Industrialists who have approached the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) against the proposal for “blanket power shutdown during peak hour” have sought to implead Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje, citing a letter mentioning their names.
Questioning the power of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) to enforce such loadshedding between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. without the consent of the commission, counsel representing the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) and Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) also referred to the Bescom letter that states loadshedding had been planned following directions from the Chief Minister and the Energy Minister.
Contents contested
The letter, sent to industrialists after a meeting between them and officials, has kicked up a row as the industrialists are contesting its content. The letters seeking co-operation/ approval of industrial consumers to save 300 MW of powers also contains the steps to be taken in this connection. “KASSIA representatives attended a meeting where there was no concurrence or acceptance on any issue,” counsel for KASSIA stated.
Counsel said that Peenya industrial area had power outages, and that they did not know whether it was power disruption or load shedding. “We are rejecting the draft letter and according to electricity act rules and licensing procedures, the electricity supply company has to approach the commission to implement loadshedding,” FKCCI counsel said.
No information
Industrialists have also contended that weekly schedule had not been made available, and also not published according to tariff revision order of KERC. No such information has not been carried anywhere, counsel claimed.
Stating that the commission should be approached for any loadshedding and seeking details on the weekly schedule, KERC Chairperson M.R. Srinivas Murthy directed the Bescom Law Officer to file a reply and posted the hearing to May 19.
