The Hindu : New Delhi News : Discoms told to provide information on power cuts

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Wednesday, Nov 25, 2009
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Discoms told to provide information on power cuts

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

DERC wants data about all power cuts lasting more than two hours

NEW DELHI: With the Capital’s power distribution companies and consumers always differing over the exact duration of power cuts that are carried out because of different reasons, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has stepped in to offer a solution. The regulatory commission wants the discoms to provide details of all power cuts lasting more than two hours carried out in all areas served by them on a weekly basis.

“There is a constant disagreement on the number of hours the discoms were unable to provide power. While the consumers complain of longer durations of power cuts, the discoms for their part dismiss it as exaggeration. In June this year when there were rampant power cuts, residents in several areas complained of power cuts for as long as eight hours, which was denied by the discoms. To put an end to this dithering, the DERC has asked the discoms for weekly data on power cuts,” says a senior Power Department official.

The DERC wants all three of the Capital’s discoms - BYPL, BRPL and NDPL - to provide data from distribution transformers about all power cuts lasting longer than two hours.

“The discoms have been asked to provide details from distribution transformers (DTs) about consumers who could not be fed power for more than two hours in a day. These power cuts could be a result of breakdown, shutdown or preventive maintenance or even caused by low voltage,” said the official.

The report for each week ending on Sunday will have to be submitted to DERC by the following Wednesday.

“Each DT has an energy meter that helps to carry out energy audit. Information from the DT can be downloaded to assess the duration of the power cuts. This information is stored in the DT for as long as 60 days. Once this information is available, DERC will be in a position to maintain a watch over the performance of the discoms and the consumers’ grievances will also be addressed,” the official said.

“The DERC has made it very clear to the discoms that if they fail to provide uninterrupted power to consumers, they will be liable for penal action,” the official added.

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