Industries Requested To Remove Energy Restriction
The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, has appealed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission TNREC to remove the energy restriction for High Tension consumers. In a memorandum to the commission, the chamber president Mahendra Ramdass said that with the 40 per cent cut on Maximum Demand and the restrictions on drawing power during peak hours (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.), the industry requested that it should not have an energy cut too.
Further, the base demand should be worked out based on the highest maximum demand registered in any month between October 2007 and September 2008 or sanctioned power, whichever was higher. The energy consumed by the HT consumers would be down to just 45 to 50 per cent during the next six months. Hence, the commission should direct the board to consider reducing the current consumption deposit and return it to the consumers. Further, the board should consider reduction of maximum demand charges for the peak hour period.
The industries had to use captive power generation at a high cost to keep the production process at optimum level. The Government should treat the captive power plants owned by industrial consumers as generating companies. If treated as generating companies, these can get compensation. The Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association has said that the industries should be permitted to operate the captive power plants to the full capacity. The commission should recommend to the State Government to offset the adverse financial impact resulting from operating these plants to full capacity.
The Government should come to the rescue of the industry and allow the individual power generating sectors to assist the industries. Soft loans at concessional rates and tax should be given for purchase of generators and generation of power within the respective industry premises should be encouraged. “Imposing penal charges, usage restrictions, peak hour constraints and unannounced power cuts without getting the prior approval of the commission will amount to adding fuel to fire,” said Jayakumar Ramdass, the association president in a memorandum to the commission.
