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The power shortage due to short supply in Western Odisha is a short lived phenomenon
Power supply disturbance is a matter of concern for last couple of weeks. There has been speculation in every sphere and several conclusions have been drawn by different circles of the society, though the intellectuals have not made any comment but reports in media and from other means have been making front line news on power cuts, undeclared shut down, increased profitability by distribution companies etc. We understand the hardship which is further increased because of sudden rise in temperature due to summers. It is not only a phenomenon observed in our state but the entire country is going through this phase at present.
It is therefore crucial to make a statement for providing some clarification, as there are several reasons responsible for the shortage of power supply.
We completely depend on Hydro & Thermal power plants to source our power supply. The same is sourced from multiple generation units and it is transmitted to the distribution area where distribution companies are the responsible for maintaining infrastructure related to distribution along with ensuring distribution and supply of electricity to its consumers. The war between Russia and Ukraine for over close to two months have led to a disruption in international logistics and supply chain. The entire system had made a power requirement plan of demand and supply keeping in mind the summer and the delta in electricity demand. Due to sudden and untimely increase in the heat wave and temperature, the demand surged unprecedently where the supply to meet the increased demand always becomes a cumbersome task for the entire system in power supply process.
Due to sudden load on the technical system, and it is to be informed that, couple of generation units have come under pressure because of continuous over load and have shut down. It is a fact that even if there are latest state of the art technology adopted for generation, the failures of machinery can never be ruled out. The over loading of generation plants and their efficiency beyond maximum capacity forced the maintenance system to make manual shut down which is essential to continue the generation than to make them defunct.
It is a matter of fact that, the entire country and the region was under lock down due to the pandemic, for which the power requirement was also relatively less. The offices, industrial production units, transportation system, all of them were consuming much lower than their usual requirement. With the effects of lockdown ending and sudden increase of demand due to climate change at a time has become a challenge for the entire power sector.
The speculation of saving expenditure or increasing the profit by the distribution companies through power supply shut down is certainly a subject which draws attention of the distribution , therefore it is to be noted that, unless until the consumers consume more power and their meter readings increase, the distribution companies can not increase their revenue. If there is a shut down the meter is also shut down, then how does the distribution companies increase their revenue by not making the supply and not allowing the consumers to consume.
The Chief secretary of the state has a close watch on the entire supply system in the state and also keeping a vigil on the coal supply to various thermal power generation units. The MD, GRIDCO has already made an public statement that the present crisis is a temporary one. It would go away shortly.
The bigger challenge before the companies and the government is to curb power theft so that the gap between demand and supply is zeroed down. Which would make the distribution companies to assess its delta growth and provide sufficient information to the generation and transmission system to supply power. It is crucial, that consumers, the public at large , the leaders, the intellectuals and administrators, every one should now come forward to contribute to control the power theft so that we will use the same power for nation building.