Small shop owners, domestic electricity consumers, spokespersons for heavy industries and roof-top solar power producers and even curious onlookers turned up in large numbers at the Ernakulam Town Hall on September 5 (Thursday) at a hearing organised by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) on an appeal filed by Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for tariff hike.
The hearing, arranged to elicit opinion from the big spectrum of power consumers about the proposed tariff hike, turned into a platform for free venting of opinion on the power supply-consumption scenario in the State. The presence of a substantial number of police personnel at the venue added more gravity to the situation. As the hall on the first floor of the municipal town hall filled to capacity, the KSERC made arrangements inside a ground floor hall where the proceedings were seen on CCTV screens.
The flood of people was apparently triggered by what some people described as a campaign over social media platforms and other media reports of a restive gathering in Palakkad at the KSERC hearing as well as “dire warnings” issued by some social media enthusiasts that if people did not participate in the hearing the power utility would leverage the opportunity to hike tariffs.
Thankachan Kottakkakath, vice-president of Kerala Vyapari Vyavsayi Ekopana Samithi in Idukki district, said he was impressed by the large gathering because usually the hearings were abandoned by common people. But there was impatience on display and the fact was brought to the notice of the officials, he said.
Shammi Chakrabarty from Kakkanad said the common people had realised how the KSEB “exploited their helplessness”. “We must respond as bona fide consumers,” he said, justifying the boisterous crowd that launched a brief spell of hooting when power supply failed at about 11.25 a.m. at the Town Hall.
The KSERC too came under flak. Ubaid Rahman, representing Kerala Solar Club, a platform for solar power producers, said one of the key issues that the power utility was grappling with started with the KSERC cancelling the long-term contracts with a group of power producers to purchase power at a lower rate in 2023.
The Kerala High Tension and Extra High Tension Industrial Electricity Consumers’ Association said that summer tariff could not be imposed on consumers without ample justification. Besides, the KSEB seeking a summer tariff for five months in a year was unjustifiable. The association said the KSEB should move into large hydro power, end delays in project completion, and allot small hydro projects to industries.
Hiking power tariff would be a big shock to ordinary consumers and households, said Roy Thekkan, general secretary of Ernakulam District Consumers’ Protection Council. Referring to some other utilities, he said “our previous experience is that a hike in charges, actually coughed up by the consumer, is much higher than announced by the utilities concerned”.
Saju Varghese of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said electricity tariffs should be brought down with the KSEB using the best technology to contain transmission and distribution losses. He claimed that efforts by the AAP to create awareness among the people about the need to respond at the hearing had helped increase the number of people attending the hearing in Kochi.
Mr. Varghese said the KSEB has been accepting deposits for several years. But the customers had no benefits from such deposits. The consumers should be given interest on the deposits to help them lighten the burden of power tariff, he added.
All India Electricity Consumers’ Association State general secretary K.K. Surendran said the KSEB had been cutting operational costs and the number of employees had come down. There was no justification in launching a tariff revision, which in turn would be a big burden on ordinary people. The KSEB should utilise the heavy rains received in different parts of the State to generate hydro-electric power to keep the costs down instead of imposing fresh burden on people, he added.
Published - September 05, 2024 09:45 pm IST
