CAG’s Observations from the Farmers Meeting held in

Coimbatore on 30th May 2013:

Energy Department take into account the critical energy -

water - agriculture link in planning and implementation. There is an urgent need to inform, interact with and edu-

cate the public, especially farmers.

There is a lack of coordination between agriculture, en-ergy and water resources departments. It is highlighted

that free but erratic and interrupted power is leading to wastage of water and ground water depletion. The farm-

ers spoke of varying heights of 900, 700, 1000 feet of seasonal water availability necessitating the usage of

high capacity motors. There is an urgent need for best irriga-tion practices to be demonstrated to farmers to promote en-

ergy and water conservation. The Agriculture Department in coordination with Energy Department should look into the pro-

moting best irrigation practices by farmers with regard to

water usage. It was highlighted that good irrigation practices can minimize the use of pumps (saving electricity) and con-

serve water.

The inefficacy of solar pumps in Coimbatore due to low

water tables. During the workshop, it was pointed out that that

pumps using solar energy did not have the ability to pump wa-ter as efficiently in low groundwater areas as intensity of solar

days was a limiting factor in using these pumps. E.g. Pumps were found to be efficient only when there is peak sunshine

and its efficiency declined in the evening.

Free power is vital for farmers but they are also open to some level of payment of payment for continuous and qual-

ity power.

Energy department should look into subsidy mismanage-ment by those dealers who hike up the rates of the pumps

and earn illegal profits from farmers. Subsidies have no

effect on the price of the product.

A single stop coordination point should be setup in all elec-

tricity distribution circles to look into farmer grievances and to facilitate necessary clearances for their routine

agricultural practices. (concluded)

Electricity Contacts

Call centre—

155333/9445850829

Fuse Off Call Centre:

Tamil Nadu and Chennai

RTI—TANGEDCO

TNERC & Ombudsman:

044-28411376, 28411378,

28411379

CGRF: Addresses

Pay online: TNEBNET

TEGI Network Submits Petition on Farmer’s Plight to Energy Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu (Part 2)

Inside this issue:

Editorial 1 –2

TN News 2

India Electricity News 2-3

Consumer Corner 3

Around the World 4

Regulations & Cases 4

Publications 4

Miscellaneous 4

Poster 5

Empowering Electricity Consumers in Tamil Nadu

EmPower TN August 1-15, 2013

Volume 2, Issue 15

Please send your feedback to

empowertn@cag.org.in

Page 2 EmPower TN

CERC plans to further narrow frequency band for national grid

To avoid a blackout such as the one that affected several states on 31 July and 1 August 2012, and caused an estimated $2 billion (around Rs. 11,960 crore today) in losses,

the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) plans to further narrow the frequency band for the country’s national gr id. Grid frequency is a critical aspect of

power system operations and a function of demand and supply (when demand exceeds supply, frequency falls and vice versa). Global standards require that grid fre-

quency be kept close to 50 hertz (Hz), but power-short India has had a history of the frequency fluctuating from below 48Hz to above 52Hz. A low or high frequency could

result in the grid collapsing. CERC had earlier narrowed the frequency range to enforce grid discipline. In May 2010, the range was reduced from 49.2-50.3Hz to 49.5-

50.2Hz. It was then further lowered to the present range of 49.7-50.2Hz from 17 September. In a discussion paper, the country’s apex power sector regulator has sug-

gested a grid frequency band of 49.95Hz to 50.05Hz. The current band is between 49.7Hz and 50.2Hz.

India regulates grid frequency by making states pay more for power when they draw it at low frequencies, but several states have continued to do this, and then not pay

the extra amount on time they are supposed to. Such indiscipline by the states was the cause of India’s worst blackout that left nearly 620 million people across 19

states and three Union territories without electricity for hours together last July and August when the northern grid collapsed on 31 July and, in a wider blackout, the

northern, eastern and northeastern grids, too, broke down on 1 August. Load management functions are overseen by the state-owned PGCIL and carried out by its sub-

sidiary Power System Operation Corp. Ltd (Posoco). Regional load despatch centres (RLDCs) are responsible for maintaining grid discipline and supervising optimum

scheduling and delivery of electricity in their regions, and function under Posoco. The country has 33 state load despatch centres, five RLDCs—for the five regional

grids—and one national load despatch centre.

“When you are talking about narrowing frequency bands, you are talking about system stability. We are seeing a lot of technical fixes. It is a difficult one to balance but

from the system operations point of view, when you have supply issues, you have to balance out by curtailing load,” said James Ooi, director, gas and power, IHS CERA—

an energy research firm. “It is necessary until the power sector can acquire more fuel and improve interconnection transmission capacity so that a swing in one region

can be absorbed by another.” (Livemint, Jul 30, 2013)

TN Electricity News

India Electricity News

Provision of Tariff subsidy for the year 2013- 14 by the Govern-

ment of Tamil Nadu. (TNERC Draft Order—24 -07-2013)

Tamil Nadu to remove 40% power cut on industrial consumers

In a temporary relief to industrial and commercial establishments in Tamil Nadu,

the government on Tuesday passed an order that the 40% power cut imposed on

industrial consumers be lifted, except during the four peak hours, with effect from

Wednesday. During the peak hours between 6 pm and 10 pm, the 90% cut will be

reduced to a 40% cut. The order is effective until 30 September after which wind

energy generation typically declines.

The power-starved state, which faced an annual electricity deficit of about 4,000

megawatt (MW), has seen an improvement in the last two months, helped by wind

power, and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board officials say they are now able to meet

the state’s demand of about 10,500 MW. (Livemint, Aug 11, 2013)

Tamil Nadu to get 100MW more from Kudankulam plant

Tamil Nadu will get an additional 100MW of electricity from unit 1 of the Kudankulam

nuclear power plant when generation begins, said Union power minister Jyotira-

ditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Electricity from unit 1 is likely to be fed into the grid by August-end, and Tamil Nadu

will get about 560MW from it. According to the initial agreement, Tamil Nadu was to

get 462.5MW from unit 1, which attained criticality last month. The state will get

562.5MW from unit 1. As a result, Tamil Nadu will get 1,025MW against 962MW allo-

cated earlier when the second unit is commissioned in March. (TOI, Aug 9, 2013)

Page 3 EmPower TN

FAQs

Handling of Complaints on Non-compliance:

The Licensee is required to maintain standards of performance for supply of Electricity to all consumers in a manner prescribed. The time limit prescribed in these

standards refer to the maximum time required to be taken to perform different activities of consumer service. It shall be the endeavour of the Licensee to provide best

possible service well within time limits specified in these regulations.

(i) The Licensee shall register every complaint made by a consumer whether orally or in writing regarding failure/meter board /service lines, payment of bills and other

services relating to supply of power, in the registers exclusively maintained under the following categories:

1. Supply related complaints register

2. Meter related complaints register

3. Billing and payment related complaints register (Distribution Standards of Performance, 2004 (Amended upto 2008))

Consumer Corner

Tamil Nadu Electricity Ombudsman Case Analysis —CAG’s Research— Source of research work (http://www.tneo.gov.in/)

Trends in Gross Generation of

Electricity in Utilities and Non-

utilities in India (ENERGY STATISTICS

2013) (Twentieth Issue)

National Statistical Organisation, Minis-

try of Statistics and Programme Imple-

mentation, Government of India.

Page 4 EmPower TN

Around the World

Publications

Alexander Galetovic and Cristián M. Muñoz Wind, Coal, and the Cost of Environmental Externalities, 2013, Program

on Energy and Sustainable Development, April 2013. click here

IEA, Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2013, click here

www.cag.org.in

9/5 II Street Padmanabha Nagar,

Adyar, Chennai 600020.

Phone: 91-44-24460387

Telefax: 91-44-24914358

Email: empowertn@cag.org.in

Join our facebook page @

www.facebook.com/CAGChennai

Citizen consumer and civic Action Group

(CAG)

Latest Regulations

TNERC, Draft amendment to regulation 4 of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Supply Code, Comments Invited By 10-09-2013

click here

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Indian Electricity Grid Code) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2010.

Comment invited by 10.9.2013. click here

Miscellaneous

US Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Files click here

USA, DistribuTECH Conference & Exhibition 2014, January. 28-30, 2014 . Click here

ABOUT CAG

Established in 1985, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) is an advocacy and campaigning group that works

towards protecting citizens rights in consumer and environmental issues and promotes good governance processes

including transparency, accountability and participatory decision-making.

Editorial Team

K. Vishnu Mohan Rao

Nikhitha M.

US Annual Energy Outlook 2013—with Projections to 2040 (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2013)

Oil production, particularly from tight oil plays, rises over the next decade,

leading to a reduction in net import dependence: Crude oil production has

increased since 2008, reversing a decline that began in 1986. From 5.0 million

barrels per day in 2008, U.S. crude oil production increased to 6.5 million barrels

per day in 2012. Improvements in advanced crude oil production technologies

continues to lift domestic supply, with domestic production of crude oil increasing

before declining gradually beginning in 2020 for the remainder of the projection

period. The projected growth results largely from a significant increase in onshore

crude oil production, particularly from shale and other tight formations, which has

been spurred by technological advances and relatively high oil prices. The net

import share of U.S. petroleum and other liquids consumption (including crude oil,

petroleum liquids, and liquids derived from nonpetroleum sources) grew steadily

from the mid-1980s to 2005 but has fallen in every year since then (Figure 1). U.S.

net imports of petroleum and other liquids decline through 2019, while still provid-

ing approximately one-third of total U.S. supply. The net import share of U.S. petro-

leum and other liquids consumption continues to decline, falling to 34 percent in

2019 before increasing to 37 percent in 2040. The U.S. could become a net exporter

of liquid fuels.