Energy Minister announced a two-hour cut in supply of power in urban areas
Bengaluru: Power cuts have been announced much to the discomfiture of people across Karnataka.
For Bengaluru, these cuts will last two hours and for other parts of the state, the respective the electricity supply companies will announce the duration of load shedding, energy minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Monday.
The sudden fall in power generation in Raichur and Bellary Thermal Power Stations coupled with Udupi Thermal Power Plant’s denial to supply electricity to Karnataka has led to an overall shortage of 1650 MW of power. This forced the government to introduce power cuts, Mr Shivakumar added.
Refusing to commit when the situation would improve or whether the government would purchase power immediately to tide over the crisis, Mr Shivakumar only said the demand for power had come down from 185 million units per day to 165 million units. “Invoking the mandatory clause of section 11 of Electricity Regulation Act, the government directed all the sugar factories in the state to sell nearly 650 MW power generated to Karnataka alone. However, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala High Court stayed the state government’s order, so Karnataka had to forgo power produced by sugar factories,” Mr Shivakumar said while explaining the initaitives to acquire additional power from different sources.
On a short-term basis, the state will purchase 712 MW per day, he added.
On why UPCL refused to supply power to Karnataka, Mr Shivakumar said the company was suspected to have blackmailed the Karnataka government. “We are not going to cow down to any one. We have conveyed our stand very strictly. The dispute is over pricing of power. The company asked for Rs 4.50 per unit while the government is willing to give Rs 3.50. We have gone on appeal before Central Electricity Regulatory Authority challenging the Udupi Power Corporation’s decision,” he added.
