In the list of complaints against Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), two issues are unreliable power supply and difficulty in accessing grievance redressal. The power utility, which caters to the State capital as well as seven other districts, has decided to take advantage of its location and bring on board two premier institutions in Bengaluru to help tackle these problems.
Bescom is set to tie up with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) to enable knowledge sharing and capacity building. Its Technical Innovation Centre is in the process of formalising tie-ups with the institutions, officials said.
Anil Kumar D’Souza, Head, Technology Innovation Centre, said the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the two institutions will facilitate guidance, sharing of problems and solutions, and enable mutual knowledge sharing and capacity building. “We have a lot of challenges and might be struggling to find solutions. A knowledge base is important. We have listed 20 categories that can be worked on,” he said.
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Among the specific areas that the power utility intends to get expertise from IISc. are technical aspects such as smart grid and smart meter. From the IIMB, Bescom hopes to get suggestions on customer engagement, management and socio-economic analysis.
Technical Discussion Forum
Bescom recently started a ‘Technical Discussion Forum’ online, but at present only employees can post suggestions.
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As many as 22 categories have been listed for discussion, including advanced metering infrastructure, renewable energy, power quality management, safety and standards, cyber security, disaster management, distribution automation, public policy management, EV charging infrastructure and energy storage.
“We are planning to open the forum to academic institutions soon,” officials said.
The power utility had recently tied up with Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL) — a joint venture between Tata Power and the government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi — to share best practices and solutions to problems.