Srinagar, Aug 2: Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, the power watchdog, has summoned officials from Jammu and Kashmir and four other states for continuing with overdraw of energy from Northern Grid in violation of its orders. The development follows major breakdown in the Grid last Monday and Tuesday, disrupting normal life in entire north India and states far beyond.
“In our order dated July 10, 2012, we had directed that it would be the personal responsibility of the officers in over all charge of the State Transmission Utilities/State Load Dispatch Centres to ensure compliance of our directions,” the CERC order issued on July 30 said.
“After hearing the petitioner and the representatives of the constituents of the Northern Region, we have come to the conclusion that some of the constituents of the Northern Region had resorted to over-drawl from the grid in violation of the regulations. Since the situation has not improved despite our directions, we direct the Officers-in-charge of the STUs/SLDCs of the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir to personally appear before the Commission on August 14, 2012,” the order said.
The CERC has issued the order on a petition filed by Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC), seeking appropriate directions to the constituents of the northern region to curb overdraw of power.
On Monday, the Northern Grid suffered breakdown from 2:40 am to 2 pm disrupting normal life in many north Indian states in sweltering heat conditions. The situation worsened on Tuesday when three interconnected northern power grids collapsed for several hours.
The power outage led to blackout in at least 19 states, disrupting rail, metro and hospital services and business activities. Reportedly, the former Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde attributed the breakdown to overdrawing of electricity by some other states.
In the petition, the NRLDC has pleaded that despite strict directions from the power watchdog, the overdraw from the constituents of the northern region was continuing.
“We had directed the constituents of the Northern Region to comply with the directions of NRLDC for maintaining the security of the system,” the CERC said in the order.
On July 10, the CERC had issued notice to Head of State Load Dispatch Centers, State Transmission Utilities and State Electricity Boards/ Distribution Licensees in the Northern Region as to why they would not be held personally liable for the penalty for non-compliance with the directions of the Commission and provisions of the Grid Code with regard to maintenance of required grid frequency demand estimate and installation of automatic demand management schemes.
“The petitioner has submitted that despite the direction of the Commission from time to time, the over-drawl from the grid is still continuing and the order of the Commission and the directions of the NRLDC are not being complied with by some of the constituents of the Northern Region,” the CERC order said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 2 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 2 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
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