Govt to recruit section officers to KPTCL: Official
The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission member Vishwanath Hiremutt said that the government has taken measures to overcome the problem of shortage of section officers in Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) and the process of recruitment will be completed by the end of October.
Speaking at an interaction programme with public organised by MESCOM over implementation of Time of Day (ToD) tariff, here at seminar hall in Manipal Institute of Technology, Hiremutt said that the government also had plans to recruit nearly 1000 linemen to the corporation following the acute shortage of linemen. However, the matter is before the Court owing to some reason and is coming up for hearing on September 25. The shortage of Section Officers will be solved by November, he hoped.
He disputed the claim that there is shortage of transformers in MESCM.
The grievance meet will be held once in three months in each district coming under MESCOM to discuss the problems concerning power supply in the region, he added.
Former president of Udupi district Industrial Association Vishwanath Bhat urged the department to create an awareness among public over the new plan.
MESCOM Managing Director Vijayanarasimha said that the Time of Day (ToD) tariff has been made compulsory for HT-2a and HT-2b consumers with a contract demand of 500 kVA and above.
Karnataka Coastal Ice Plant Association President Rajendra Suvarna urged the authorities to give concession in tariff for the electricity consumed between 6 pm and 10 pm.
He said there are 204 ice plant units in the state. About six crore of units of electricity are consumed by these ice plants.
Kundapur Ice Plant Association president Sathish Sherigar urged early implementation of ToD metre once the department receives the application.
He said it took nearly four months for him to get the ToD meter fitted at his production house after applying for it, he added.
Umesh Nayak who owns a Rice Mill in Hebri said he has been benefited after opting for ToD tariff system. He could save upto Rs 1.10 lakh.
Demonstrating the benefits of ToD plan, Financial Advisor of MESCOM, Jayaram Alva said the plan has been compulsorily introduced from September 1.
The ToD is required to tackle peak shortage and energy shortages and will improve load reliability.
It will also improve the system load factor by reducing the demand during peak period. It will be an incentive to consumers for shifting portion of their loads from peak time to off peak time. The tariff rates vary according to the time of day usage.
There is also another plan called Availability Based Tariff (ABT) which is in practice for the Generators and to ESCOMs / SLDC involved in inter-state load management. Under the plan, any generators or ESCOMs not adhering to the declared or scheduled commitments are liable to pay the extra charges named “UI Charges” (unscheduled interchange charges), said Jayaram Alva.
