The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has set the ball rolling in setting up a Central Advisory Committee (CAC) which will advise the former on major questions of policy, matters relating to quality, continuity and extent of service provided by the licensees, compliance by the licensees with the condition and requirements of their licence, protection of consumer interest and energy supply and overall standards of performance by utilities. CERC has decided that Committee will be formally notified around February 24, and will hold its first meeting some time in the middle of next month. It was proposed that the meetings of the committee will be held twice or thrice a year.
The Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act 1998 provides that the Central Commission may by notification establish with effect from such date as it may be specified in such notification a committee to be know as the Central Advisory Committee.
CAC shall consist of not more than 31 members to represent the interest of commerce, industry, transport, agriculture, labour, consumers, non-governmental organisations and academic and research bodies in the energy sector.
More From This Section
Current chairman of CERC, Ashok K Basu was appointed the chairman of the advisory committee and it has appointed 23 members from the power sector. Members include chairman and managing directors of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd, Yogendra Prasad, CMD of NTPC, C P Jain, CMD Power Grid Corporation of India, R P Singh, Chairman, West Bengal State Electricity Board, G D Gautama from the public sector power concerns.
Personalities from the private sector include, chairman Reliance Power, D V Kapoor, and managing director of Tata Power, F A Vandrevala. Others include the secretary general of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Amit Mitra and director general of Tata Energy Research Institute, R K Pachauri.
Chairman, CERC in a letter of the members of the Advisory Committee has said that the Commission was keen to utilise the experience and specialisation of eminent personalities in the power sector, for advice on issues involving major questions of policy, overall standard of performance of utilities, quality of service, and other issues and as such has set the ball rolling in setting up the CAC, five years after the 1998 Commissions Act was passed and CERC formed.