Bhubaneswar, Oct. 21: Orissa may be in for a severe power crisis if the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) sticks to its stand of cutting down supply to the state by 15 per cent from the central quota.

If this happens, the state will lose 162 megawatt (MW) of the 1,084 currently available to it from the central allocation from November 7.

The PGCIL had asked the state to pay nearly double the amount towards transmission charges from Friday warning that otherwise, it would be forced to “regulate” power supply to the state.

The state government is planning to move the high court against the move of PGCIL. Energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said the state would resist the move.

Director, finance, of the state-owned Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco), B.P. Mohapatra said: “At present, we are paying Rs 10 crore for power from central allocation through the PGCIL’s transmission network. Now, they are demanding nearly Rs 20 crore for transmission of the same amount of power. Since we have expressed our inability to pay the amount, they have threatened to cut down on the power supply. The deadline was extended to November 7 following our repeated requests.”

Energy department sources said though the state needs nearly 2,750MW of power a day, it gets around 2,430MW from different sources.

“The generation from hydro-power units has come down drastically. Most of the reservoirs in southern Orissa like Indravati, Upper Kolab and Machhkund are still half empty because of the lack of rainfall in those parts. This has affected power production badly. Now the state has to depend mostly on the Hirakud, Chiplima and Rengali reservoirs for hydro-power. The power production has come down to 330MW from its installed capacity of 650MW,” said a senior official of the energy department.

Mohapatra said: “Out of the central allocation of 1,084MW, we are currently getting only 750MW because of various reasons. At times, the state also gets nearly 900MW. If at this point, the PGCIL cuts down on power supply, the state will plunge into darkness.”

Citing the state’s inability to pay more for power from the central pool, Mohapatra said: “The per-unit cost of power would go up by 20 paisa with the PGCIL’s new regulation. Overall, the customer has to pay another 8 paisa per unit of power. The state’s burden will rise by Rs 80 crore to Rs 100 crore a year because of it.”

“There is no justification for Orissa to pay higher transmission charges. Because of the easy availability of coal, a number of thermal power plants have been set up in the state. The PGCIL takes most of the power from Orissa and provides green energy to other states. However, we suffer the impact of pollution caused by these units. It is ironical that instead of being given concessions, the new laws are set to raise the cost of power from the central pool,” said Mohapatra.