T’puram: Power minister K Krishnankutty informed the assembly on Monday that govt was preparing its response to the draft National Electricity Policy released by Union minister. The minister said several provisions mooted in the policy were against the interests of the state and could affect the lives of people and the electricity sector.One of the major changes proposed in the draft policy gives electricity distribution agencies the power to revise charges without waiting for clearance from the respective electricity regulatory commissions, provided the revision is in sync with a set of guidelines. Krishnankutty said state govt and KSEBL were assessing how the proposal to cut down cross-subsidy would affect socially responsible power distribution. Such a move, if implemented, could lead to a steep rise in the power bills of domestic and agricultural consumers. In this context, he said many proposals in the draft policy document were unwelcome to Kerala. The policy proposal to encourage competition in electricity distribution would adversely affect the existing distribution model. The state govt also wanted Centre to honour the discretionary powers of state govts regarding the setting up of pumped storage projects. The proposals to create a new company for power transmission and convert the State Load Despatch Centre into a separate company were also unwelcome. Govt was also not in favour of the recommendation to not include govt representatives in the state power utility. State govt’s response to the draft policy would soon be shared with Centre, the minister said.
