LUCKNOW: The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) called an urgent meeting of the Forum of Regulators on Tuesday terming “black marketing” of power by the energy exchanges in the wake of the nationwide coal crisis. In a letter sent to the Union Power Minister RK Singh, AIPEF Apart from developing ways to avoid such crises in future, it also demanded constitution of an expert committee to fix the responsibility of coal crisis.
The federation explicitly sought limits on profiteering by independent power producers (IPPs) – including private power generation companies – under Section 62(1) of the Electricity Act 2003. “The top priority is to prevent black marketing in energy exchanges. Private operators during the current crisis,” AIPEF Chairman, Shailendra Dubey said. The federation’s stand comes at a time when the financially ailing UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) buys power at the rate of up to Rs 22 per unit to meet the high power demand amid festivities.
The federation said that since the shortage of coal is considered to be a major factor in the hike in power tariff, the power ministry should focus on ending the coal shortage in future. The apex power engineers body cited the statement of former coal secretary Anil Swarup (2016) to say that the ministry has finalized an action plan over the next five years to meet the coal shortage. “However, this action plan was never implemented. The Ministry of Power needs to take up the issue of shortage of coal with the concerned ministries so that the crisis does not recur. Dubey said.
AIPEF further demanded that an expert committee be constituted with a Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to analyze the current crisis and accordingly take strict action against those responsible for the crisis. The federation said the increase in energy rates following the coal shortage could potentially put a burden on the consumers of various distribution companies.
“Discoms are constrained to buy power at high cost to limit power cuts. This leads to a fall in discom finances, which are already stressed,” the AIPEF said, adding that the limit would put a stop to the exercise of “exploitation” reduction by raising rates. The federation insisted that the rate in energy exchange be reduced to Rs 20 per cent. The unit should not be allowed to increase.
AIPEF has also expressed concern over the closure of ultra-mega power plants of Tata and Adani Mundra Which are run by imported coal and have nothing to do with the current coal crisis in the country as well as the huge support of IPPs in Roja, Lalitpur and Bara.
The federation explicitly sought limits on profiteering by independent power producers (IPPs) – including private power generation companies – under Section 62(1) of the Electricity Act 2003. “The top priority is to prevent black marketing in energy exchanges. Private operators during the current crisis,” AIPEF Chairman, Shailendra Dubey said. The federation’s stand comes at a time when the financially ailing UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) buys power at the rate of up to Rs 22 per unit to meet the high power demand amid festivities.
The federation said that since the shortage of coal is considered to be a major factor in the hike in power tariff, the power ministry should focus on ending the coal shortage in future. The apex power engineers body cited the statement of former coal secretary Anil Swarup (2016) to say that the ministry has finalized an action plan over the next five years to meet the coal shortage. “However, this action plan was never implemented. The Ministry of Power needs to take up the issue of shortage of coal with the concerned ministries so that the crisis does not recur. Dubey said.
AIPEF further demanded that an expert committee be constituted with a Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to analyze the current crisis and accordingly take strict action against those responsible for the crisis. The federation said the increase in energy rates following the coal shortage could potentially put a burden on the consumers of various distribution companies.
“Discoms are constrained to buy power at high cost to limit power cuts. This leads to a fall in discom finances, which are already stressed,” the AIPEF said, adding that the limit would put a stop to the exercise of “exploitation” reduction by raising rates. The federation insisted that the rate in energy exchange be reduced to Rs 20 per cent. The unit should not be allowed to increase.
AIPEF has also expressed concern over the closure of ultra-mega power plants of Tata and Adani Mundra Which are run by imported coal and have nothing to do with the current coal crisis in the country as well as the huge support of IPPs in Roja, Lalitpur and Bara.
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