The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 21, 2022
Coal supply shortage, coupled with soaring temperatures that have led to an increase in the demand for electricity, has caused several States to cut power supply in households daily. But the situation is not that grim in Odisha, said a senior executive of Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Ltd. (TPCODL) while assuring of uninterrupted quality power supply to its consumers.
Addressing mediapersons here on Thursday, TPCODL Chief Executive Officer M Shenbagam said that Odisha being a power-surplus state there is no need for power cuts during summer though the demand for electricity has gone up due to intense heat waves in several parts of the State.
Admitting that power cuts are taking place for 30-45 minutes in some areas, Shenbagam said that it’s temporary as power production has gone down by 300 Megawatts due to low water level in hydro power plants and some issues in thermal power plants in the State. Low voltage issue is another factor behind the temporary power cut, he said adding that efforts are on to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
TPCODL is taking steps towards addressing the challenges the summer brings in with additional loads. “As a major step towards providing reliable and uninterrupted power supply to consumers, TPCODL has introduced eight mobile compact substations in its licenced area of operation. It is used temporarily to minimize power supply outage during conditions such as failure of the existing transformers for various reasons,” said the TPCODL CEO.
Besides, TPCODL has already replaced 100 transformers and repaired 1000 transformers to address the low voltage problem in some areas during summer.
“In order to ensure 24×7 power supply to the consumers, TPCODL has planned to spend Rs 450 crore on infrastructure development during the current financial year,” informed Shenbagam.
Odisha, especially the coastal belt being cyclone-prone, TPCODL has been replacing the normal electric poles with modern and state-of-the-art poles that can withstand wind speed ranging upto 300 kilometers per hour, thus minimizing the power disruption to the least in case of any natural disaster, informed Shenbagam.
Speaking about its achievements, the TPCODL CEO said that the company has brought down the AT & C (Aggregate Transmission & Commercial) losses from 29.54 percent in the financial year 2020-21 to 25.45 percent in FY 2021-22.
There was 9 percent growth in the consumer base in FY 2021-22 with addition of about 96,000 new consumers. As on March 31, 2022 TPCODL had 27.96 lakh consumers.
The company has managed to save 90.54 Megawatt energy by arresting power theft which was rampant when it took over from CESU.
TPCODL has been addressing various issues of the customers through its 14 Customer Care Centers (CCCs) across its area of operation. The company plans to take the CCCs number to 20 by the end of the current financial year.
In a bid to encourage digital payment among its consumers, TPCODL has increased the rebate on online bill payment from the existing 2 percent to 3 percent now. It has also introduced ‘Pay & Win’ scheme for rewarding customers making regular payment of bills through digital mode.
As a responsible corporate citizen, TPCODL has been doing its bit for the welfare of the community. It is operating Mobile Health Dispensary, and running vocational training centre in its operational area. Besides, it’s running 10 Women Literacy Centres (WLCs) for educating women, especially those living in slums. The company plans to add 10 more WLCs during this fiscal, said the CEO.
