Former power secretary Anil Razdan was closely involved with far reaching reforms in the power sector. He however feels the reforms have not produced the results expected as was manifest in the two major power breakdowns that brought the country to a grinding halt.

Q. What is the cause of this present power paralysis?
A. Power is a concurrent subject involving both Centre and states. Our installed capacity in 1947 was 1,300 MW. State electricity boards were set up in fifties. The next step was to create regional grids which we are now trying to integrate. The availability of hydro power is a bit skewed. There is hydro potential in the north and Northeast and some available in the Deccan Peninsula. Hydropower therefore has to be imported to several regions. Coal is concentrated in the eastern parts while gas comes from the western coast. The Extra High Voltage Transmission grid, still in the process of being set up, will bring together the west, north, east and northeastern grids and also the southern grid under one overarching national grid.
This is going to create major responsibilities on the users. If one state is indisciplined, this obviously creates problems for others.

Q. That sounds like an understatement. States overdrawing resulted in the grid very literally collapsing?
A. I don’t think it is appropriate to pinpoint blame on any just one factor. Let me give you a little background. Peaking power needs hydro power because it allows for the greatest amount of flexibility. Nuclear power allows for little variation. Coal-based local power again cannot be tinkered with too much. The amount of gas being fed into the turbines can be modulated but we are facing a severe shortage of gas and several stations are lying idle.
Hydro-storage based power remains the most variable of the lot. At one time, we were assured 40 per cent of hydro power but today hydro generation is down to 15-20 per cent. The ministry of power had promised to generate 15,000 MW during the Eleventh Five Year Plan but were able to add only 5,500 MW. What this in essence means is that we have lost our flexibility
Meanwhile, in 2003, the government had set up distribution companies which were looking after transmission and distribution of power. Unfortunately, for them distribution of power has been one of the weakest link in this chain and that has remained a state subject. Unmetered supply, pure theft and technical losses which fall under the bracket of Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (ATCL) amount for 28 per cent of the losses being incurred.
Power losses across states are on the rise. In Andhra Pradesh, they have gone up from 9 to 14 per cent, in Assam they have gone up to 29 per cent, in J&K, they have gone up from 70 to 73 per cent while in Bihar, they have gone up from 44 to 49 per cent. Regulators have not set appropriate tariffs and the cumulative losses of distribution companies presently run into `150,000 crores. Unable to meet their day-to-day expenses, what companies are doing is not booking their power in advance. There is something called unscheduled interchange, by which power can be taken without having to pay money upfront. But this means power is being pulled out on an ad hoc basis.
Already the northern region is rainfall deficient. The delayed monsoon has led to increased power demand for domestic and agricultural consumption. The present rice crop being grown is water-intensive and farmers need to run their pumps. Sadly, both the Bhakra Nangal and Tehri dams are water depleted and water in these reservoirs is needed largely for drinking purposes.
Peak deficits have occurred in the past but then the grids were not interconnected. When you draw more power out, system frequency goes down. You see 50.05 hertz. is the ideal frequency. But the northern grid was not operating at 50.0 hertz. No developed country will allow its operating frequency to fall to 49.8 hertz. but ours dropped below 49.6 hertz leading to the grid collapse.

Q. What exactly happened when our grid collapsed?
A. The exact sequence of events is still not known. The northern grid got isolated. I think when they did fix the problem the first time, they did not spend a sufficient amount of time to find out what the flaw was and that is why it collapsed for a second time.

Q. The overdrawing by states calls for strict measures to be put in place to prevent this reoccurrence in the future?
A. The Central Electricity Authority Board has to give more teeth to regional local dispatch centres who control the grid.

Q. How can this situation be corrected ?
A. For one, no one is against giving subsidies to the weaker section. Under the RGGV Yojana, 3,00,000 villages have been electrified during the last five years. But these subsidies must be given to the distributors so that they can reinvest in their companies. They need money to meet their day-to-day expenses so that they can book their power in advance especially in a scenario where fuel costs are also escalating.
They also need to invest in high-class machinery. In Haryana, generating stations under BHEL may have had some problems which got corrected, But the Chinese machinery that has been acquired by some companies is not generating power according to their stated capacity. This is peak time and if this is not going to generate electricity now then when will it.

Q. What are some course correctives that you suggest?
A. For one, we are now moving towards the creation of a national grid, so the enforcement of grid discipline is a must. The State Local Despatch Centres allowed withdrawal of power at the state levels. We need to create a separate cadre who will operate these dispatch centres and who will ensure that no state can draw excess power. This cadre will be insulated from the running of the day-to-day operations.
So, apart from the present cadre operating the present machines, this independent cadre can report directly to the Central Electricity Authority. These kind of repeated power breakdowns cannot be allowed to recur in future.