Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct.11: The Ministry of Power said on Monday said that energy accounting for distribution companies (discoms) has been mandated in order to reduce electricity losses.
“As an important step under the ongoing power sector reforms, the Ministry of Power today mandated electricity distribution companies to undertake energy accounting on a periodic basis,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Under the requirements of the Energy Conservation Act of 2001, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) published regulations in this regard with the permission of the Ministry of Power.
Within 60 days of receiving the notification, discoms must submit quarterly energy accounting to a certified energy manager. An independent accredited energy auditor will conduct an annual energy audit. Both of these reports will be made available to the public.
Energy accounting reports will describe power usage by different types of consumers as well as transmission and distribution losses in different areas.
It will identify high-loss and-theft regions and allow for corrective action.
This proposal will also allow officers to be held accountable for losses and theft. The information will allow the discoms to take the necessary steps to reduce their electricity losses.
Discoms will be able to prepare for appropriate infrastructure upgrades as well as effective demand-side management (DSM) operations. This programme will help India reach its climate goals under the Paris Agreement, according to the statement.
These regulations were issued under the Energy Conservation Act of 2001, with the overarching goal of reducing distribution sector inefficiencies and losses, and therefore advancing discoms’ economic survival.
BEE has recognised a group of nationally accredited energy auditors and managers with experience in creating energy accounting and audit reports, as well as making recommendations for loss reduction and other technical solutions.
The regulations were pre-published in April 2021 in order to solicit public feedback, and the Ministry of Power then undertook comprehensive consultations with numerous stakeholders before publishing them, according to the statement.
All power distribution businesses were notified as designated consumers under the Energy Conservation Act in September 2020, via a separate notification. Because of the potential benefits of energy auditing for the entire distribution system and retail supply business, it was necessary to create a set of comprehensive norms and procedures that all distribution utilities in India could follow and implement.
All energy inflows at various voltage levels in the distribution perimeter of the network, including renewable energy generation and open access customers, as well as energy consumption by end-consumers, are accounted for in energy accounting.
Energy accounting on a regular basis, followed by an annual energy audit, will aid in identifying areas of significant loss and pilferage, and will then advise targeted efforts to address the problem.
The regulations, which were released on Monday, give a much-anticipated comprehensive framework for discoms to conduct yearly energy audits and quarterly periodic energy accounting, together with the essential pre-requisites and reporting obligations.
The establishment of a comprehensive energy accounting system to measure and determine actual losses in the power distribution system, separated into technical and commercial losses, is one of the goals of periodic energy accounting.
It also aims to identify areas of leakage, theft, wastage, or inefficient use in order to address the existing difficulties of significant transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.
It will allow and secure the completion of an independent third-party energy audit of the distribution system in order to provide a true and fair picture of T&D losses. It will also allow discoms to carry out targeted efficiency improvement operations in priority areas/customer segments to reduce T&D losses.
It also aims to provide a foundation for prioritising energy capital projects and aid in more precise budgeting to obtain maximum results. It will aid in the identification of overburdened network segments that require capacity expansion.
