Govt tells Southco to begin power cuts

Govt tells Southco to begin power cuts
Times of India, June 25, 2009
25 Jun 2009, 2251 hrs IST, Hrusikesh Mohanty, TNN

BERHAMPUR: Faced with a sharp fall in power generation because of the curren dry spell, Orissa has asked electricity distribution company, Southco, to regulate supply and start power cuts.

"The state load dispatch centre (SLDC) has asked us to reduce power supply by about 70 per cent in peak hours from Thursday," Southco general manager (commerce) S C Choudhury said. Currently, the company has restricted power supply to 50 and 40 per cent for peak and off peak hours respectively.

The private power distribution company requires around 243 MW a day to cater to the needs of its nearly 650,000 consumers. "We have managed the situation by reducing power supply to industries by 75 per cent," he said. Despite this, three to four hours of power cut a day in urban areas and up to six hours in rural areas had to be enforced.

Southco engineers are now trying to tide over the situation and give top priority to household consumers. "At least 10 senior engineers are working to find a solution," Choudhury said. Southco, a Reliance Energy unit, is entrusted with supplying power in ten south Orissa districts Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Malkanagiri, Nabaranagapur, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Boudh, Kalahandi and Nuapada.

With the average demand for power being about 2,900 MW in peak hours, the state is facing a deficit of 300 to 400 MW every day.

Orissa Rajya Bidyut Sramika Karmachari Sangha (ORBSKS) has blamed the distribution companies for the crisis. "The distribution companies have not spent a pie for the improvement of power distribution or to maintain transformers to streamline supply," ORBSKS working president Bhubaneswar Rao said. "As a result, , not only are consumers suffering, but innocent employees of the company are facing public ire as well," Rao added.