If there is one issue that resonates throughout the length and breadth of Tamil Nadu it is the acute shortage of electric power that is crippling life and livelihood across the board. And the stock response from the powers-that-be is that increasing generation capacity to match the demand is the only way to solve the problem and since this has not been happening for the last several years the state is reeling under a power crisis.Figures are periodically rolled out to drive home this point. But these do not make much sense. For instance, the TNEB presently has a total installed capacity of 15,800 MW against the current demand estimate of 11,000 MW. Yet the state is in deep distress. There is something terribly wrong somewhere outside generation capacity!In the coming years, demand is expected to grow at a rate of 10 per cent annually. Projected capacity addition to cater to this are: 4,280 MW during 2011-12, 2,000 MW during 2012-13, 1,000 MW in 2013-14 and 2,000 MW in 2014-2015. This may be comforting to the newly installed government, but would not last. Besides, it should be noted that most of this generation would come from central share and private power projects and TNEB hardly has any capacity to set up generation plants on its own. This need not come as a surprise because TNEB’s financial position is pathetic by its own admission. The revenue deficit is `8,608.56 crore and `9,618.01 crore respectively for the years 2011-12 and 2012-13. Yet, the ‘wake up call’ from TNEB sources to the new government is to aggressively pursue generation projects to meet the growing demand and nothing else!This, indeed, is the tragedy. It is much like saying that the problem of feeding millions of people can be solved by just producing more paddy. No need to harvest properly, store safely, convert into rice, distribute to all parts of the state and deliver to the consumers! Inefficiencies at each of these stages will nullify any increase in production.Same is the case with electric power. Any increase in generation capacity is more than offset by inefficiencies and wastage at every stage — production, transmission, distribution and delivery. Without fixing these inefficiencies and wastage, increasing generation capacity and production is like filling a bucket full of holes! The first and foremost task should be to fill these holes, which is very much doable.For this the basic philosophy of power utility management should undergo a sea-change. This is a multidimensional and complex subject. This article will touch upon one aspect — distribution and delivery. Distribution refers to conveyance of electricity through wires, transformers, and other devices that are not classified as transmission tools. This is, by and large, an engineering function. Delivery services are to facilitate retail customers to receive quality electric power from the supplier, and include metering, meter reading, billing and collection. This is more of a commercial/consumer-related function. Between these lie the major ills that afflict the power sector in Tamil Nadu. The ongoing ‘power cut’ approach to manage distribution and delivery connotes negativism and arbitrary rationing. A better alternative would be to replace this with a positive Need Based Energy Management (NBEM). In the power sector there is a distinct difference between demand and need — the former is inflated and exaggerated, while the latter is actual and realistic.Consumers of electric power could be classified into five broad categories — industries, agriculture, commercial/office, domestic and essential services. Only a comparatively small percentage of the industries are in the continuous process category requiring power 24 hours in a day. Another small percentage would be doing two/three shifts. The vast majority are single shift industries that would be satisfied with industry load of 8-9 hours a day and lighting load for the remaining period.In agriculture, for raising the best paddy crop through tube-well irrigation, 10 hours of power supply per day during the season is enough. Other crops would require less. Most agro-based industries are seasonal in nature and require full power only for part of the year. Cold storages need 12 to 14 hours of power supply preferably split in two or three parts. Residential/commercial use is mostly light-load.Energy, which is the time integral of power, is the most perishable of commodities. Once generated, it has to be transmitted, distributed, delivered and consumed. NBEM would identify the need of the various consumer groups, forecast power generation on need basis, streamline distribution network accordingly, regulate delivery as per need and monitor matching of need with supplyPower distribution/delivery network is full of constraints and is clumsy to the core. The ills of the system are many — poor reliability, high line losses, low voltage profiles, overloading of transformers, poor maintenance, absence of conservation measures, power theft, haphazard layouts, whimsical load connection, inadequate clearance, etc. First thing to do in NBEM is to create a consumption profile — shift-based industries, continuous process industries and industries having independent feeders; irrigation tube wells; peak load requirement; domestic connections; essential and emergency services.The next step is to design a state-of-the-art distribution system and streamline delivery mechanism to meet the specific need of each consumer category. Power regulatory measures should be in accordance with the delivery mechanism and should be strictly enforced through a combination of vigilance, information-education-communication campaign to create awareness and competent technical supervision. This is bound to work. If properly designed, structured and implemented NBEM would bring enormous benefits to the consumers, the grid, TNEB and the government. Since TNEB is a large power utility, contents of NBEM, delivery mechanism, regulatory measures, technology to be adopted and methods of implementation need to be worked out in great detail.If only TNEB had taken these steps well in time things would have been different. Perhaps, lack of political will, excessive interference and rent-seeking has come in the way. Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, a mere bystander, has been of no help. What is required now is professional management of TNEB and strong political will. These need to be in place before a start is made. Better late than never!
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