THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan took a jab at the state government on Monday and said the unauthorised load shedding in several districts amounted to “deceiving” people. He said the current power crisis could have been avoided had there been a long-term Power Purchase Agreement.
Over the past few weeks, incidents of unauthorised load shedding were experienced across the state during peak hours, leading to protests from consumers in front of KSEB section offices. Satheesan recalled that during the tenure of former chief minister Oommen Chandy, then power minister Aryadan Mohammed had come out with a 25-year-long agreement for procuring 465 MW power at Rs 4.29 paisa. “The cancellation of PPA was result of a conspiracy hatched by the state government and the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The Board is forced to procure power at Rs 12 per unit on a short-term basis only because of the absence of a PPA. A loss of at least Rs 8-10 crore is being incurred every day,” said Satheesan.