March means more power pangs in paddy season.

While insiders claim that power cuts were being imposed during peak hours in the evening and non-peak morning hours, power officials denied the charge.

According to the official records, power cuts to the tune of 200 MW were imposed during evening peak hours in the last three days. Even during non-peak morning hours, power cuts between 300 and 400 MW were imposed.

During these days, the peak demand of Punjab was around 6,000 MW, whereas the demand in the paddy season may be around 11,500 MW.

Residents of Ludhiana, Amritsar, Zirakpur and Patiala informed that power cuts of shorter duration were being imposed for the past few days.

Padamjit Singh, Chief Patron, All India Power Engineers Federation, said, “By relying more on private generators, Punjab loses flexibility and fast response in grid management, leaving power cut as the only option to maintain the grid discipline. The retirement of thermal units of over 800 MW at Ropar and Bathinda will prove to be a huge handicap in load management and will make the power system of Punjab extremely vulnerable and at the mercy of private generators.”

“The state should take steps to revive the generating units in Ropar and Bathinda and build up coal stocks so that the energy demand during the peak paddy season can be met with minimum power cuts,” he added.

However, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) A Venu Prasad said at present, they were selling power everyday which was fetching them around Rs 4 per unit and also returning power through banking system that would end on March 31.

“We are supplying ample power to farmers and also to other consumers of the state. We are getting power at much cheaper rates as compared to state-owned plants that have been shut,” he added.

Official figures suggest Punjab has floated tenders to buy almost 1,000 MW of power. The PSPCL is also relying on two long-term agreements with Damodar Valley Corporation and Power Trading Corporation as they would collectively supply 650 MW, which is much cheaper than state-owned thermal plants.

After the government ordered the closure of 460 MW Bathinda thermal plant and two units of the Ropar plant in January, the generation capacity has come down by 880 MW. “However, we have cheaper options available in the open market so there is no point in restarting these units,” he said.