Industrial users have come out against a proposal from Kerala State Electricity Board to impose power supply restrictions between April and June in view of what the board described before Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission as “unprecedented increase in energy and peak demand” and “peculiar load curve of the Kerala power system.”
Industry body Kerala High Tension and Extra High Tension Industrial Electricity Consumers' Association called KSEB's move to restrict normal rate power supply to 80 per cent for bulk and EHT and HT consumers as attempt to raise power charges indirectly.
Until now KSEB had sought permission to restrict normal rate power supply to 85 per cent.
However, the most recent submission by KSEB said that the power supply and demand situation had changed drastically and that the board sought to impose half-hour cyclical power-cuts on supplies from 11kV feeders between 6.30 p. m. and 10.30 p.m. The cyclical power-cuts was expected to reduce consumption by 350 mw on peak demand and 1.2 million units a day in energy consumption.
At the same time, industries would get only 80 per cent of their power supplies at the normal rate.
The percentage is being calculated on the basis of the previous year's average consumption. Consumption over the limit will be charged at the rate of Rs. 11 a unit.
The Board's figures said that the average daily consumption of HT and EHT consumers, including licences, is 12.69 million units a day.
The industry body claimed that an enterprise using up to a million unit of electricity will have to pay an extra Rs. 16.2 lakh a month in additional power charges. Hindustan Newsprint Limit, which consumes up to seven million units will have to pay an extra Rs. 1.13 crore. Similarly, Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore will have to pay Rs. 2.11 crore and Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited Rs. 58 lakh a month.
