Kusumjit Sidhu likely to be PSERC chief

CHANDIGARH: Former IAS officer Kusumjit Sidhu is likely to replace DS Bains as the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) chief.

With the Punjab Government accepting his resignation, Bains will continue in the post for three months, the notice period.

“We have accepted the resignation and the process has started to issue the advertisement for selecting a new incumbent,” a senior government officer said on Friday.

Though Bains cited personal reasons for quitting on Wednesday, it is learnt that he resigned due to the change of guard in Punjab.

A retired 1981-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer, Bains was appointed the PSERC chairman in February 2016 and could have continued on the post up to the age of 65 in February 2019.

On the pending power tariff order, the outgoing PSERC chairman said that a call on the issue will be taken by the new dispensation according to its policies and programmes.

Sources said Sidhu, another retired IAS officer, will get the chance to serve in his place.

Within days of the Congress coming to power, then Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) chairman KD Chaudhary had resigned from his post. The Amarinder government handed over the charge to principal secretary (power) A Venu Prasad.

WHAT DOES PSERC DO?

The PSERC monitors day-to-day functioning of the state-owned power utilities and private power generators, besides fixing the annual power tariff. All disputes between private power generators and state utilities are initially addressed to the PSERC, and later the appellate tribunal for power hears appeals even as the last resort for such disputes is the court of law.