The Hindu Business Line : Power plans

Implementation of an integrated energy policy will be successful only when the agencies concerned are able to translate policies into action. Electricity boards and the generation and distribution companies suffer from the same malaise as the food distribution system, namely, difficulty in delivering subsidies to the targeted section. The poor do not get subsidised power.

One way forward is to devise mechanisms to monitor and ensure that subsidy is delivered to those it is intended for.

This is technically achievable and can be accomplished by increasing metering points and applying IT solutions to capture data and account transformer-wise, area-wise; but communicating to the consumers will require some doing.

Another major factor that regulators are not paying enough attention to is that of stakeholders benefiting from subsidies that are not intended for them. One such case is that of the infirm power generated by windmills. It is not possible to predict their generation pattern. So a large utility like the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board uses its other resources to support the grid and absorb the power sent out by the windmills irrespective of the time of the day at which it is generated, by either quickly bringing in hydro or gas turbine based power or backing down existing generation.

But consumers who have opted for the wheeling facility are not paying for this cost.

V. Balakrishnan

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