DERC issues notice to discoms, special hearing tomorrow

Delhi's power regulator DERC has served notices on two BSES discoms following recommendation by the Delhi Government to revoke their licenses if they fail to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the city on the ground of "difficult" financial position.
In the notices, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) directed BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd to present their case before it tomorrow at a special hearing.
"We have served notices on the BSES discoms to explain their position on the issue in the wake of the government recommendation," DERC chairman P D Sudhakar told PTI.
On Monday, Delhi government had recommended to the DERC to revoke the licenses of BSES discoms if they resort to long outages in areas of their operation citing fund crunch to arrange power.

Taking a strong position against the discoms, the government has said that it was ready to take over power distribution in the city to control the "ugly situation".
Warning of a cut in power supplies in the city, state-owned NTPC said BSES discoms have a history of payment defaults and their electricity supply would be curtailed if they fail to pay their dues by Monday.

BSES discoms, which supply power in nearly 70 per cent areas in the city, had informed government that they did not have money to buy power and the city may reel under long outages if funds are not provided to them.

Meanwhile, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL)today said it has no outstandings to NTPC.
In a notice to BRPL, NTPC had said the company has not been able to renew letter of credit for payment security mechanism as per provision in the power purchase agreement.
The BRPL appealed to NTPC to allow reinstatement of letter of credit (LC) in 30 days.
"NTPC not at any risk of default for BSES Rajdhani payments. NTPC has rejected plea and sought LCs within 7 days," BRPL said.
The company also sought "cooperation" from Delhi government and NTPC to "resolve matter in interest of 19 lakh consumers".