Karnataka has a history of over 100 years of power generation, transmission and other advancements. While Bengaluru was the first place in Asia to get streetlights in 1905, the first major hydroelectric (hydel) generating station in the country was established in Shivanasamudra in 1902 for commercial operations. However, over 120 years later, the power sector in Karnataka still has many chinks in its armour when it comes to the quality of transmission and supply.
As of March 2023, the installed capacity of power in Karnataka is over 31,000 MW. From hydel and pumped storage projects to thermal plants and solar and wind generation, the State boasts of many means of electricity generation. Yet, when the rains played spoilsport this year, Karnataka went from being a power surplus State for four years to a State experiencing a daily shortfall of 40 – 50 MU.
While various escoms (electricity supply companies) in the State had paid over ₹4,500 crore per annum as shutdown charges to thermal power plants during the power surplus years, when the need arose this year, only around 3,400 MW of power could be generated from the stations out of the total installed capacity of over 5,000 MW. While the Energy Department said that the problem of wet coal brought down the generation, experts laid the blame on improper and unplanned maintenance of power plants during the monsoon for not being able to generate more power to cut down the shortfall.
Even though Karnataka has now overcome the shortfall of power with barter power trading with other States and the imposition of Section 11 (which mandates them to sell the power to the State) on all the open access generators, it has to be noted that the same strategy has been employed in the past — by Shobha Karandlaje almost a decade ago when she was the Energy Minister and D. K. Shivakumar during his earlier term as the Energy Minister. This shows that there has been no change in planning for an off year (power-wise) over the years.
Be it power surplus or shortage, the issue which continues to plague the power consumers in Karnataka is that of supply. Even in the State capital Bengaluru, let alone rural areas, uninterrupted power supply remains a dream. While escoms often claim that most of the power outages are due to maintenance work, all it takes is one heavy rainfall for infrastructure to get damaged and cause outages across the State. Especially in the Malenadu region, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts, getting three-phase electricity (which is essential to run irrigation pump sets) for over a few hours has been a rarity.
Amidst this, what has raised serious concerns about the safety of power infrastructure in the State is the electrocution of a 23-year-old woman and her nine-month-old daughter in Bengaluru when they came in contact with a live and snapped conductor while walking on a footpath. From no regulations around new buildings coming up near transmission and distribution lines, which have also led to electrical accidents, to supplying electricity through decade-old wires, the maintenance of infrastructure is poor in the State. In the recent electrocution case, the wire at fault was commissioned as early as in 1997.
From time to time, the public has pointed out that everything from Distribution Transformer Centres (DTCs) to electric poles, fuse boxes, and feeders in the State need regular maintenance. Although the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has issued guidelines for Technical Safety Audit for escoms and other distributors to follow, no proper data is available to verify if these audits are taking place regularly. The Commission itself has not been keen on keeping an eye on these reports.
This is not to say that the power sector in the State has not had its positives in the past few years. Tremendous strides have been made in the Renewable Energy (RE) sector with around 40% of power generation coming from RE. While the transmission and distribution losses have come down slightly, the frequency of power is being maintained close to 50 Hz, which reflects high efficiency. However, the power sector has a long way to go when it comes to strengthening its network and making uninterrupted power supply as well as safety a reality for the State’s consumers.
