MERC proposes open access and franchisees to meet power deficits

Mumbai, Apr 6 (UNI) The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) Chairman Dr Pramod Deo has said that permitting 'open access' of power to consumers, in excess of one mega-watt (MW) and also allowing new franchisees to generate and distribute power at different levels of feeders here, would help to tide over the power crisis in the metropolis.

He was addressing an interactive meeting on 'Power Crisis in Maharashtra and the Issue of Power Tariffs' organized by the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) here yesterday.

''We can resolve this problem by introducing the 'franchisee' system. We have been successfully operating this model in Bhiwandi,'' said Dr Deo.

Under the 'open access' system, large power consumers would be allowed to 'import' power from anywhere in the country through the existing transmission lines, which are open to anyone like the expressways.

IMC President Nayan Patel earlier lamented that the State was facing a power shortage of 5,700 MW and most parts were reeling under heavy load shedding. He wondered if Maharashtra's 9.3 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the previous fiscal year, higher than the all-India growth rate of 9.2 per cent, would be retained in the coming years, in view of the rising power crisis.

Dr Pramod Deo noted that demand for power in Maharashtra this year is 15,993 MW, and is expected to rise to 17,057 MW next year and to 18,197 MW in 2009-10. As against this, the availability was 9,996 MW this year, expected to rise to 11,634 MW next year and to 12,853 MW in 2009-10.

''With implementation of plans on the anvil for further capacity addition, the total availability in 2007-08 is likely to be 11,634 MW, in 2008-09 12,853 MW and in 2009-10 14,053 MW. Despite this increase, obviously the state will continue to face huge power deficits in excess of 4,000 MW in the next three years,'' he said.

Dr Deo hoped that efforts to put back on stream various units aggregating 2,000 MW of Ratnagiri Gas and Power Co at Dabhol by next year would succeed, thereby reducing the impact of the power shortage in the State.

Citing the anomalies in the power sector requiring urgent reforms, he said power distribution loss at Latur district was as high as 80 per cent and collection efficiency was as low as 30 per cent. On the other hand, in Pune power distribution loss was about 15 per cent and collection efficiency was as high as 99 per cent.

He said Maharashtra has 28 lakh agricultural pump connections of which 8 lakh are metered, but reading is done only in 4 lakh meters.

Power theft, meter reading of agricultural pumps etc belong to the realm of politics. Only the government can tackle those sensitive issues through suitable policy measures, he added.

UNI