BESCOM has done it again but with elan. The authorities have managed to install a special tariff system for industrial consumers within 60 days.
Complying with the orders of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), BESCOM has installed the Time of the Day (ToD) meters for high tension (HT) consumers in the industrial zones of the city who were consuming 500 KVA (equivalent of 0.50 MW) and above. Now, plans are afoot to upgrade the existing ToD meters from 0.5 S to 0.2 S.
Although there was no opposition from the industry, the HT consumers were not happy with the idea of installation of 0.2 meters.
BESCOM Managing Director, P Manivannan said, “The 0.5 meters cost only `8,000 whereas installation of 0.2 will cost `2.5 lakh. Although the expenses are borne by us, consumers have to deposit an equal amount as security deposit in case of any damage to the meters. Since, we had to comply with the KERC ruling, we went ahead with the installation.”
However, soon these meters will be upgraded to 0.2 as it provides more accurate measurements.
The general manager (Com and meters), Satish Kumar explains, “The main motive is to measure the power supplied to any HT consumer. The load in HT consumers is not a balanced one as the 0.5 meters are not very sensitive in tracking utilities in a three phase three wire system. Once the 0.2 meters are installed, it will gives us the correct information on the consumption of power in this system.”
Under the ToD tariff system, consumers will be paying more for power consumption during peak hours and less during non-peak hours.
They have to pay an additional tariff of Rs 1/unit consumed during the evening peak hours of 6-10 pm.
But, they would get a rebate of Rs 1.25 on every unit consumed between 10 pm to 6 am.