The Hindu Business Line : APTransco urges farmers to install capacitors by March

FARM sector power consumers availing themselves of free power facility have been called upon to install capacitors for their pumpsets by March-end as this would ensure quality power supply and help curb wastage.

Addressing a press conference here today, the Chairperson of APTransco, Ms Rachel Chatterjee, said the installation of capacitors by the farm sector is aimed at bringing about better demand side management (DSM), which has been mandated by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Government Tariff Policy.

Speaking at the Central Power Distribution Company, Ms Chatterjee said as a follow up of this initiative, all the farmers have been sent individual intimation letters along with their monthly bills about the advantages of deploying capacitors.

As a part of the exercise to inform and educate the farmers about the advantages these capacitors bring to them, it has been proposed to hold meetings at the sub-station level from February 6-12.

It is estimated that about 2.1 lakh farm sector consumers have actually fixed capacitors as against the potential target group of 22 lakh farm sector connections. Given the campaigns to educate the farmers, the response has been encouraging and they believe that this would be to their advantage.

While manufacturers have agreed to provide the necessary capacitors, the corporation is also making necessary arrangements to place adequate stocks, which they can access. The cost of the capacitors varied from Rs 250 to Rs 500 depending on the motor capacity of 5 hp to 10 hp. After the March deadline, these consumers would be billed.

Referring to the committed seven-hour supply to the farm sector users, she said that all efforts would be made to ensure that they get the supply. However, this could be based on some rotation approach, which means, they could be supplied in tranches. This was because, the demand now has shot up significantly from 6,835 MW same time last year to 7,835 MW.

In the case of domestic consumers who consume less than 100 units, they have the advantage of availing themselves of the surcharge waiver by March. As against overall arrears of Rs 673 crore, the surcharge is estimated at Rs 179 crore.