CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s power industry is the least efficient among the southern States in controlling energy loss during transmission and due to electricity theft and meter tampering. About 18 per cent of the power generated in the State is lost owing to these factors, which is referred to in the industry as Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) loss.
Though the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has initiated steps to reduce this loss, officials say it’s not possible to reach the Union government-set target of eight per cent by 2025-26. Not only the TANGEDCO, many power utilities are also struggling to reduce the AT&C loss, the national average of which is 35 percent, according to a Ministry of Power (MoP) report.
The Centre had introduced the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) with an outlay of `3,03,758 crore to help States cut AT&C losses. It aims at significantly cutting AT&C losses across India by 2025-26. Under the scheme, power departments can access funds for such works as prepaid smart metering and distribution infrastructure works after submitting a Detailed Project Report (DPR). The TANGEDCO, however, is yet to prepare the DPR. Officials said that they are unable to control power theft and that the utility has 20,000 defective meters.
Speaking to TNIE, TANGEDCO’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Rajesh Lakhoni said, “We are waiting for Cabinet approval to submit the DPR for RDSS. Reducing AT&C losses to eight per cent, however, is not feasible as we have to invest more for that. Nevertheless, efforts are on to reduce it gradually by closely monitoring distribution and technical issues.”
