Mescom can't account for power worth Rs245 crore

Company says it paid producers, but was not supplied

Seeking a tariff revision for 2011-12, the company has told the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KREC) that it bought 525.77 million units (MU) of energy for its customers, but the latter had not consumed the power.

In its Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for  2011-2012, Mescom has admitted that it has not received the mysterious 525.77 mu, although it had paid for it. The commission has scheduled the escom’s submission for hearing on September 19, when the company would have to explain the discrepancy.

In its submission, Mescom has said that it is not aware where the power has gone, leaving the power consumers furious. “We want to know why the Mescom paid for the unused power. The company owes an explanation to the consumer,” says Satyanarayana Udupa, General Secretary, Bharathiya Kissan Sangh from Udupi.

Mescom told KERC that it supplied its consumers 4,275.86 MU during 2010-11, while the actual consumption was 3750.09 MU. It, however could not account for 525.77 mu.
When the commission questioned the power supplier about the discrepancy,  a sheepish Mescom asked that its consumption figure for the forthcoming year be reduced by
Rs 151.84 crore to adjust for the discrepancy.

“Mescom purchased power at a  cost  of Rs 1,131.51 crore. The missing Rs 245.77 crore was included in that figure. They have made a false subm­is­sion stating that they purc­h­ased power at a cost of Rs 2.888 per unit, but they actually purchased it for Rs 4.67,” said Sridhar Prabhu, a power expert and an advocate, citing the company’s ARR (Annual Revenue Requirement).

“Mescom should have argued that the power purchase rate was Rs 4.67 paise a unit and not at Rs 2.888, and they could have sought a reduction of Rs 240.27 crore from their ARR, which would have reduced the burden on consumers by Rs 88.43 crore,” said another power expert, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, statistics apart, what happened to the power that Mescom is supposed to have bought, remains a mystery. Neither any distribution company in the State nor the State Load Dispatch Centre has claimed to have utilised 525.77 mu purchased by Mescom, deepening the mystery. Even the KERC daily report has been unable to account for the missing power.