Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will launch a comprehensive campaign that aims to improve demand-side management through an incentivised scheme in order to ensure public participation.

Announcing this to newspersons, Minister for Electricity Aryadan Muhammed said here on Wednesday that the first phase of the campaign, called Labhaprabha, will run from March 23 to May 31.

DEMAND-SIDE ISSUES

The campaign will seek to bring about a semblance of order on the demand-side, which is growing by the day in the heavily stressed State, the minister said.

Labha Prabha would involve two constituent schemes, of which one will focus on earning ‘energy credits’ and the other a ‘no load-shedding’ drive, the minister said.

The energy credits programme will address all 84 lakh domestic consumers in the State. KSEB will seek to share energy credits it earns with the consumer.

Half of the earnings made through savings under the scheme will either be returned to consumer or rewards of equivalent value made available to him.

Assuming that the consumer saves 10 units of electricity, not just will it result in commensurate savings in the bill payable but also will make him additionally eligible for a reward of half of this amount.

NEEDS TO REGISTER

Those who wish to join the programme need to register by texting information such as consumer number, name of the electrical section and the meter reading as on date.

KSEB will get back to the consumer and suggest tips on conserving energy and making meter readings and proceed to calculate the savings made.

KSEB officials will then make an on the spot inspection to satisfy if the claim to conservation of energy is justified.

NO LOAD-SHEDDING

The ‘no load-shedding campaign’ will see the KSEB interact with consumers on the ground and rule out load-shedding to the area served by a feeder subject to milestone consumption savings realised.

The board will work in close association with people’s representatives, establishments, panchayats and residents associations under this scheme.

It will undertake to supply streetlights and public lighting to those residents associations which are able to bring down consumption by at least one per cent.

Those making the grade will entitle themselves to energy conservation credit dividends, training, complimentary screening of films, sponsorships and study tours to generating stations, among others.

Rewards

The minister said that the KSEB will declare rewards for up to Rs 2 crore as part of the Labha Prabha campaign.

These include 50,000 CFL bulbs every week; solar lamps for every 1,000 consumers (total 5,600 amounting to Rs 56 lakh); table lamps; LED tubes and bulbs; water heaters and T-5 tube lights.

The bumper prize will be in the form of a 1KW solar installation (Rs 1.25 crore) for the first 100 consumers who make maximum energy savings.

vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in