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, however, deviate from the
schedule and overdraw leading to grid collapse and tripping of transmission
lines. On July 30, the northern grid
collapsed and then restored; 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 fBusiness leaders blamed coal shortages and other
problems on the grid and called for more reforms in the power sector.
Power experts called for strengthening of
outdated transmission lines by utilizing, e.g., ‘unscheduled interchange’ (UI)
funds or ‘transmission conservation’ penalties.
Many also believe that the grid failure has at its root a crisis of
accountability and governance – e.g., the lack of autonomy, authority and
transparency that results in decisions based on short-term economic and
political considerations rather than system stability and equity-based norms.
Shailendra Dubey, Secretary
General of the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), review the quota or power allocation to
the northern states. Was their allotment
judicial or fair, and why do private distribution companies (Discoms) in Delhi have
higher chunk than what is due them?
Northern states are forced to overdraw power from the grid due to shortage and
have to pay heavy penalty on account of UI;
meanwhile, Delhi ‘s Discoms are earning profit
from surplus power, and UI has become a regular mechanism to earn more revenues.
Vinay Pandey, Secretary General of the Western India Power
Engineers Federation, believes that tripping of transmission lines are
preventable through greater coordination in the power sector. The Electricity
Act 2003, however, has systematically unbundled state electricity boards (SEBs)
and weakened the system, resulting in systematic failure to ensure coordination
in planning and execution. Pandey adds: “In
the name of commercial reforms, the principles of physics have been ignored;
but electricity follows principles of physics only, without any
regard to the commercial concepts or complicated laws.”
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.
With the push for private sector agenda in
the name of 1 MW ‘open access,’ the system is doomed to crash more frequently,
the tariff for common man will spiral up and shortages will remain in the farm
sector. The bigger question is – Who will ask for
probe against all the scandals of power sector and review of Electricity Act
2003 in its entirety.
The Indian National Electricity Workers Federation (INEWF), along with
the Delhi State Electricity Workers Union (DSEWU), have taken actions to shelve the policy of unbundling of integrated
utilities. Unbundling is resulting in
harmful impacts to workers and communities that include: Multi-fold tariff
hikes; Poor quality of service; Retrenchment/lay-offs of employees by way of
forced “Voluntary Retirement Scheme”; Gross violation of labor laws;
Contractual service/outsourcing.
The
Power Ministry has stepped up efforts to implement the provisions of ‘open
access’ in the Electricity Act 2003. This would mean bulk consumers of 1MW or
above (e.g., industries) can opt to choose their electricity suppliers, while
captive domestic or agricultural consumers – who have no choice – may be left paying
higher prices for their electricity.
REFERENCES:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Lights-out-in-20-states-Uttar-Pradesh-gets-the-blame/Article1-905820.aspx ; http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120731/jsp/frontpage/story_15794005.jsp#.UBkGdKDviSp ;
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Lights-out-in-20-states-Uttar-Pradesh-gets-the-blame/Article1-905820.aspx ; http://indianpowersector.com/2012/07/yet-another-grid-failure-halts-life-in-half-of-india/ ; http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/liveblog/15291183.cms ; http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/uk-india-blackout-idUSLNE86U01G20120731 ; http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Power-restored-after-two-days-of-massive-outages/Article1-906297.aspx ; http://news.yahoo.com/power-restored-across-india-historic-failure-054521548.html?_esi=1 ; http://ph.news.yahoo.com/video/official-says-power-completely-restored-233917073.html ; http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hackers-can-cripple-Indias-power-grids/articleshow/15320294.cms ; http://punjabnewsexpress.com/news/5428-Outage-of-400-KV-Bina-Gwalior-Agra-line-likely-cause-of-grid-failure.aspx#.UBphlBcSVJM.facebook; http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/power-grid-failure-agra-line-gave-hints-of-impending-collapse/articleshow/15334223.cms; http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/need-to-step-up-power-infrastructure-investment-ntpc/articleshow/15335908.cms ; http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/states-seek-legislative-changes-to-to-punish-those-drawing-excess-power-from-grid/articleshow/15334125.cms ; http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/huge-blackout-fuels-doubts-about-indias-economic-ambitions/2012/08/01/gJQAtjeYOX_story.html?fb_ref=sm_btn_fb&socialreader_check=0&denied=1
