The Ministry of Power has brought all Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) under the purview of the Energy Conservation (EC) Act. An official statement said that the Centre had issued a notification for the same on September 28, 2020.

As per the notification, all entities having issued distribution licence by State/Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission under the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) are notified as Designated Consumers (DCs). This notification was formulated in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

All the DISCOMs will now be governed under the various provisions of EC Act, such as appointment of Energy Manager, Energy Accounting and Auditing, identification of Energy Losses Category-wise, implementation of energy conservation and efficiency measures.

“Earlier, the DISCOMs whose annual energy losses were equal to or above 1,000 million units were only covered as DCs. Now with this notification, the number of DISCOMs covered under the EC Act will increase from 44 to 102. This decision will facilitate Energy Accounting and Auditing as mandatory activity for all of them, leading to the actions towards reducing losses and increasing their profitability,” the statement said.

The amendment is expected to help them to monitor their performance parameters and bring in transparency in the Distribution sector through professional inputs. It will also assist in developing projects for reducing the electricity losses and implementing effective solutions, the statement added.

The amendment is also expected to improve their financial state. The quarterly data of these DISCOMs will be collected and monitored by the government to suggest measures for increasing the efficiency and reducing the energy loss. This move is expected to gradually become more effective if extended up to the level of end consumers.

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