Blackout- hit states call for help
Energy ministers suggest central government intervention
Energy ministers from five states have urged union Power Minister Piyush Goyal to help restore power supply to their states facing major blackouts caused by the closure of some generation units of Adani Power and Tata Power plants at Mundra over a tariff revision dispute.
In a marathon meeting here with Goyal on Tuesday, the power ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan suggested that the Centre intervene to resolve the crises in their respective states owing to shutting down of units of two power plants, a ministry source told IANS.
Adani Power has shut down six generating units at its 4,620MW plant at Mundra in Gujarat citing payment default by Haryana, while Tata Power has closed down two units of its 4,000- MW plant there due to technical snags. The source said that in the meeting the states suggested that the government consider filing an affidavit in the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity ( APTEL) to strengthen the powers of the regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission ( CERC) to revise tariffs due to rise in input costs.
Meanwhile, Haryana
power utilities are blaming Adani Power for the power crisis saying the company resorted to the move to cut electricity supply from its power plants just two days after the Supreme Court stayed an earlier order of the CERC and APTEL granting it compensatory tariff. Haryana’s distribution companies had gone to the Supreme Court against the CERC andAPTL order.
“The CERC had awarded the compensatory tariff over and above the normal tariff ( about 61 paise per unit) to Adani Power which was challenged by Haryana in APTEL to protect the interest of 55 lakh [ 5.5 million] electricity consumers of the state,” a state government spokesman said.