A Bescom worker works on maintenance and maintenance of new power lines at Ejipura in Bengaluru. , Photo credits: K. Murali Kumar
A< Preparations for the assembly elections in Karnataka have been made by both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress Big promises about electricityFrom free electricity, up to a certain number of units, to low tariffs.
It all started when in December 2022, state power minister V. Sunil Kumar announced a “reduction” in tariff from 70 paise to ₹2 per unit from January 2023. This caused some confusion, as there is a set timetable for tariff revision, which has only been disrupted in recent times by elections and the pandemic. Power utilities have to submit their revision petition to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, which in turn calls for a public hearing, usually held in February, before they announce revised tariffs for the new financial year. Do it. With the minister’s announcement, many wondered how this was possible in the last few months of the financial year. It was then learned that the FAC (fuel adjustment fee), a regular fixture, would be reduced for that quarter.
The Congress was then quick to announce that it would provide 200 units of electricity free of cost to every household every month if voted back to power – a move reminiscent of the Aam Aadmi Party’s decision in Delhi. Mr Kumar replied that this would destabilize the functioning of state electricity supply companies (Escoms), and claimed that the people were not demanding free power but quality and uninterrupted power supply.
Amidst all this, the tariff petition by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) revealed that it had proposed to reduce per unit energy charges for the first slab of consumers, who use the least amount of electricity. However, the power utility has also proposed a big hike in the fixed charge, which many say wipes out the low energy charges. But the proposal to lower energy charges is a significant departure from the power utility’s tariff revision petitions in at least a decade. Electricity consumers have had to bear with the increase, though not commensurate with the demand of the utilities, year on year.
The stakeholders of the sector have questioned the plans of both these political parties. Karnataka, which struggled to balance its power demand and supply for years, has now emerged as a power-surplus state, winning accolades especially in the renewable sector. However, uninterrupted power supply remains a challenge. Unannounced power cuts continue especially during the rainy days. This was a serious problem during the pandemic years when millions of employees were forced to work from home. Structural challenges are consistently cited as a reason for this.
Citizens and industry are also questioning the rationale behind frequent upward revisions in power tariffs. Many have objected to paying a higher price for the same quality of power, although Eskom has said that the quality has improved over the years. In the Ministry of Power’s 10th annual integrated rating and ranking of power distribution utilities out of 52 state and private distribution utilities, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited were at the bottom end with -C ratings.
Citizens have also questioned why Escoms cite high power purchase cost as the reason for demanding higher tariffs when Karnataka claims to be a power-surplus state.
In the light of all this, people associated with the power sector ask how political parties make such tall promises. One section suggests that the promise of free power will make end users complacent about energy conservation. Another section demands to know how Eskom and the state exchequer will deal with the cost of providing power for free or at low cost when they are already locked into expensive, long-term power purchase agreements, subsidized power supply and transmission and distribution systems. battling under. Harm.
Incidentally, the Gurcharan committee, constituted to recommend restructuring of the state’s power sector and taking forward second-generation distribution reforms, had submitted its report to the chief minister in June last year. It identified exorbitant tariffs, high power purchase cost, inefficiencies in operations, free power supply, unmetered/unbuilt energy and flight of high tension consumers due to inequitable tariffs as some of the constraints and challenges in the power distribution business.