HC stays PEC decision, permits TG discoms to bid for power purchase

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court granted stay orders on Power Exchange Corporation’s decision to stop the State government from bidding to purchase power from the exchange directly. The power exchange took the decision based on a complaint lodged by Power Grid Corporation for not paying pending dues by the state government.

However, the officials said that there is no power shortage in view of generation of hydel power in the state at the moment. Power exchange has stopped Telangana Discoms from bidding for power purchase since Thursday morning. The Power Grid Corporation has complained against the government for not paying Rs 261 crore related to the purchase of electricity in Chhattisgarh.

Based on this complaint, the National Load Dispatch Centre has barred Telangana Discoms from participating in electricity bids. The state government filed a lunch motion petition in the High Court as there was no other option and sought a relief from the court stay orders.

Officials said that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who is in Delhi, spoke to the officials of the Electricity Department on phone and asked them to take measures to prevent interruption of electricity supply in the State. He has ordered to file a lunch motion petition in the High Court immediately.

Responding to this matter, the High Court has issued orders to the Discoms to immediately restore the transactions of power exchanges. It has been advised to take immediate action and inform the concerned authorities to avoid interruption of power supply in the state. Power Grid has been instructed not to take any action till the completion of the case before the Central ERC regarding corridor charges and arrears. An interim order has been issued to this effect.

The previous BRS government had booked a corridor for power supply with Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) to buy electricity from Chhattisgarh. Even though there was no need, the previous government has booked the corridors in advance. While only 1,000 MW corridor was sufficient, advance corridor has been booked for the supply of another 1,000 MW unnecessarily. Officials said that Telangana Discoms had signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL) in September 2015 for a period of 12 years for supply of 1,000 MW power from Marwa Thermal Power Plant.

Discoms have booked a corridor of 2,000 MW capacity with power grid to bring electricity from Chhattisgarh to the State. Due to the non-arrival of expected electricity from Chhattisgarh, the Discoms also took a step back in the matter of the corridor. Discoms have signed power grid agreement on PPA for only 1,000 MW power corridor. But Power Grid insisted on signing the contract for the entire 2000 MW. The Discom says that it has entered into an agreement with the power grid under mandatory circumstances. 1,000 MW should be implemented from April 1, 2017. The remaining 1,000 MW should be made available from November 2018. But the power grid did not agree. In the meantime, it has petitioned to pay Rs 261 crore as relinquishment charges. In this regard, Telangana Discoms have approached CERC and the investigation is ongoing.