BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on Thursday expressed serious concern over frequent breakdowns and outages at Odisha Power Generation Corporation’s (OPGC) IB Thermal Power Station, warning that repeated disruptions in generation are forcing GRIDCO to procure expensive power from the open market, ultimately pushing up retail electricity tariffs in the state.
The observations were made on the fourth day of the public hearing on OPGC’s tariff application for 2026-27 for the 420 MW IB thermal power (Stage-I) generating station of 420 MW capacity at Jharsuguda.
Chairing the public hearing here, OERC chairperson Pradeep Kumar Jena said frequent outages at the IB plant have severely disrupted power generation, depriving the state of low-cost electricity. To bridge the resulting shortfall, GRIDCO has been compelled to buy power at significantly higher rates from central utilities and the open market, a factor contributing to unavoidable increases in retail tariffs.
Expressing strong dissatisfaction with OPGC’s operational performance, the commission directed the Energy department to submit an affidavit within seven days explaining the recurring outages and the corrective measures proposed.
Data placed before the commission by power analyst Ananda Mohapatra revealed that between April 2020 and September 2025, the four turbine-generator units of the IB plant experienced as many as 220 shutdowns over 66 months - among the highest outage rates compared to similar thermal power stations in the country. As a result, power generation reportedly fell by 9,865 million units, leading to an estimated revenue loss of Rs 3,452 crore, Mohapatra said.
Presenting OPGC’s case, Finance director Gagan Bihari Swain and general manager Haresh Tripathy stated that for the coming financial year, the utility proposed to recover annual fixed charges of Rs 87.27 crore and a variable charge of 170.36 paise per unit for power supplied to GRIDCO up to June 30, 2026. From July 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, the company has sought approval to recover Rs 195.23 crore as annual fixed charges along with a reduced variable charge of 153.93 paise per unit.
The power regulator questioned OPGC why the additional capitalisation now proposed had not been included earlier in the renovation and (R&M) plan submitted to the regulator. The issue drew attention to planning and regulatory compliance aspects of the utility’s investment proposals.
An objector suggested that imported coal be blended with linkage or captive coal to improve the gross calorific value, a practice that was reportedly followed earlier.