Mumbai, Apr 12 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) is resorting to cutting electric supply only when it is facing demand-supply mismatches and that too in pockets where it is facing the highest losses, a senior official said on Tuesday.
There is no “planned load shedding” in the state but there is “forced load shedding” which is resorted to dynamically as and when there is a shortage of electricity, the official from the discom, which is grappling with a shortfall of up to 3,000 MW of power, said.
A planned load shedding is a centralised activity where the discom approaches the regulator and comes out with a timetable, whereas the “forced load shedding” is done at the sub-station level as and when demand for power soars and the supply is unable to keep up, the official explained.
For now, the forced load shedding is happening in areas where the discom is facing losses — mainly due to theft of electricity and low collection efficiencies — of over 60 per cent, the official said.
MSEDCL divides areas into zones as per alphabets and it is the zones in the lowest rung — ‘E, F and G’ — which are facing load shedding at present, the official said, adding that typically these are areas in far-off places or ones which have witnessed unplanned development in the urban context.
The official also said that in the case of forced load shedding, the discom is not required to approach the electricity regulator.
On Monday, MSEDCL in a statement said it was facing a shortage of up to 3,000 MW, which will force it to resort to load shedding.
The state’s power minister Nitin Raut had said that load shedding is inevitable, pointing out that Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are also facing power cuts.
A large part of the country’s financial capital does not fall under MSEDCL’s service area, and those pockets were excluded from load shedding in the past instances.
The soaring mercury has increased the demand for power while the supply has been affected because of a shortage of coal, which is key to nearly two-thirds of requirements, MSEDCL had said.
There is a record demand for over 28,000 MW of power, which is about 4,000 MW higher than last year. PTI AA RAM RAM
