A mismatch in the number of people who have informed the state power utility about an increase in electrical load at home and those who have made the payment to process their applications suggests there could be many using gadgets beyond their electricity meter’s sanctioned load.
Consumers’ reluctance to upgrade their meters as they keep adding air-conditioners and other gadgets is allegedly the biggest trigger for frequent power cuts this season.
The state government’s power utility — West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited — received 27,437 applications to increase the load capacity of individual meters between March and mid-April.
But only 16,612 (60 per cent) of these consumers made the necessary payments to complete the process.
Prima facie that would mean at least 10,000 families are using power beyond their sanction, officials of the state power utility said.
The state power utility serves areas beyond CESC areas in Calcutta and its neighbouring districts.
CESC, a private utility, said non-payment was not a problem in its area but under-declaration was.
CESC has processed 34,850 applications for an additional load of around 40MW between March and mid-April this year.
But, according to CESC officials, the highest peak demand that the city has witnessed at night in the last 10 days is around 192MW more than what it was last year at this time of the year.
“This means there is an additional consumption of around 192MW but the additional load that people have declared is only 40MW,” said a CESC official.
The state power utility supplies electricity to several pockets that are now virtually part of Calcutta — like Salt Lake, New Town, Tollygunge and Garia.
Most of the applications for an increase in load have come from these areas, a WBSEDCL official said.
These are also the areas that have reported power cuts this season.
“We have received many phone calls from Salt Lake, New Town, Garia, Baguiati, Sonarpur, Narendrapur, Barasat, Barrackpore and parts of Howrah complaining of power cuts in the past few weeks. These areas have a high percentage of usage of AC. The power cuts could be because of the use of unsanctioned loads,” said an official.
Overload trips meters. When many households in an area use power beyond the sanction load, the supply to the entire area trips, an official said.
The sanctioned load of a household is the total wattage it can consume at a particular time.
The problem starts if consumers add heavy-duty gadgets like ACs without increasing the load capacity of their meters. To increase the capacity, the consumers need to apply online.
Officials said the number of people who have applied for increased load does not represent the true picture of the actual increase in load.
“Many consumers claim they are not aware of the rule that the load capacity has to be increased with the increase in the number of ACs in the house. Some also say they are not aware of their meter’s capacity,” said a WBSEDCL official.
