Assam leaking power more than tiol average

TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION LOSSES

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 17: At a time when seamless power generation and supply is an important criteria of a tion’s or state’s progress, the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses including transmission and distribution losses are hampering the overall development of the country. Despite being known as the potential powerhouse of India, Assam and other states in the Northeast are experiencing transmission and distribution losses in varying degrees, indicating the poor state of power generation in the region.

Since 2004, in the me of power reforms in Assam, thousands of crores have been spent, but the State has been recording more transmission and distribution (T&D) losses than the tiol average. The share of transmission and distribution losses of other NE states, especially Aruchal Pradesh which is blessed with turbulent rivers and streams, are also much higher than the all-India average.

According to a Central Government report, in the fincial year 2014-15, Assam recorded transmission and distribution losses of 26 per cent compared to the tiol average of 24.62 per cent. But the State has maged to minimize the loss to an extent compared to fincial years 2012-13 to 2013-14. During the same periods, other NE states suffered losses that were even worse than Assam’s average, stated the report.

During fincial year 2014-15, Aruchal Pradesh recorded transmission and distribution losses to the tune of 67.83 per cent, Manipur 49.62 per cent, Meghalaya 34.69 per cent, Mizoram 33.51 per cent, galand 78.48 per cent and Tripura 38.02 per cent. The average annual transmission and distribution losses recorded by the NE region as a whole was 35.29 per cent. In the entire country, galand recorded the highest loss percentage.

Such losses are mainly due to technical and commercial reasons. The technical losses are due to energy dissipated in the conductors and equipment used for transmission, transformation and distribution of power.

Commercial losses are on account of energy consumed but revenue not realized, which is mainly due to pilferage by hooking of lines, bypassing meters, defective meters, errors in meter reading and billing, estimating un-metered supply of electricity, non-recovery of billed amount and others.

The whole burden of 26 per cent loss suffered by Assam in power transmission and distribution falls on the Assam Power Distribution and Company Limited (APDCL), which in turn affects consumers as they have to shell out more money from their pockets as electricity bill. In the me of power reform and rural electrification in Assam, the previous State government claimed to have spent thousands of crores of rupees, but 1,265 villages in the State are yet to be electrified. It is a cause of genuine concern and the present State government should take corrective steps without much delay.