Member of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) VS Verma has come down heavily on the utilities, the State Governments and the State regulatory authorities for the serious lapses in the power sector. He said the utilities, the Government and regulators are not adhering to the laws.
Verma, while speaking at the FICCI’s national seminar on power here on Friday, said that the States are violating the laws of open access system. Many States are not implementing the renewable energy purchase obligations (RPO) and even the States’ regulatory bodies are not enforcing this provision of the law.
Referring to the high AT & C loss of 39 per cent in Odisha, Verma said it is the rich and influential people and most of the industries except a few are indulging in power theft. Since the tax authorities like excise and customs and VAT are depending on the power bill for their tax calculations, the industries prefer to steal power to enhance their profit margins.
Verma regretted that the country is not able to meet the power demand even though it is surplus in power today. While the installed capacity is around 1,20,000 MW, the demand is about 1,17,000 MW. About 35,000 to 40,000 MW of capacity is not able to be achieved because of non-availability of coal. The Coal India ltd. (CIl) is able to supply only 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the coal requirement of the power sector.
He said that when the power cost becomes high, the discoms are reluctant to purchase it. They prefer load-shedding than to buy costly power. Nobody wants the NTPC’s costly power generated from imported coal. States like Odisha have made an issue out of it. “We should have a broader outlook on this issue,” he viewed. Verma also stated that the renewable energy is creating grid