reaches its peak in March when the demand touches the highest mark because of the long dry spell. The State’s power use trend shows that the power supply situation eases from June when the southwest monsoon sets in. Of course, the consumption eases gradually sometime from May itself. It is roughly the four-month-long duration that poses a problem for the State’s power producers.

Although it was normal for the power usage to soar during summer, what has caused concern this time was that the demand for power might touch an all-time high of 148 million units (mu) a day this year.

Already the power usage has crossed the 120 mu mark. The power-starved State has started searching for additional power from various sources to tide over the crisis. But it is difficult to get additional power as all States faced power shortage. Besides, whatever little additional power is available comes at Rs. 6 to Rs. 7 a unit as against the normal price Rs. 2.50 to Rs. 3, according to sources. The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) has started buying expensive power from the three major independent power producers. The Centre has complicated the power supply scenario by reducing Karnataka’s share of power from the unallocated quota of central generating stations by about 150 MW, sources added.

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