Use power wisely: shortfall prompts Bescom's advisory

Bengalurians must use electricity judiciously as the city faces power shortage due to insufficient production, energy department said, though it assured that power would be bought from outside.

Even as the city witnessed blackouts on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, Bangalore Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (Bescom) declared unscheduled and intermittent power cuts as production in the state dropped due to technical reasons.

Bescom Managing Director P Rajendra Cholan estimated the shortfall to be 1500 MW. A unit each of Ballari and Udupi Thermal Power Plants has shut down, causing the deficit. BTPC experienced leakages, while the UPCL had technical snags.

In an attempt to off-set the shortage, Bescom is buying 500 MW of power from the market at Rs 4.50 per unit and and 1,300 MW from Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

 Cholan assured that the power situation would return to normal in the next couple of days as the purchased electricity begins to flow into the system.

Energy department officials reviewed the overall power situation in the state till Tuesday evening. Discussions at the high-level meeting got heated up due to the shortage of coal.

A senior Karnataka Power Corporation Limited official admitted that coal shortage was one more reason for power cuts.

Statistics available at KPCL's website reveal that the state generated 3627 MW power from hydel and thermal sources, though the power consumption as on November 7 was close to 7,000 MW.

The department is managing the shortfall by buying power from central power grid and by additional production from non-conventional sources like solar and wind energy.