The role of long term solutions and consumers in the situation created due to fuel shortage in power generation

- People-oriented guidance: H.S. Patel IAS (Retd.)

- Government of India may compel private power generating companies to supply electricity as per Electricity Act

At present life without the use of electricity as well as the parameters of any kind of economic development is not possible. Now the country's development is measured by the per capita power consumption per capita by the parasitic citizen. Until independence, India's average consumption was 60 units, but the villages were not electrified. Industrial consumption was low. Consumption of electricity is directly related to the economic condition of the country. Recently, there has been a power crisis in the country and the power plants producing electricity do not have enough coal, which will lead to power cuts and disrupt public life. As such reports have been published, many readers have raised questions about what the general public should tolerate in this regard, so I think it is very important to know what role consumers can play as real consumers with clarity on this subject. If it is not available then it has an adverse effect on personal life as well as economy.

First of all, electricity is about three important components of the energy sector. Generation of Power Transmission and Distribution of Power Today's topic is about power generation. In the previous Electricity Act of 1910, power generation was limited to the State Government's Electricity Board or the NTPC of the Government of India. It was owned by the National Thermal Power Corporation, but private power companies in the sector were also barred from IPPs under the 18th Amendment. - Permission is granted in the name of the Independent Power Project. With the Electricity Act of 2006, any company can generate power with the approval of the Central Electricity Authority and the Regulatory Commission. 5% of power generation in our country is based on coal. Other areas of power generation such as nuclear power, gas based hydro power, non-conventional power generation include solar as well as wind. But the main power generation is coal based and in our country coal is considered as the property of the nation and is regulated by the Coal Ministry of the Government of India and Coal India Ltd. owned by the Government of India. These coal mines are mainly located in states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and when a coal based power plant is set up, the first thing the power generation company has to do is get the linkage about coal. The production capacity of any power plant is above the quality of coal i.e. it is considered in Calorific Value. Coal is also imported due to the large difference in quality as well as price variation. In our country and especially in the perspective of Gujarat, as our state is a port based Led State port, Indonesian coal is cheaper, so it is used by blending domestic coal and imported coal. The Indonesian government has changed its previous rules to make imported coal more expensive, especially for mega-power plants such as. Adani Mudra, Tata Power, Essar, etc. (Power Purchase Agreement) The power plant has been shut down and the case is pending in various legal forums. Coal is currently supplied to power generating companies through Coal India. It usually holds a month's reserve of coal according to the capacity of the power plant concerned and according to the capacity of the power company. But most power plants reportedly have only one or two days' supply. Some plants have also been shut down due to lack of coal and mining could not take place due to flooding of coal mines by Coal India. That means companies have to buy expensive electricity from the power exchange and pass it on to consumers, a burden that ultimately falls on consumers.

Many coal based power plants in the country have been converted into gas base power stations as part of reducing coal based power generation in the country and preventing damage to the environment. E.g. Uttaran, Dhuwaran, Hazira Pipavav (GSEG) which at that time decided to supply cheap gas to this power plant but changed the policy in 2015 to bring spot gas from the market at a higher price which makes it not viable to run this power plant as compared to other power plants. So the Government of India has a gas based power plant. It should be supplied with Reasonable Rates gas and due to the prevailing coal crisis it is necessary to instruct the Central Government in special cases under the Electricity Act to provide power supply to the power plants especially by turning on private power plants because if the power distribution companies If the purchase of electricity from the market at a higher price is provided to the consumers, first of all, the financial position of the power distribution companies is adversely affected as states like UP or Jharkhand do not have the capacity to buy expensive electricity. The condition of power distribution companies in states like Gujarat is relatively good. But if this situation continues for a long time, the financial position of these companies will be adversely affected and this burden may fall on the power consumers under the existing regulatory commission's FPPPA - Fuel Power Purchase Price Adjustment formula. Consumers need to be especially vigilant only when tariffs are fixed by the regulatory commission so that power consumers do not suffer in the long run due to lack of efficiency and the basic purpose of the Electricity Act 2006 is to provide electricity to consumers at quality and affordable prices.