BENGALURU: If an unscheduled power cut means an entire day’s schedule ruined, there may be respite soon.
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) is implementing an SMS-based alert system by March, which will warn consumers about power cuts — both planned and unplanned.
The timing is being seen as appropriate as the city usually experiences constant interruptions in power supply during the summer months, usually due to shortage of power or glitches caused by an increase in peak demand.
Bescom MD P. Rajendra Cholan said the power utility had collected mobile numbers of 90% of its consumers.
The utility is also mapping its consumer base ward-wise as per the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) records to make the initiative more systematic.
“A software is being developed to send out bulk messages to consumers in case of outages. This will cover both scheduled and unscheduled power cuts. We called for tenders two months ago for the development of the software. We should be able to implement the system before March,” Mr. Cholan added.
As of now, Bescom furnishes details of outages on its website. However, for minor interruptions, most consumers end up calling the customer care number (1912) to find out the details.
The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) had recently asked Bescom about the delay in implementing a system to keep the public informed about power interruptions, as well as for its projections of availability and demand for power and unavoidable load shedding.
Smart streetlights
Around 2,300 streetlights on the 23-km stretch from M.G. Road to Whitefield are set to get smart. The Bescom, along with the BBMP have decided to rope in an external agency for refurbishing and the maintenance of these streetlights on a pilot basis. Electricity wastage due to streetlights not being turned off was one of the issues pointed out by the KERC.
Bescom MD P. Rajendra Cholan said tenders would be called soon to replace existing poles with ones equipped with timers, dimmers and energy saving LED bulbs.
‘No power shortage’
Amidst concerns about the availability of water during summer due to the low levels in dams and reservoirs, Bescom has maintained that it has enough power. “The power available to Bescom as of now is 4,500 MW against the demand of 4,100 MW. All the electricity supply companies are seeing negative demand because of less agricultural load,” Mr. Cholan explained.
