Tata Power told to stop overdrawing

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on Thursday ordered Tata Power Company Ltd to stop overdrawing power from the Maharashtra grid. It has also ordered Tata Power to provide a load shedding plan for Mumbai city by Monday.

The MERC, which has quasi-judicial status, gave the order while hearing a petition filed by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) against Tata Power. In its plea MSEDCL had sought directions from MERC to prevent Tata Power from persistently overdrawing power from its resources.

Power Distributors


While hearing the case Dr Pramod Deo, Chairman of MERC, said if Tata Power cannot cater to increased demand for power in Mumbai, a load shedding plan has to be prepared. He also ordered Reliance Energy Ltd and BEST Undertaking to submit load shedding plans for Mumbai.

Tata Power, Reliance Energy Ltd and BEST Undertaking are the three main power distributors in Mumbai city. BEST has no power stations but procures power from Tata Power and re-sells to its consumers in the island city area of Mumbai.

Currently Mumbai has a demand of 2,600 MW of which about 2,200 MW is supplied by Tata and Reliance from their own power stations located in Maharashtra. The shortfall is covered by drawing power from the Maharashtra grid and from power stations across the country. Dr Deo said that MERC cannot accept `EHV opening' (unplanned load shedding) by MSEDCL in Maharashtra due to overdrawing of power by Tata Power for Mumbai.

Grid Stability


Overdrawing of power can affect the stability of the grid. The grid can collapse leading to widespread blackouts and, at times, shutdown of power stations. It can take up to eight hours to restart power stations.

Mr A. Velayutham, Member (Technical), MERC, said that Tata Power cannot take shelter under the grid. The grid stability should be maintained, he said.

Tate Power in its submission before the MERC said that they are purchasing power on behalf of BEST and REL and hence they alone are not responsible for overdrawal. They have arranged for 519 MW power from other States which is supplied to Mumbai area during the day and sold to consumers in other States during night hours.