Discoms ‘unable’ to contain power losses

Disagree With Regulatory Body,
Say 15% Target Too Stiff

If you dream of Delhi becoming a world-class city with low power theft and a reliable supply at reasonable rates, there’s bad news for you.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and discoms are having a major disagreement on the quantum of loss reduction over the next fi ve years. The
commission was planning to set a stiff target of 15% aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) loss for NDPL and BSES (Rajdhani) and 18% for BSES (Yamuna) by 31
March, 2011.

But the discoms are learnt to have expressed their inability to do so, saying that technical losses alone are 15% in Delhi and even the best cities suffer a four to fi ve per cent commercial loss.

A recent report of the Union power ministry on power reforms has given’the discerns yet another reason to go slow on cutting losses. The “report on restructuring
accelerated power development and reform programme (APDRP)” has ‘recommended’ an annual loss reduction of up to 4% per year.

It says discoms facing AT&C losses of over 40% should scale them down by 4%. Those having losses in the range of 30-40% and 20-30% should reduce 3% and 2% losses,
respectively, per year. Discoms with losses less than 20% should reduce by 1% per annum. The loss reduction target for Delhi over the next fi ve years is being
set as part of the multi year tariff that has to come into effect here
from next fi scal. “During the public hearing on this issue, the discoms
said the DERC should not set stiff targets of 15 and 18% by 2011 as the power ministry report recommends a much lower loss reduction annually.

At 43.89, 35.53 and 26.52%, the BSES Yamuna, Rajdhani and NDPL, respectively, the companies said losses should be reduced by four, three and two per cent
annually. This would lead to much higher loss level than being planned
by DERC in 2011,” said a senior DERC official.

Apart from the ministry report, the discoms have said that technical losses account for 15 % in the overall AT&C losses. “Any city in the world has some commercial
losses to the tune of four to fi ve per cent so a target of 15 % is simply
unachievable. We have told this to the DERC in no uncertain terms,” said a senior discern official.

Power distribution in Delhi was privatized with the idea of reducing rampant losses so that the people could enjoy a reliable supply at competitive rates. “During the
public hearing on MYT, we had RWAs asking for even stiffer loss reduction levels. The reduction in losses in many places could be not only tough but also fraught
with danger. But, Delhi has all infrastructure for checking theft like
special courts, CISF deployment and having electronic meters in place of old ones. The companies here should agree to much higher targets,” said an offi cial.
(Source : The Times of India, December 12, 2006)


Planning Commission proposes tariff regulator for new-found gas fields

GAS prices in the country may be set by an independent regulator with the planning commission proposing to set up an independent tariff commission to monitor gas
prices from all newly discovered gas fields. The proposed commission would
regulate prices of gas which is not regulated by administrative price mechanism (APM). Companies such as GAIL sell gas to the power and fertiliser sectors under
a administered pricing formula. The latest proposal is to introduce
regulation for the gas to be sold by the private and public sectors out of new gas fields.

(Source : The Economic Times, December
12, 2006)

India - Powered to win

India celebrated 100 years of hydropower development in 1997. Around that time, there were about 225 hydroelectric power stations (excluding mini hydro) in the country, within installed capacity of 23500 MW, and generating about 80 billion units a year. By the turn of the century the installed hydropower capacity rose to about
25000 MW. This was about 25% of the total installed capacity from all sources.
When we talk about power it includes to the electricity generated by hydro, nuclear and thermal energy. At this juncture due to the economic boom when we are eyeing a growth rate of 10% GDP, infrastructure facilities of the nation do not support us. Morgan Stanley in one of its reports suggested that low spending in the infrastructure is holding back India’s growth. India’s power transmission and
system operations are going through national restructuring gas discoveries
of Reliance, Cairn Energy and others would also come under regulation. Companies such as GAIL sell gas to the power and fertiliser sectors under a administered pricing
formula programme parallel with evolving state-level reforms. The power grid
corporation of India (PowerGrid), India’s national transmission utility,
is the main implementing agency of this programme. Over a period of time the Power Grid will interconnect its regional systems to national power grid, which can
facilitate power sharing from states and countries with surplus power.
contributes about 80% of the requirement. Government is encouraging private
sector participation in the power sector especially in the 11th plan.
To encourage private investment in the transmission business, the
central government enacted the 
(Source : The Economic Times, October
26, 2006)

Innovations in Power

Cummins is known worldwide for innovative engine design and production, and Cummins Power Generation is recognized as a leading supplier of generator sets, power transfer and paralleling equipment. But Cummins is also one of the world’s largest
suppliers of microprocessorbased controllers for power generation equipment. For over
40 years Cummins has designed and manufactured electronics and electronic control systems, including voltage regulators, governor controls, generator set controls, battery chargers, power transfer controls, synchronizers, remote annunciator panels and many other devices. 

Cummins has designed and produced microprocessor based control system for generator sets for more than a decade. Today the industry-leading Power Command products offer an unparalleled list of features in a fully integrated control system design.

(Source : The Economic Times, October
26, 2006)

Japan, the land of rising conservation

In many countries, higher oil prices have hurt pocketbooks and led to worries about economic slowdowns. But here in Japan, Kiminobu Kimura, an architect, says he has not felt the pinch. In fact, his monthly energy bill is lower than a year ago.