Solar water heater a must for new houses

Have a good look at your roof before venturing to the nearest Bescom office. Because the electricity company now wants all new house owners, including those having two-storied buildings in 20X30 sites, to install solar water-heaters to get electricity connections.

Bescom sources said solar water-heaters are a must for houses more than 600 sq ft. House owners will also have to dig too deep into their pockets for shelling out an extra sum of Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 for this. For those who have not done plumbing, this could be about Rs 80,000.

Despite the order being passed about eight months ago, Bescom has been strictly implementing it only from April. As a result, many are moving into their new homes on temporary power connections.

What may await executive engineers, assistant executive engineers and assistant engineers sanctioning permanent connections to those not conforming to the new rules is a suspension order, Bescom sources said.

This hardship, the company insisted, will reduce the amount of power used for heating water and would encourage use of non-conventional energy sources. But the seemingly beneficial rule may enrich Bescom’s coffers, as the tariff for temporary power connections is more than that for the permanent ones.

Asked about the new rules, Bescom GM (HR and Training) Satyapremkumar said the company is merely following orders from the government.

The threat of suspension has virtually stopped Bescom engineers from processing request for permanent connections, leaving applications to pile in large numbers. The “push” towards green energy though pleasing to Electricity Contractors Association, they seem to be unhappy about the company’s heavy-handed approach.

Representations by the Association to the Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa and Bescom’s MD, but to no avail.