Instant energy drains Punjab
Kamaldeep Singh Brar
BATHINDA

: Punjab has paid a high cost for the lack of long-term planning for meeting its energy requirement in the past five years.
As long-term agreements to purchase electricity from the other states proved inadequate between 2005 and 2011, the state was forced to buy energy for a higher price on short-term basis.
However, the cost turned out to be far too high.

Long-term power-purchase policy is made to meet the demand over a onger period, and the short-term policies are for meeting instant demand.
The short-term power-purchase bill shot up from R542 crore in the year 2005-06 to R2,285 crore in the year 2007-08. It was fourfold increase in just two years.

The average price of per-unit electricity purchased on shortterm basis also jumped from R3.24 to R7.12 in a matter of just three years.

In the past half decade, restricted maximum demand of power in the state has increased from 5,574 megawatt to 7,400 MW, while the capacity has increased only slightly, from 5,948 MW to 6,818 MW. To fill the gap in the demand and availability of energy, the state had no course but to make short-term purchase.

In the same period, the cost of the electricity bought on the
long-term basis also increased but it's trifle when compared with cost because of s hort-term policies. In 2005, the state was paying R2.12 per unit for the power purchased on long term, which has increased to R2.97 per unit.

The power agreements through traders have increased the cost of
short-term energy manifold, an official in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has confirmed.

In the past 10 years, Punjab has also failed to raise its electricity production capacity to level of demand, so it became dependent on the electricity traders. In the past decade, the demand has gone up 2,387
MW, while the added capacity was just 500 MW.