 Mumbai: It's only been about 10 days that the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) had announced zero power cuts in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune, bringing cheer to the residents. But the power utility has now reversed the decision. Ironically, the MSEB's decision comes at a time when additional power is available in plenty from outside the state at a reasonable rate. Since Tuesday, power cuts have returned to haunt Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mulund, Bhandup and Pune. Reason? The MSEB's decision to stop buying infirm power (a technical term for buying electricity from surplus sources a day in advance) from Tata Power Trading Ltd-the agency appointed to manage the shortfall in these cities. The state utility has told Tata Power that infirm power is causing problems for them. Areas in these three cities now face power cuts from 3.45 hours to a maximum of 7.5 hours, depending upon the distribution and commercial losses in their jurisdiction. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, MD of MSEB's distribution company Mahavitaran, said purchasing power on a day-ahead basis was not possible as communicating the schedule every day to the technical staff on ground was a problem. "Our staff at receiving stations have to wait every evening for instructions for the next day as Tatas are buying infirm power. We would resume power purchase from the Tatas only if they can give it on a firm basis with a long-term commitment ,'' he said. Sources in Tata Power said since August 2, adequate electricity is available from outside Maharashtra. "Even during the August 15 weekend, almost 400 MW power was supplied to MSEB to avoid power cuts in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune. We had managed to buy power in the range of Rs 4.15 per unit to Rs 6.15 per unit as compared to MSEB's ceiling of Rs 8.53 per unit,'' said officials. Tata officials said they were trying to get long-term power. "It's very difficult to get long-term commitment from any surplus source in the country due to demand from several states facing power shortage. Even if somebody agrees for a long-term contract, the rate would be very high for such power on a confirmed basis,'' said Tata officials. MERC REJECTS PLEA TO INCREASE POWER CUTS Ashish Roy I TNN Nagpur: In a major embarrassment for state-run power distributor MSEDCL, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on Wednesday rejected its petition to increase load-shedding in the state. The commission has asked MSEDCL to file a fresh petition with adequate data before increasing load-shedding beyond the permissible limits. Bookmark/Search this post with:
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