Short-circuited power regulator
Sometime late last month, Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), the power regulator of the state, issued a bizarre direction to all its employees asking them to take a pledge of official secrecy and not let out any internal information. The quasi-judicial body, in the eye of controversy over concentration of power with a handful of officials, structural deficiency and tariff determination process, was reacting to a volley of bad press it has been garnering of late.
The commission, for record’s sake, has been running without a chairperson since January. Speculation is rife that the top seat is being kept warm for a senior bureaucrat. The pattern is familiar because the last two chairpersons have been retired IAS officers only. This is symptomatic of the problem. The regulatory authority is accused of overlooking the basic mandates of structural and professional reforms it is supposed to usher in across state power utilities. Much as it is making do with just two members, the power regulator has glossed over the need for appointing directors to three critical verticals of law, tariff and engineering. Instead, it has accumulated powers at various positions and allowed engineers to call the shots even in the wings of finance and tariff.
Odisha was the harbinger of power sector reforms in India. In the mid-1990s, it brought in privatisation into the distribution business. Sweeping structural changes decentralised generation, transmission and distribution so that affordable and quality power was made available to consumers. Twenty-five years hence, the results are anything but encouraging. An energy think tank’s survey in 2020 showed rural households experienced power outages for at least four hours a day; it was an hour in urban areas. Majority of rural households suffered at least one power cut a day while just under a third of urban holdings faced quality power problems. After a quarter century of reforms, the aggregated technical and commercial losses still peg around 20%.
With a total consumer base of 88.5 lakh, Odisha’s power consumption—an index of economic growth—rose by a paltry 1.1% in 2019–20. The regulatory commission must own up to the sluggishness. Once the mascot of reforms, it is now charged with overlooking consumer interests. To set the affairs in order, charity must begin at home.