Power Discoms

Delhi power minister Atishi on Monday said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered an audit of the subsidy being given to discoms to ascertain if there are any discrepancies. Addressing a press conference, Atishi said agencies empanelled with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India will conduct the audit and directions in this regard will be issued in two to three days. "A conspiracy is being hatched at a high level to stop free electricity being provided by the Kejriwal government. Files are not being shown to the chief minister and the power minister... It shows that something is amiss," Atishi claimed. "Government-appointed experts in discom boards were removed earlier and now questions are being raised if the LG is colluding with the discoms," she alleged. Immediate reaction from the LG office was not available. Atishi said the chief minister has ordered an audit of the subsidy being provided to the discoms to ascertain how this money was being used and if there were a

Adani Power has revised downwards the contracted electricity supply capacity with two discoms of Haryana to 600 MW each, from 712 MW each earlier, under supplementary power purchase agreements for its Mundra plant. The two discoms -- Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd -- will now get a supply of 600 MW each against earlier contracted capacity of 712 MW. Under the terms of the SPPAs (supplementary power purchase agreements), the net capacity contracted with Haryana discoms has been revised to 600 MW each, or 1,200 MW in aggregate (1,320 MW in aggregate at generation end), as delivered, considering availability of domestic coal linkage, a BSE filing stated. Adani Power Ltd has signed SPPAs with Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd in respect of its two existing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) of net contracted capacity of 712 MW each (1,566 MW in aggregate at generation end), which is being suppli

'Government nominees', including AAP leader Jasmine Shah, appointed to the boards of power discoms in Delhi by the Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation have been replaced with senior officials, sources at the Lieutenant Governor's office said on Saturday. Besides Shah, a spokesperson of the AAP, those removed from the boards include Naveen Gupta, son of AAP MP N D Gupta, and other private persons "illegally" appointed as 'government nominees', they claimed. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party termed the LG's orders removing Shah and Gupta from the boards of discoms "illegal and unconstitutional". The LG does not have the power to issue such orders, it claimed. The sources at the LG's office, meanwhile, said the finance secretary, power secretary and the MD of Delhi Transco will now represent the city government on the boards of the discoms, in line with the prevalent practice. Delhi LG V K Saxena had ordered the immediate removal of Shah, Gupta and other private individuals "illegally" appointe

On the bourses, shares of Adani Power, Adani Transmission, CG Power, NHPC, NTPC, and Adani Green Energy have surged up to 61 per cent so far in FY23, ACE Equity data shows

Pool to address grid balancing concern as states relinquish costly thermal power to procure more RE

Power distribution companies (discoms) in Nagaland reported the maximum aggregate technical and commercial losses of 60.39 per cent in 2020-21, followed by those in Jammu & Kashmir (59.28 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (51.94 per cent), showed a report. 'The Report on Performance of Power Utilities in 2020-21' by Power Finance Corporation stated that overall AT&C (aggregate technical & commercial) losses of discoms widened from 20.73 per cent in 2019-20 to 22.32 per cent in 2020-21. It also showed that discoms in Daman & Diu reported the least AT&C losses of 4.48 per cent, followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli (5.17 per cent) and Kerala (7.76 per cent). Nagaland had highest AT&C losses in 2020-21, but it reduced the proportion from 64.79 per cent in 2019-20 to 60.39 per cent in 2020-21. Similarly, Jammu & Kashmir reduced from 60.46 per cent in 2019-20 to 59.28 per cent in 2020-21. In case of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the AT&C losses increased

Power discoms have sought clarification from the Delhi government on the disbursal of subsidy to consumers considering their different billing cycles, sources said on Wednesday. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier this month said that subsidy will be given to only those consumers who will demand it. He said that consumers who apply for subsidy up to October 31 will be provided subsidy for the month of October. However, sources said that discoms do not follow month-wise billing cycles. "The billing of power consumption starts from the date a new connection is energised. So it is different for consumers. Supposedly, if a consumer starts consumption of power after getting connection from 25th of a month, his bill will be generated for a period up to 25th of next month," said a source. Kejriwal had said that those consumers who do not apply for subsidy will not get it. However, they will start getting it if they apply for it again, he said. According to official figures, there are

On an average, more than 11,600 Delhiites have opted in for power subsidy per hour, filing application with the discoms, since the process was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. Around 6.15 lakh power consumers in Delhi had applied for the subsidy by 5.40 pm on Friday. These included 2,58,852 BRPL, 1,73,875 BYPL, 1,78,584 TPDDL and 2,351 NDMC consumers, they said. The chief minister, at a press conference on Wednesday, had said power consumers in Delhi will get subsidy from October 1 only if they demand it by submitting offline or online applications. He had launched a phone number 70113 11111 for consumers to give a missed call or send WhatsApp message to opt for the subsidy. In the first two days, up to 5.30 pm on Thursday, around 3.4 lakh consumers had applied for power subsidy. More than 90 per cent of 58 lakh power consumers in Delhi digitally pay their electricity bills. Presently, consumers having up to 200 units of monthly .

A third player starts operations, pointing to the potential of this nascent business

The Telangana government has decided to wage a legal battle against the Centre's direction to pay Rs 6,757 crore power dues to Andhra Pradesh

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said political parties that come to power on pre-poll promises of freebies should pay for those through budgetary provisions. Citing the example of free electricity being promised in many states, the finance minister said the burden for the freebies should not be thrust upon the power discoms or gencos. "If a promise has been made to the people at the time of the election, you are looking at a quid pro quo. You should be, as a responsible party, assume after you come to power, make a provision in the budget for it," Sitharaman said, speaking at the FE Best Bank Awards event here. She said in the case of the power sector, there have been cases where states have paid the utilities in parts or not paid at all. "You end up shifting the burden to the discom which has not gone to the election. The discom has not asked for votes. Why should they be burdened? Do they have the power to stop continuing the supply? And similarly the gencos,"

The Delhi government's charging plan for electric vehicles has incentives for battery swapping facility operators and one public charging point for 15 EVs by 2024, a new policy document has said. The government will also have the power distribution companies, or the discoms, studying the impact of EV charging on the grid. Delhi government on Monday released the charging action plan' for electric vehicles on completion of two years of its EV Policy that was first launched in 2020. The plan said that the biggest hindrance to the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles is inadequate charging infrastructure. Titled Charging/Swapping Infrastructure Action Plan for 2022-25', the document said that the national capital will operationalise the incentive provided to battery swapping facility operators in the Delhi EV policy. The plan said that if the battery is not sold with the vehicle, up to 50 per cent of the purchase incentive would be provided to energy operators to ensure that the

The power ministry's plan to become an intermediary in the sale of green power generation to states is only a limited solution to the larger problem facing state discoms

Will the govt be fifth-time lucky in bailing out discoms?

PM Modi announced a Rs 3 trillion package for reforms in the power distribution sector, while blaming 'freebies culture' for their mounting dues. Will the package address problems of the power sector?

States and UTs, in total, owe over Rs 1 trillion to gencos and about Rs 1.3 trillion to discoms, with Maharashtra owing the maximum

PM Modi highlighted the financial problems being faced by the power utilities and asked the states to clear the dues as soon as possible

Delhi's power purchase cost has risen by 300% since 2014 but the tariff has only risen by 90%

New far-off plants are costlier and start supplying power much after the older ones have been run at peak. This summer, despite the call to phase out plants over 25 years, they've proved their worth

The dues of RE power generators have increased by close to 40 per cent since January, the highest among all categories of gencos

As on Dec 14, total dues of discoms towards gencos was Rs 98,682 cr; If the disputed amount is included, the dues stand at Rs 1.09 trn, inching closer to the record highs of last year