Mumbai to face power cuts: Tata Power chief

Mumbaikars may have to pay more.

Maharashtra government's public posturing and ultimatums to power utilities Tata Power Company (TPC) and Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) to find 200 Mw of power for the city within 72 hours may prove costly for consumers as power traders have raised the price of power in the spot market.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, TPC Managing Director Prasad R Menon said, "We were on the verge of sourcing 150 Mw of power for the city. But, with the news appearing in the media about the state government giving us an ultimatum makes our task much more difficult and now price of power has increased considerably."

Giving the warning has been a self-defeating exercise, he added.

On Sunday last Maharashtra Energy Secretary Rahul Asthana had called a meeting to ask the state-owned power utility MSEB to supply excess power to city when state is facing power shortage of around 5,000 Mw and during the meeting, the state energy department had made it clear to TPC and REL that it will not be possible for MSEB to supply power beyond Wednesday.

On Wednesday, a meeting to review the situation has been called by the energy secretary.

It has been reliably learnt that prices of power in the spot market have increased by Rs 3 to Rs 3.50 per unit. The prices have gone up from around Rs 4.50 "" Rs 5 to Rs 8 to Rs 8.50 per unit.

Obviously, all power utilities will move before power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) asks MERC to allow them to recover their additional cost of purchases from the consumer, said informed sources from power sector.

Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of press conference Menon said, "We are trying to pluck the 200 Mw gap between demand and availability but we can't guarantee that we will be able to bridge this gap completely and the city may have to face power cuts."

We will try to keep the power cuts at the minimum level and the different parts of the city will have differential load shedding hours, he added.

Stressing the need for power conservation, he said, if we follow correct practices of using electric and electronic appliances at home and office, then the city can save up to 100-150 Mw of power.