Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co (MahaVitaran) has sought to play down the controversy over preferential treatment to private power producers. It said while the tariff offered by the Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd (Mahagenco) at Rs 3.20 a unit was cheaper, it could not guarantee power supply “as and when required”.
MahaVitaran officials said they opted for JSW and Adani Power for short-term (less than one year) contracts at a higher price of Rs 3.80 to Rs 4.10 paise a unit because the private producers guaranteed round-the-clock supply, something which Mahagenco failed to provide.
“Short-term contracted power is for specific days and specific time period when the load is high and availability is less. This requires assured supply, which MahaGenco was not in a position to provide,” Maha Vitaran officials clarified.
| POWER TARIFF OF MAHAGENCO PLANTS | |
|
Rs/unit
| |
| Parli unit 6 (250 Mw) | 5.2 |
| Bhusawal unit 5 (500 Mw ) | 4.8 |
| Nashik (630 Mw) | 4.6 |
| Bhusawal unit 4 (500 Mw) | 4.6 |
| Bhusawal units 2 & 3 (420 Mw) | 4.2 |
| Khaparkheda unit 5 (500 Mw) | 4.2 |
| Parli unit 3 (210 Mw) | 4.0 |
| Parli unit 7 (250 Mw) | 3.9 |
| Khaparkheda units 1 to 4 (840 Mw) | 3.4 |
| Source :MahaGenco’s website | |
When contacted, officials of Mahagenco, which meets almost half of Maharashtra’s demand for electricity, did not want to comment on the issue. However, they did not counter Maha Vitaran’s argument either.
According to Mahagenco’s website, tariffs of some of its plants are higher, compared with the contracted power drawn by Maha Vitaran from the private producers. The tariffs of some of the generation stations range between Rs 3.86 and Rs 5.20 per unit.
Of the 2,000-Mw power purchase cleared by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc) for the January 2011-December 2012 period, MahaVitaran had contracted short-term power supply of 700 Mw from Adani Power (400 Mw) and JSW (300 Mw). Merc had said it was keen on facilitating procurement of more power for Maharashtra as electricity demand was rising and it was bound to increase even more due to higher agricultural activities and industrialisation.
But power tariff is just one part of the controversy. The other part is Mahagenco’s charge that the state load despatch centres asked it to back down during the last two winters despite it supplying power at a price lower than the short-term private sector suppliers. This, Mahagenco had said, is in violation of the merit order despatch guidelines, requiring that high cost power producer be asked to back down first.
The allegation, Maha Vitaran said, did not hold water as the state-owned generating station could not offer guaranteed power supply. “In that sense, the lower tariffs do not mean anything as it defeats the very purpose of going in for short-term power contracts,” Maha Vitaran officials said. In any case, the backing down of MahaGenco’s plants were done between midnight and 4 am, when the demand was very low and the grid witnessed situations of surplus power.
The state power regulator had also rejected Mahagenco’s claim in this regard as relevant data was not provided to substantiate the charge. MERC also observed that details furnished by state load despatch centres did not support MahaGenco’s allegations regarding preferential treatment given to the private sector plants by Maha Vitaran. .
The controversy started after Subrat Ratho, a 1986-batch IAS officer who was at the helm of Mahagenco between February 2009 and July 2012, protested against the move of the state load despatch centres to give preference to the private producers. Ratho retired last week and will join Jindal Steel and Power, owned by Navin Jindal.
Mahagenco has already appealed to the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity against the MERC’s order.
