Elections over, power cuts are back
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14
Elections over, long and unscheduled power cuts are back to haunt domestic, industrial and agriculture consumers across Haryana. For the past two days, urban domestic consumers are facing three to six hours of power cuts, while rural areas are getting supply for just 12 hours a day. Peak load restrictions are back on the industry, which is otherwise facing a cut of six to seven hours a day.

Before the elections to the Lok Sabha, the powers that be ensured adequate power supply to all sections of consumers, by even purchasing power at high cost on the power exchange. With the ruling Congress unwilling to let power supply become an election issue, consumers across the state enjoyed a power(ful) two months of summers. But now, consumers are not just braving the intense heat, but are also suffering long and often unscheduled power cuts.

It is alleged that before the elections, the state government was purchasing huge quantities of power through the power exchange (Indian Energy Exchange), by bidding at rates as high as Rs 9-Rs 10 per unit. However, post-elections, the quantity of power being purchased on the exchange has been reduced by almost 20 per cent, and bids being made on the exchange are between Rs 6-Rs 8 per unit.

Officials in the Haryana Power Utilities, however, contend that the power cuts have nothing to do with the elections getting over. “The situation has worsened now because the temperature has risen sharply, leading to an increase in the demand for power. In April, the weather was quite cool and the demand in the agriculture sector was low. With the demand in the agriculture sector having shot up, we have to ensure restrictions on other consumers,” said a senior official.

It is learnt that the daily power requirement in Haryana has touched 900 lakh units (LUs), against which the state power utilities is managing to supply an average of 850 LUs per day. While around 460 LUs of power is being generated by the state’s own power generation sources, the rest is being purchased from other power surplus states and on the power exchange. “We are spending close to Rs 4 crore a day on purchasing an average of 40 LUs of power through the power exchange now. Besides, we have now signed power purchase agreements with various state electricity boards and power trading companies to ensure that an additional 200 LUs of power is available to the state from next months,” said the official.