Power bait
Following in Maharashtra's footsteps, the West Bengal power department has unveiled a package including time-of-the-day (ToD) metering and tariff concessions to cut costs and raise non-peak hour demand for electricity.
"The West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) has been facing a widening gap between peak and off-peak demand," says West Bengal Power Development Corporation's executive director, planning, S R Sikdar. It has become necessary to restructure the tariffs to even out the load, he adds.
In winter, the demand for power from WBSEB areas falls from a peak of 1,100 mw between 6-8pm to about 550 mw between 10pm-6am. In the areas served by the private sector Calcutta Electricity Supply Corp, the peak hour demand falls from 950 mw to about 360 mw between 10pm-6am.
The WBSEB's generating units, designed to operate at peak load of 210 mw, consume 6 times more fuel per unit of power generated when the load falls below 145 mw. If demand fluctuations are avoided, the WBSEB could save upto 20 paise per unit of power generated in fuel costs.
For those opting for ToD meters, power will be charged at 140 per cent of the normal rates from 5pm-10pm. From 10pm-6am, industries will be charged half the normal rates for 50 per cent of their consumption and 65 per cent of the normal rates for the remaining 50 per cent. The existing flat fuel surcharge of 10 paise per unit is to continue.
The ToD rate has been fixed at a slightly lower rate than the diesel generation cost of about Rs 3 per unit for big consumers to discourage a switch to diesel generation.
How many of the WBSEB's 1600 bulk consumers will opt for the new metering systems remains an open question.
On the other hand if the concessional rates prove to be too attractive, the SEB may lose revenue as several industrial units whise supplies had hitherto been curtailed start drawing their bulk requirements at off-peak rates.