"Why Summer Power Cuts Persist Despite Adequate National Supply"
Discom
Distribution company that supplies electricity from the grid to final consumers at usable voltage.
Rent-seeking
Profiting by manipulating a system rather than creating new value or output.
The Electricity Act, 2003 restructured India's power sector into separate generation, transmission and distribution functions, replacing the old vertically integrated State Electricity Boards. It created independent regulatory commissions, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission at the national level and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions in the states, to fix tariffs and oversee performance, keeping this function insulated from routine political control. State governments retained only the power to decide which consumer categories deserve subsidised electricity, such as farmers, and to fund that subsidy. Discoms sit at the last mile: they buy high-voltage electricity and supply it to the final consumer, and their commercial health depends on cost-reflective tariffs and adequate investment in the distribution network. Since the 1990s, governments have tried different routes to fix chronic distribution inefficiency, from the mid-1990s Mega Power Policy encouraging parallel private licensees to today's push for rooftop solar and battery storage.
Two structural features explain recurring summer power cuts. First, distribution networks are built for a planned load, and the summer surge in air-conditioning demand often outpaces the network's carrying capacity. This forces discoms to impose local cuts to maintain grid stability, even when generation is adequate nationally, which is why one locality can face outages while a neighbouring one, served by a different discom, does not. Second, discom finances remain fragile because revenues depend on regulator-approved tariffs, and a constant complaint is that these tariffs are fixed too low to fund network expansion.
One structural fix already tried is parallel licensing, allowing more than one discom to operate in the same area so consumers can choose. Mumbai has run this model for nearly two decades, with Tata Power, BEST and Adani Electricity competing for the same customers. …
'Net metering' is sometimes seen in the news in the context of promoting the
With reference to 'PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana', consider the following statements:
I.Its target is to install solar panels on the roofs of one crore households in the residential sector.
II.Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's aim is to provide grassroot-level training on installation, promotion, maintenance and repair of rooftop solar panels.
III.Its target, under the capacity building scheme component, is to create more than three lakh skilled manpower by imparting new skills and upgrading skills.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
With reference to solar power production in India, consider the following statements :
1.India is the third largest in the world in the manufacture of silicon wafers used in photovoltaic units.
2.The solar power tariffs are determined by the Solar Energy Corporation of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding the Electricity Act, 2003:
1.It empowers state governments to directly fix electricity tariffs for consumers.
2.It mandates independent regulatory commissions to determine the tariffs charged by distribution companies.
3.State governments can decide which consumer categories receive subsidised power and must fund that subsidy.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements about net metering:
1.It enables rooftop solar producers to feed surplus electricity into the grid and be billed on net consumption.
2.Net metering tariffs in India are administered exclusively by the Solar Energy Corporation of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Match List I (Term) with List II (Feature) and select the correct answer using the codes given below:
List I:
A.Mega Power Project
B.Parallel Distribution Licensee
C.Two-part Tariff
D.Net Metering
List II:
1.Capacity of 1,000 MW or more with duty exemptions
2.Multiple discoms operating in the same area, as in Mumbai
3.Fixed capacity charge plus variable energy charge
4.Billing based on net solar export and import at household level
Consider the following statements about the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana:
1.Its target is to install rooftop solar on one crore households.
2.It is implemented by the Ministry of Power.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following operate as parallel distribution licensees within the same license area in Mumbai?
1.Tata Power
2.BEST
3.Adani Electricity
4.Torrent Power
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