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| Bill or Will for Energy Efficiency/ Conservation. | | | (Er. Vikram Gaur) Member-state advisory council for welfare of senior citizens. | 4/6/2011 11:38:43 PM |
| The government has recently introduces a ‘bill’ for establishment of “Bureau of Energy Efficiency’. This bill will help the government in enactment of legislation for enforcement of laws for efficient use of energy and energy conservation. The bill, the government says, will help it in enforcement of Energy Auditing of designated consumers including power intensive categories, enforce manufacture and use of energy efficient equipment and take punitive measures for violation of energy conservation norms. The bill envisages establishment of ‘Bureau of Energy Efficiency’ for achieving the objectives and purpose.
It is worth noting that the GOI enacted this bill in 2001. The mere fact that it took the state ten long years to understand that our state which tops the country in the power losses (around 70%) (Costing the state more than 2200-crores every year) on account of theft, misuse and poor and below standard transmission system and making the state deficient in power supply to the extent of around 40% is in immediate need of such an act, shows how serious is the state government on improving the vital power sector.
Keeping in view the extent of ever increasing power losses that J&K suffers each year, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was after the state to immediately go in for ‘Energy Auditing’ to ascertain the breakup of T&D losses (above 70%) that included theft, misuse and mismanagement of power supply on a very large scale right from 1993 when there was no metering even at the receiving as well as sending ends at 220/132 kv level what to talk of metering at the lower levels of transmission and distribution. The GOI /CEA provided several times financial support for the metering at various levels but state PDD did not take the matter seriously. There was no ‘will’ even at the political level to effectively meter the power system. That is precisely why when about 7-8 years back the metering was taken up at the consumer level there was strong resistance at the political level against metering. Consequently’ the metering process was stopped more than once under political pressure.
The officials of the PDD who went for metering the VIPs residences were not only reprimanded but threatened if they metered the minister’s and top beaurocrat’s residences. Encouraged by the politicians the common user also resisted metering. And the result is that today after 8-9 years of metering work by fits and starts the PDD has been able to meter only about 52% 0f the consumers.
It is wrong to say that in the existing J&K state Electricity Act/rules we do not have sufficient deterrent sections/rules that forbid theft, misuse or even provisions for use of energy efficient equipment/machinery. The Act and rules have sufficient provisions for dealing with criminal offences with laid down procedure for penalizing electricity users committing theft or abetment to theft, maliciously wasting energy or injuring works, unauthorized supply/ transmission/improper use of energy, for interfering with the meters and even for defective supply of energy under sections 38 to 49 of the J&K State Electricity Act. What is lacking is ‘the will of the government/PDD to strictly impose the rules’ on account of the undue political interference in working of the department with their vested interest and to please the voters.
Added to the above is the fact that PDD is not being allowed to work as an independent commercial entity and the state government is being regularly financed by the GOI to meet its unwarranted expenditure for mismanagement, Theft, misuse of electricity year after year in the shape of financial allocations to the tune of thousands of crores under various central government schemes for improvement of power system. And the PDD as the government department is unable to effect the required expansion/ improvements right from bringing the power system upto the required standards and streamlining its metering, revenue collection, conducting Energy Audits and actually not, making any effort to reduce the revenue losses or the T&D losses hovering around 65 to 70%. This has obviously resulted in tremendous deterioration of the working of the PDD like all other government departments.
Although it is almost 11-years late but still it is better to pass and enforce the BEE Act and enforce it honestly and rigorously without fear or favour in the interest of optimum, efficient and economical use of very scarcely available electric energy. It must be borne in mind by the Chief Minister who handles the Power Portfolio that it is not the enactment of number of ‘Bills’ (laws) that matter for improvement of any system it is the effective and honest ‘Will’ for enforcement of the laws that ultimately improves the system for well-being of the people.
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