BENGALURU: Soon, consumers will have the option of choosing which vendor they want to buy electricity from and at what cost.
In a major move, the state energy sector has opened its doors for privatisation on the lines of Odisha, Delhi, Mumbai and others. Tata Power Company has applied before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) for a distribution licence to supply electricity in select jurisdictions of BESCOM (Bengaluru), HESCOM (Hubli-Dharwad), CESC (Mysuru) and MESCOM (Mangaluru). The company applied recently, KERC officials said. The company has sought distribution rights in Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Ramanagara, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
KERC Chairman P Ravi Kumar said the company applied under Section 14 of the Karnataka Electricity Act 2002, which was passed in 2003, allowing people/agencies to apply for distribution licences. But they should have their own network and infrastructure. First, the company’s appeal will be published, later, objections will be called for and then the final hearing will be done. The entire process will take some time, he added.
“This cannot be called privatisation as it is only private distribution. Though these provisions existed for the last 20 years, this is the first time that a company has applied,” Kumar said.
A senior official in the energy sector explained that when the Act was being finalised, there was a discussion whether private companies should lay their own lines or use the existing network of government agencies and ask consumers to pay for it. But since nothing was finalised and ESCOMs were not keen to share their infrastructure, private agencies in other states laid their own lines and generated electricity, both conventional and renewable.
“Whether the appeal is realised or not, it is an indication that the monopoly that ESCOMs enjoyed will end. Though nothing has been said on the tariffs, they will be competitive, offering better deals to consumers. This is a first for Karnataka and ESCOMs have to get serious,” the official said.
‘Better power options for consumers’
Energy Department Secretary Gaurav Gupta said, “A new agency is coming forward for the same clientele. It is permitted under the Act, but terms and conditions apply.”
Experts said this will give consumers better options and also bring in healthy competition and professionalism that will improve the power network.
Muralidhar Rao, power expert and civic activist, said privatisation will ensure that there is a reduction in transmission and distribution losses because of better infrastructure. “It has been noted that wherever private agencies are involved, power interruptions become a rare occurrence,” he added. Rao had gone before the High Court with a PIL (WP-15147/2022) seeking privatisation of the power sector.