Commenting, on relaxation of load shedding protocol, Dabhade said that the company had already reduced it to scenario III of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission's (MERC's) protocol. Currently, the relaxation was being given on day ahead basis. "We do not know whether any unit will trip the next day. So, the load shedding protocol will be relaxed gradually."
When pointed out that consumers enjoying zero load shedding (ZLS) were paying a surcharge while those living in non-ZLS area were enjoying uninterrupted power supply without paying anything extra, Dabhade said that ZLS surcharge had been reduced and consumers in these cities would be refunded the extra amount.
The officer said that power availability had increased due to commissioning of 250 MW units in Parli and Paras power plants and NTPC's Korba power plant. In addition MSEDCL was buying power from exchanges as rates were reasonable.
This year the rate of power in the exchanges had gone down sharply. Till now the power rates during peak hours range from Rs 4 to 6 per unit. In the last two years rates had touched as high as Rs 15 per unit.
The power situation is far better this summer because of ample water in Koyna reservoir. Private power stations like JSW's Jaigad plant and WPCL's Warora plant had started generation and were supplying it to MSEDCL. Agricultural feeder separation and single phasing schemes had effectively curbed agricultural power demand.
A review meeting between MSEDCL and Spanco officials was held on Thursday. MSEDCL directors Dabhade, Dattatraya Wavhar, executive director Govardhan, Spanco officials Kamal Maheshwari and Ajit Ganguly discussed various issues.