Govt plans higher penalties to curb power overdrawal from grid

To ensure smooth functioning of electricity grids, the government is planning higher penalties and quicker punishments for entities that overdraw power.

     

The Power Ministry is looking at ways to amend the Electricity Act so as to implement new rules as part of efforts to prevent grid failures.

     

"We are also looking into the scheme of how the Electricity Act can be amended to ensure that the penalties for overdrawal are increased, penalties are recovered in a faster way and the actual punishment to the offender is done very quickly," the ministry has said in a recent submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy.

     

Overdrawal of electricity by some utilities was among the factors blamed for the massive grid failures in July 2012 that impacted more than half the country's population.

     

According to the Ministry, Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs), which ensure integrated operation of the grid system in different regions, do not have any control over the State Load Despatch Centres (SLDCs). The latter are responsible for proper functioning of the power system in the state.

     

The Ministry has told the panel that RLDCs do not have any control on the SLDCs.

     

"They (RLDCs) can only provide directions to SLDC and if SLDC does not obey, they file a petition with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission," it noted.

     

The Ministry's submissions are part of the committee's report on 'Development of National Grid' tabled in Parliament this week.

     

Country's power sector is divided into five regions -- Northern, Eastern, Western, North Eastern and Southern. Each of the region has an RLDC.

     

The National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) monitors RLDCs. Both come under POSOCO, which is part of state-run transmission major Power Grid.

     

To prevent overdrawal of electricity from the grids, various technologies are being worked upon by the government. Among them, Power Grid is in the process of developing a Grid Security Expert System (GSES) that involves laying of optical fibre network for reliable communication.