Load-shedding will be used as a last resort: Bescom chief

The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) has zeroed in on checking pilferage and self-sufficient companies to mitigate the problem of power cuts this summer.

The Bescom has decided to request companies that have their own power generation facility not to use Bescom power. Ashok Angadi, chief engineer, Bescom, said the companies have agreed to the proposal, adding that this would save a lot of electricity.

He said it has been decided to allocate a specific amount of power to each station as per its consumption pattern. The station will have to maintain that load. He said Bangalore has been allocated 2,000 megawatts of power a day and the city’s power requirement can be met. Also, the power supply company is on a drive to reduce power theft. Angadi said many small ice cream parlours and roadside vendors steal electricity. He said a Bescom team would be identifying such culprits and cut their power supply. He said in March itself, the number of illegal connections came down by 5%.

Bescom managing director P Manivannan said the Bescom does not need to resort to load-shedding if electricity is managed well.

Nevertheless, the city continues to witness intermittent supply. These outages, the officials say, are “local problems, which we address on an hourly basis on our website and on Facebook.”

Where’s the weekly chart?
The rule of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) that a schedule for weekly chart of power supply has to be published in popular media is not being followed. Though the regulation does not specify that load shedding details have to be published, it requires Escoms to publish their schedules of service in popular media every week.

The regulation came into place after KERC received many complaints from the public regarding quality and irregularity of power supply in 2009. The regulation, which is part of the tariff order, 2009, states that “a time-table of power supply should be announced every week for the convenience of the public,” energy expert MG Prabhakara said.

If Escoms don’t follow this rule, then they can be penalised.
Even though the Bescom officials say that they are publishing reasons for outage on social networking sites, the people in the city continue to face power-cuts without a schedule of power supply.