The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has recently issued a public notice inviting comments and objections on the APERC Transmission Licence Regulation, 2023, (AP-TLR), which would facilitate the entry of private companies into power transmission business in the State.
The draft regulation is going to be finalised after November 7, which has been set as the last date for various stakeholders to express their views.
Hitherto, the AP-Transco used to award the projects to private companies on a turnkey basis. It had been given the transmission and bulk supply licence in 1999-2000 under the A.P. Power Sector Reform Act of 1998.
The TLR is intended to take care of the present-day requirements, particularly the Intra-State Transmission Systems (ISTS) under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
As per the AP-TLR, transmission projects will be awarded to those who qualify in the Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB), for which the threshold limit has been fixed at ₹100 crore, excluding the land cost, and satisfy other conditions thereof.
Expressing its reservations on the AP-TLR, the APSEB Engineers’ Association (APSEBEA) has suggested to the APERC to constitute a technical committee (including the AP-Transco engineers) to assess its (TLR) impact on the grid and the Transco’s network and to ensure proper accountability of the private companies in the event of their failure to deliver their commitments. Another important thing the APSEBEA wanted the APERC to do was to raise the threshold limit to ₹500 crore.
A senior official in the power sector told The Hindu that the ultimate goal of the TLR was to open the lucrative transmission business to private companies in the guise of efficiency and accountability.
Yet another officer said that if AP-Transco issued the tenders, the entire monitoring would be done by it, and it would also be the owner of the transmission network and also bear the overall responsibility.
Under the new system, the successful bidders would become owners of the transmission lines, which enables them to dictate terms as far as the charges levied by them are concerned. Such companies might also demand minimum charges even if their lines do not evacuate any power. Besides, they could execute the projects on their own or give them to sub-contractors.
The AP-Transco can participate in the bidding process, but it stands little chance of winning over projects from private sector giants. This is all being driven by the Central government, the officer observed.
