The power holiday scheme for industrial establishments, which came into force from Thursday, does not seem to be effective. As of now, it has not yet yielded the necessary relief to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).
The Corporation had projected a relief of 800 mega watt (MW) daily through the power holiday scheme. But, the actual amount of relief is only 250 to 300 MW, said a TANGEDCO official.
A perusal of the daily grid statements available on the website of the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation (TANTRANSCO) reveals that the increase in the quantum of load shedding is marginal or little after the introduction of the Corporation's measures to tide over the problem of power shortage.
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During the morning peak of February 23 as recorded at 7-50 a.m., the quantum of load shedding was 2,857 MW and on February 24, it was 2,893 MW. But, during the corresponding period of March 1, the figure of load shedding was 2,968 MW and on March 2, it was 2,893 MW.
Even after the power holiday for industries came in to force from Thursday (March 1) and scheduled load shedding for domestic consumers from Monday (February 27), there have been complaints of unscheduled power cuts in various parts of the State. When asked about why the Corporation was still resorting to unscheduled load shedding, a senior official of the TANGEDCO said the Corporation was not able to obtain the required relief it had estimated through the power holiday scheme. One possible reason was that industries were not complying with the revised restriction and control (R and C) measures of the Corporation. He refused to answer what steps TANGEDCO would take for compliance by the industries.
With the State facing a power shortage in the range of 3,000 MW to 4,000 MW, the TANGEDCO announced a host of R and C measures, including load shedding, power holiday and peak-hour restriction for high tension (HT) and low tension current transformer (LTCT) units.
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While load shedding in the city and the suburbs has been increased from one to two hours, it has been extended in other parts of the State from two to four hours. Also, the increase in the quantum of power cut went up from 20 per cent to 40 per cent.