Tata Power slammed the state’s official electricity despatch body for declining to act on its instruction to divert 160 Mw of its generated supply from midnight of May 16 from Reliance Infrastructure, even as the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) said it would have a public hearing next month on the state government’s stand on the dispute.
In a related development today, a public interest suit was filed in the high court here to issue orders to the state government to invoke its legal powers to ensure Tata made no change in existing supply arrangements to R-Infra for distribution in the city and to keep its geenrated power for city use only.
The state energy department, meanwhile, also sought a meeting with the chief secretary on issues raised by Tata in its protest letter to the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) for not obeying its instruction on whom to send its power to. Tata has raised a legal point, that the divertion was for approved users and SLDC has no discretion in such matters to decide otherwise.
As already reported, Tata and R-Infra both have consumers in the city and the former had anounced, well before, that it would stop supplying the latter from this month, as it had other valid buyers, including its own consumers. The matter went to court and then the state government intervened. In a decision ratified by a panel of the state Cabinet, Tata was instructed to continue supplying R-Infra at the MERC-set rate for a specified period.
Tata refused to heed this and later offered a compromise, saying it would supply part of the power at the regulated rate and also take over a specified number of R-Infra consumers, plus other suggestions which R-Infra received with coldness. Meanwhile, it sent its instruction to the SLDC, to send 160 Mw of the till-then committed 360 Mw of power for R-Infra to its sister firm, Tata Power Distribution. SLDC declined, saying it would wait till it got written instructions from MERC.
Citing the law
Today, Tata sent the SLDC a letter, saying it reserved “our right to take appropriate action against your refusal to schedule 160 Mw, including recovery of any financial burden suffered by our consumers.” Saying its own distribution business was suffering an additional burden of Rs 60 lakh per day on account of the “illegal refusal” to re-schedule 160 Mw, it warned that SLDC may be held legally liable for compensation.
Adding: “It appears that you have received purported advice from some senior authority to await further instruction, as the matter has been referred by the state government to MERC. Accordingly, you have not agreed for scheduling open access of 160 Mw to Tata Power Distribution, although 100 Mw contracted by us with BEST (the city municipality and also a buyer of Tata Power for distribution) has been recognized by you.” The company further noted that it had scheduled power on the basis of contracts executed by it with Tata Power Distribution. And, that open access for this transaction has also been duly approved and granted.
Stated the Tata Power letter: “Once the contract between the power generator/trader and distribution company is in place, SLDC has no discretion in the matter but to schedule the power in terms of such contract. SLDC as an independent authority under the Electricity Act, 2003, is not required to take any direction from any senior authority in the matter of scheduling.”
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Hearings
Meanwhile, MERC has organised a public hearing on June 28 on the report of the high-powered government panel, later approved by the Cabinet, to maintain status quo.
As for the public interest suit, its plea is that the Maharashtra government should be directed to invoke Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, to restrict sale of power by Tata Power outside Mumbai. Shrikant Soman, a management consultant, has also prayed that Tata Power be directed to continue sale and supply of the energy required by R-Infra for distribution in the latter’s licensed area of supply. And, requested that Tata Power be asked to execute a power purchase agreement with R-nfra on the terms and at rates determined by MERC.