Ruopfülenuo Huozha
Nagaland has very little internal generation. Its own generation cannot meet even 10 % of its power requirement. The State is therefore dependent on the import of power from the grid to meet its requirement. Throughout the country, import of power is governed by a regulatory mechanism, monitored and controlled by Regional Load Dispatch Centres. For Northeast, the Northeast Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NERLDC) based at Shillong regulates import and allocates power to all the constituent seven States. The allocation is based on the share of the States from various generating stations in the region. Depending on the generation status of these stations, NERLDC allocates power to the states. It oversees the Grid Discipline, monitors power drawal by states, enforces restrictions and imposes high penalty on power cost when the state deviate from the grid code.
During the lean hydro period (November – April) against the requirement of 75 MW – Peak and 40 MW – off Peak, the state gets allocation of 30 -50 MW – Peak and 15 – 25 MW – off Peak. Even to meet its minimal requirement, it is not possible for the State to strictly adhere to the restrictions, forcing it to frequently deviate from the normal allocation and resort to overdrawal. The limit of overdrawal is further controlled by the NERLDC. The adverse effect of overdrawal is that the cause for every unit that is overdrawn goes up to as high as Rs 5.70. With the addition of transmission charge of 35 Paise per unit, the total cost of overdrawn electricity at the intake point of the State comes to Rs 6.05 per unit. Transmission charge of Rs 0.35 is paid to the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL – Government of India undertaking, responsible for grid transmission throughout the country) for every unit of electricity purchased by the State.
Despite the confines under which the Regional Load Dispatch Centre allocates power to the constituents, the Department has been making persistent demands to enhance the State’s allocation.
Under the allocation criteria explained above, the State is also compelled to buy power from Generating Stations which have high generation costs. For instance, the State is allocated power of Doyang HEP, the cost of which at times is as high as Rs 5.33 per unit including the transmission charges.
The total power purchase includes purchase within the State’s allocated share and purchase out of allocation by overdrawal.
Power sharing within the State:
From the three load centres- Dimapur, Kohima and Mokokchung, power is distributed and in times of power shortages, power is shared by the load centres. The divisions in turn maintain the load allocation and regulates their drawal by imposing load shedding.
Revenue: Against power purchase of Rs 67.59 Crores, Revenue Collection is Rs 39.74 Crores during 2005-06, creating a gap of Rs 27.85 Crores. Apart from the high cost of power at times due to overdrawal and also higher purchase rate from many generating stations compared to the selling rate against consumers in Nagaland (average of Rs 2.58 per unit) losses contributes to the gap. The overall loss includes a combination of technical and commercial losses.
The Department is taking all possible steps to reduce its technical losses by strengthening and improving its transmission and distribution systems through programmes like Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) and Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY).
Commercial losses include theft and pilferage, defective meters and deficiency in billing and collections.
To reduce these losses the Department has taken up several measures:
• Extension raids to control theft of energy.
• Introduction of Single Point Metering (SPM) in villages and urban areas.
• Mass awareness campaigns.
• Appealed to pastors of churches in the State to convey message for judicious use of electricity and control of power theft.
• Replacement of defective meters through APDRP
• Reforms initiatives by engaging consultants.
The Power Department has appealed to all citizens in the State to use electricity judiciously. Help the department to improve its performance in power supply and thereby improve in revenue collection.
(Source : Department of Power, Nagaland Kohima)
(A DIPR Feature)
