CM Vijay Directs Officials to Rectify Power Supply Glitches

Chennai: Urging the officials of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to ensure uninterrupted power supply and quickly respond to complaints on power cuts, voltage fluctuations, damaged electricity posts and cables, besides taking effective steps to prevent electrical mishaps, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay stressed on the need to promote the use of renewable energy resources.

Making a surprise visit to the state power utility’s headquarters on Anna Salai in Chennai on Wednesday in backdrop of mounting complaints from the public over power supply, Vijay stressed on employing modern advanced technologies in electricity production, transmission and distribution and the use of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) method to monitor power supply on real time basis.

Calling for creating an awareness on the benefits of using renewable energy resources, he wanted the popularizing of the setting up of Roof Top Solar equipment in houses making use of Union Government’s subsidy of Rs 3 lakh and recently announced State Government additional subsidy of Rs one lakh for up to 3 kilowatt power.

To properly manage power saving and power requirement, he wanted the immediate implementation of BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) policy and underlined the need for making the State self-reliant in the power sector by integrating the distribution network and transmission process after increasing production by completing the ongoing projects.

A detailed action plan to tackle the anticipated power needs of the summer of 2027 was also discussed at the Chief Minister’s meeting with the officials by making a projection on power generation and the steps to be taken to meet the demands, an official press release said.

Vijay discussed with officials the kind of complaints received, the reasons for the outages and the steps being taken to restore supply and reviewed the state’s electricity generation, procurement and if the available supply could meet the increase in demand.

Besides inspecting a power station, Minnagam which works round the clock as a consumer service hub, the state electricity distribution centre, the Chief Minister discussed with officials issues relating to electricity generation, demand and the measures taken to overcome interruption of power supply.

The officials briefed the Chief Minister on the challenges they faced in tackling the power shortage and referred to old and worn out equipment and infrastructure, overloading that caused disruptions, natural disasters like heavy rains, storms and cyclones and shortage of field workers to rectify the flaws as some of the reasons.

An action plan to deal with the issue was also unveiled at the meeting with Vijay, who also visited the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC), the press release said.