HERC chief questions members over approval to eight mini-hydro projects
CHANDIGARH: The selection of project developers for eight mini hydro projects in Panchkula district has come under a cloud with Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) chairman Jagjeet Singh expressing his dissent.
The chairman’s disagreement came in the wake of approval of the power source granted by a majority decision of the commission comprising members, Debashish Mazumdar and MS Puri.
The two members approved the power source from eight mini hydro projects along with the power purchase agreement (PPA) to be signed with the proposed generators for 35 years subject to the tariff to be determined on separate petitions.
‘PUBLIC INTEREST AT RISK’
However, the approval by the
DISAGREEMENT COMES IN THE WAKE OF APPROVAL OF POWER SOURCE GRANTED BY A MAJORITY DECISION OF THE COMMISSION
HERC members was countered by the chairman in his dissenting note dated September 5. He cites the lack of transparency in the selection of developers and the lack of verification of the hydrological data by an independent agency. He says that this has put the public interest at risk and the matter therefore needs further deliberations.
Jagjeet Singh in his note said that it is the duty of the commission to regulate the power procurement process including the price at which electricity shall be procured. In this process, the commission is also duty bound to ensure transparency in the power procurement process and the availability of equal opportunity to all concerned in the matter of availability of subsidy benefits and conceptualisation of the project.
FAMILY VENTURE TO GET CAPITAL SUBSIDY?
The chairman also pointed out that it appears that all the projects have been proposed by the same party along with family members and divided into various projects of 100 KW in order to gain benefit of capital subsidy.
Singh has sought to know whether information regarding availability of subsidy was widely publicised so that other interested developers could also come out with their proposals and what was the procedure followed for inviting application from the prospective project developers. He has also sought inspection of the proposed sites with regard to the ownership of land, feasibility of the project and the status of the project.
‘Proper procedures need to be followed’
“These projects propose to create a lien on public property for the period of duration of power purchase agreement as well as appropriation of public funds by way of government subsidy and loan from banks. Additionally, the cost of power generated through these sources, even if uneconomical, will be paid by the consumer. In case these projects become inviable after a few years, the consumers shall have to bear the burden of fixed costs also,” Singh noted.
The regulatory body chairman said another cause of concern is the lack of verification of the hydrological data by the nodal agency. The detailed project report of the project examined by IIT Kanpur has reference to four years data collected by some agency. However, it is not clear if any agency was given the mandate for the collection of the hydrological data by the nodal agency.