JAMMU: Principal Secretary Power Development Department Mr. Sudhanshu Pandey today said that the Voluntary Load Disclosure Scheme was a vital power reform to improve the power scenario in the state and appealed the people to cooperate by availing the amnesty scheme.
Speaking at a seminar on ‘Power Sector Reforms vis-a-vis Voluntary Load Disclosure Scheme (VLDS)’ organised by J&K State Electricity Regularity Commission (SERC) at Indian Institute of Public Administration, here today, Panday said the assessment of actual load would help to identify the short falls in existing system and strengthen it as per the requirements.
He said strengthening of the power infrastructure would help to overcome the system constraint which is main cause behind the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses and frequent breakdowns, including burning of distribution transformers.
Highlighting the salient features of Voluntary Load Disclosures Scheme (VLDS) , he said it provides consumers an opportunity to declare their actual loads without attracting penalty and service connection charges. He appealed the people to come forward and avail the scheme for it was a major reform to improve the power scenario in the state.
Chairman SERC Mr. S M Desalphine, Chief Engineer M&RE Mrs. Shahnaz Goni, Development Commissioner Power, Mr. M A Salroo, SE PDD Mr. Ashwani, Kumar, Members SERC Mr. D S Pawar, Er. J S Sudan besides prominent citizens including industrialists in large numbers were present on the occasion.
Mr. Pandey asked the representatives of SERC and field functionaries of PDD to put their sincere efforts in educating the people about the VLDS adding that VLDS is meant for assisting the utility to upgrade the power distribution system on the basis of the actual installed load to ensure reliability of the system and supply of quality power supply to the consumers.
The Principal Secretary said that the consumers want reliable and continuous power supply and the quality of the supply should be acceptable without any voltage fluctuation. He said Power Reform strategy of the Government is also aimed at addressing the problems of power shortage especially during peak hours and poor reliability. He said few developed countries have so far achieved a level of power supply which is acceptable and to the satisfaction of the consumers. Mr. Sudhanshu Pandey asked the officers to supply un-interrupted power particularly in metered areas of the Jammu region so that people could get better electricity services.
Mr. Pandey said that PDD is facing a precarious situation since its distribution system is not designed to cater to the total installed connected load and the same is grossly inadequate considering the magnitude of the actual installed connected load which system is required to cater. He said in the recent inspections in the premises of some consumers including industrial and commercial consumers have amply proved that large scale concealment of connected load is taking place. As a result, overloading of the system takes place, and system breaks down, leading to further disruptions in the supply. In an overloaded system the voltage profile cannot be maintained resulting in poor quality of supply.
The Principal Secretary said that the rate of transformer failure in the State is more than 40% which is one of the highest in the country. Overloading is the main cause for such a high rate of failure of transformers. Since repair and replacement of transformers is expensive and time consuming, when a transformer fails, till it is either repaired or replaced depending on the extent of damage, the supply remains disrupted resulting in prolonged power outages.
Mr. Pandey said if any flat rate consumer feels that his tariff will go up under VLDS, he can migrate to metered regime. The utility should also ensure that 100% consumer metering is achieved by June 2013. He called upon the consumers to avail the benefits of VLDS for regular and uninterrupted power supply. (KMW News)
