KOCHI: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has approached the state government seeking its intervention to direct the Kerala Water Authority to pay the Rs 2,500-crore arrears. A senior KSEB official said the board is in urgent need of funds to purchase power to meet the summer demand, with a delay in purchasing power likely to lead to a crisis in April and May.
With political parties set to campaign aggressively for the Lok Sabha elections, the board is anticipating a steady increase in power consumption over the next two months. According to KSEB data, the daily power consumption — which hovers around 75 million units normally — has crossed 96 million units. And the peak hour power consumption has crossed 5,900MW.
While the normal peak hour extends from 6pm to 10.30pm, it has extended to midnight now. The consumption remains high till around 3am. The sizzling weather has forced more people to install air conditioners with many using them for long hours, leading to a steep hike in power consumption.
“We are anticipating a shortage of 460MW in April and 600MW in May. We are aggressively purchasing power during off-peak hours when power is available at less than Rs 2 per unit. However, during peak hours, the realtime price jumps to Rs 10 per unit. Around 9 million units of power is purchased daily from the realtime market. The consumption is higher than the previous year and we expect a steep rise in demand by mid-April. Besides, the election campaigning will cause additional demand,” the official said.
While the KSEB is struggling for funds to purchase power, no serious effort has been made to repay the dues pending with various government departments, which stand at Rs 3,300 crore, the official pointed out.
Despite having implemented a steep hike in water charges recently, the KWA is not even paying the monthly bills, he said.
“The arrears of KWA have touched Rs 2,500 crore. The water authority is not even paying the monthly bill of Rs 37 crore. We are not snapping the power supply considering the hardship it can cause to the public. We have to make advance payment for short-time purchase of power, and if we don’t get the funds, there will be power crisis next month,” he said.
Responding to the demand, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine said the department has made arrangements to pay Rs 10 crore to the KSEB every month following a meeting attended by Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty and finance secretary. “The KWA is in a crisis as many government departments have run up huge arrears. We have sought the intervention of the finance minister to solve the issue,” he said.