Due to his foresight and persistent effort, both Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) as well as Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) have emerged as the best among the best utilities in the whole country in terms of quality of service, power and revenue enhancement. In a conversation with K N Reddy of Deccan Herald, Meena discusses the achievements, difficulties faced and challenges ahead of the KPTCL. Excerpts:

What are the major milestones achieved by KPTCL in the last five years?

KPTCL and the Escoms have been able to reduce Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses and implement reforms for the better operational efficiency. Renovation and modernisation of sub-stations have considerably reduced T&D losses and given the state’s power sector the impetus it needed. The capital expenditure has increased fourfold as compared to the average of previous years.

Bangalore metro area has the least losses in country in the region of nine per cent. ‘Zero transformer failure’ in Bangalore for over five years has been possible because of proper maintenance. Mescom, as a company, has the least overall loss in the country of 13 per cent, besides the highest collection efficiency, metering and customer satisfaction. Over a 100 Any Time Payment Kiosks are operational in Bangalore and other areas. We are the first state to introduce Intra State ABT (Availability based Tariff) as also the first to do distribution level energy audit in urban areas on regular basis.

We also have other firsts like: 100 per cent computerisation of bills and a host of IT initiatives for efficiency improvement; adoption of most of the “best practices” in the sector; introduction of demand side management (DSM) initiatives — BELP (Bangalore Efficient Lighting Programme), BEIP (Bangalore Energy Efficient Irrigation Pump sets) Programme.

Has the KPTCL been able to achieve the targets set for itself?

Yes, KPTCL has been able to achieve the targets. In the past, on an average, 30 sub-stations used to be commissioned every year. But in 2006-07 KPTCL achieved a record by commissioning 88 new sub-stations, besides completing the augmenting of 104 stations. During 2007-08, 108 new sub-stations have been commissioned and augmentation of 63 stations completed. We plan to invest over Rs 2,500 crore during FY 2007-08.

What is the financial status of the KPTCL at present?

The financial position is not comfortable, owing to various orders of the KERC. Also more government equity is required in view of huge capital expenditure requirements.

What are the major projects that are under progress?

Escoms have introduced rural load management system (RLMS) as part of Swarna Jyothi Scheme to regulate power supply to rural areas. The system segregates rural consumers at the distribution transformer level. It is so programmed to provide a prescribed duration of 3-phase power to IP sets and 24 hour single phase power to houses, rural industries and drinking water supply installations. Bescom is the first company in the country to adopt RLMS.

Other companies are also doing a lot of system improvement works. Under Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme, the state has received Rs 1,200 crore from the Centre to electrify 18 lakh households in 16 thousands hamlets in the state. In 17 districts works have been completed.

What is the effect of implementation of Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) in the state?

With implementation of APDRP we have been able to reduce distribution loss in 300 towns and cities across the state. In some places distribution losses have drastically come down and accountability and functional efficiency has improved. It has helped in combating energy theft.

What is the progress made in metering so far, in respect of all categories of consumers?

Escoms have achieved nearly 100 per cent metering for all consumer categories except agriculture. In IP set category also about 26 per cent metering has been achieved. The major bottleneck is in the agriculture sector; Escoms are trying to convince the farmers to install meters to their IP sets.