THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state won’t implement load shedding till September 4. A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday to address the power crisis authorised KSEB to purchase power from the exchange. The meeting also decided to hold a review by board officials on September 4 to take a call on the short-term power-purchase agreement (PPA).
Incidentally, the deadline for companies to submit tenders for short-term PPA for 250MW falls on September 4. It is reliably learnt that the CM was not keen on enforcing load shedding during the festival season, especially with the Puthupally by-election scheduled for September 5.
He urged Power Minister K Krishnankutty and KSEB officials to examine other options to procure power.
The meeting also decided not to proceed with the TOTEX (total expenditure)-model smart-meter project in view of a political decision taken by the left leadership. Instead, the CM urged officials to look for alternative, affordable models that can be developed by PSUs.
A board official told TNIE that a proposal from trade unions to form a joint committee with the industries and power departments to zero in on which PSUs can implement the smart-meter project has been forwarded to the power minister.
“A policy decision has to be made by the state government as the board cannot take a call on the matter,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the chief minister’s office informed that as per the new setup, the board will undertake the billing and allied services as well as software.
With the launch of K-FON, the fibre optic cable received for the board will be utilised for data transactions.
“Data storage can be effectively implemented with the help of KSEB’s data centre. Board staff will replace the existing meters with smart meters. As a first step, less than three lakh industrial and commercial consumers will use smart meters,” informed the CMO.
Surcharge in September, too
The 19 paise surcharge on power bills, KSEB’s 10 paise and State Regulatory Commission’s 9 paise will continue in September, too. The board plans to collect Rs 47 crore as additional revenue from the measure. The KSEB had recently issued an order stating that an electricity surcharge of 10 paise will be imposed on bills. The consumers will also be required to bear KSERC’s surcharge of 9 paise, which will remain until October.