Power produced by plants flows to grids through transmission
lines; state-owned Power Grid Corporation runs the grids. There are five power
grids in India – northern, southern, western, eastern, northeastern. Each
state has a quota of power it can draw from the grid, and states are expected
to stick to ‘grid discipline.’ Many states deviate from the schedule and
overdraw leading to grid collapse. Overdrawing leads to fluctuations and
tripping of transmission lines that halts power supply to distribution
companies and eventually to consumers. On July 30, the northern grid collapsed
and was restored six hours later; the next day, three grids failed – northern,
eastern and northeastern.
Power officials were quick to blame overdrawal of power from the
grid by northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and
Rajasthan. Others blamed government’s flegislative changes to the Electricity
Act of 2003 to imprison those responsible for drawing excessive electricity and
putting at risk power supply to 'law-abiding' states.
Business leaders opined the blackouts may have been caused by a
mix of coal shortages and other problems on the grid, and called for more
reforms in the power sector.
Power experts are pointing to serious technical issues such as
absence and improper functioning of essential safety equipment, and outdated transmission
lines. But many believe that like most other systemic failures, the grid
failure has at its root a crisis of accountability and governance – e.g., the
autonomy and authority of load dispatch centres in politically sensitive
decisions such as ‘load shedding.’ Lack of transparency results in
decisions based on short-term economic and political considerations rather than
system stability and equity-based norms. Moreover, power utilities also should
be put through a paradigm change in management culture.
India's electricity distribution and transmission is mostly
state-run, with private companies operating in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Less
than a quarter of generation is private nationwide.
Shailendra
Dubey (All India Power Engineers Federation/AIPEF) argues that the power grid
failure is caused by a gross mismanagement by bureaucrats and politicians. review of the quota of power allocation to
the northern states as they are forced to overdraw power from the grid due to
shortage; as a result, these states pay heavy penalty on account of UI or
‘unscheduled interchange’. Meanwhile, Delhi's private distributions
companies (Discoms) are earning profit from surplus
power – UI has become a regular mechanism to earn more revenues, which in
itself proves that the Delhi Discoms have been allocated power more than their
requirement. Corrective measures should be instituted to reallocate power
in the Northern Region so that states facing power shortage may get more power
from the Central sector and no utility is allowed to earn money regularly
through UI. (see attached)
Our colleague power engineer Vinay Pandey raises several issues.
(1) Whether the trippings were result of over drawl: Both
trippings started with tripping of 400 KV line with no generator on it; the
‘cascading’ was initiated due to over frequency and not due to under
frequency. Although over drawl is a vicious evil, it can never trigger a grid
collapse on high frequency. (2) What about system strengthening?
Whenever a problem arises, there is tough talk about enforcing discipline,
and farmers are blamed, that there is over-drawl because state governments are
allowing farmers to consume more. More than 74000 Cr has been collected
by the Power Ministry as unbalanced UI fund. The Power Sector Development Fund
(PSDF) regulation drafted by CERC is lying with power ministry since 2010.
Transmission conservation penalties of more than 1400 Cr; if used as equity,
1400 Cr could fund 7000 Cr worth of projects that will strengthen the
transmission corridor. There is wind power capacity available in Tamil Nadu but
cannot be transmitted. (3) Is the quota rational: UP, Bihar, Punjab, etc
are blamed, but was their allotment judicial or fair, and why do the Delhi
Discoms have higher chunk than what was due them. (4) What the reforms
achieved: The Ex power secretary pleaded that reform must go forward, ‘open
access’ to be encouraged. The root of all the problems of electricity sector
today lies in the un-thoughtful reform adopted in the country. There is no
sensitivity to the people’s need or capacity or to the national interest.
The disintegration of system has already lead to chaos in the system.
With the push for private sector agenda in the name of 1 MW open access, the
system is doomed to crash more frequently, tariff for common man to spiral up
and shortages to remain in the farm sector. If rural electrification helped the
green revolution, be prepared to witness a reversal. With increasing stress on
commercialization of electricity, the farm sector may get stuck up. The
big question is – Who will ask for probe against all the scandals of power
sector and review of Electricity Act 2003 in its entirety.
In a related development, the Power Ministry reiterated its
directive to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and the Forum
of Regulators (FoR) to implement the provisions of ‘open access’ in the
Electricity Act. In November 2011, the ministry had issued a circular stating
consumers with a capacity of 1 Mw or more were considered ‘open access’
consumers and the regulator had no jurisdiction on fixing energy charges for
them. This could mean bulk consumers (e.g., industries) can choose to no longer
be connected to their Discoms, while captive smaller (e.g. residential)
consumers -- who have no choice -- may have to pay higher prices for their
electricity.
Bobet Corral
