KSEB to file assessment petition towards KSERC order to pay Rs 6.3 crore to energy firm

Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KSEB has determined to file a assessment petition after the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) issued a beneficial order to Indsil Hydro Power and Manganese Ltd, a non-public firm based mostly in Coimbatore, which had offered extra power injected into the grid through the basic lockdown interval final 12 months at Rs 5.50 per unit. A whopping Rs 6.30 crore has been slapped on KSEB which fears it might should cross on the buck to customers in the end. During the lockdown interval, KSEB was not concerned about getting energy, even for Rs 1.50 per unit as a consequence of low consumption when the industries had been shut down. Following the state authorities’s coverage of encouraging personal participation in establishing of hydroelectric initiatives, Indsil had arrange a small hydroelectric undertaking at Kuthungal in Idukki district with a capability of 21 MW. The Coimbatore-based energy firm is an Extra High Tension shopper having its manufacturing unit at Palakkad with the contract demand of 14,000 kilovolt ampere (kVA).

When the state authorities issued the coverage tips on establishing small/mini/micro hydel initiatives beneath personal participation, it was agreed that if there’s any dispute or distinction of opinion between the company and KSEB, the matter could be referred to the federal government and its choice shall be ultimate. A senior KSEB official instructed The New Indian Express that when your entire nation was beneath full lockdown throughout March-June final 12 months, the electrical energy demand of the state had drastically come down. “The rate of electricity in the short-term market, including power exchanges, had also drastically come down during the lockdown period on account of the drastic reduction in electricity demand. The average exchange rate was less than Rs 1.50 per unit when the private company had given us an invoice of Rs 6.39 crore for the surplus energy of 11.63 MU banked with KSEB at Rs 5.40 per unit,” stated a senior KSEB official. This had occurred at a time when the KSEB had been surrendering energy from Central Generating Stations, Independent Power Producers, even its personal zero variable price hydel vegetation through the lockdown interval. But INDSIL approached KSERC towards the KSEB’s non-payment because it maintained that the power was banked with out their permission and was not concerned about taking their energy at Rs5.40 per unit. The KSERC had allegedly not taken the dispute earlier than the state authorities they usually ordered KSEB to pay the dues of Rs 6.30 crore.    “This is an illegal action of the KSERC against the consumers and KSEB. We have decided to take legal action against the KSERC’s order or else the board will be forced to recommend increased power tariff,” a KSEB official instructed The New Indian Express.