Regulators slam Electricity Act changes

Power regulators have taken serious objection to the power ministry8217;s move to amend crucial sections of the Electricity Act that would ...

Power regulators have taken serious objection to the power ministry8217;s move to amend crucial sections of the Electricity Act that would render them ineffective and have stated that the proposed changes are in violation of the Constitution and are also contrary to the spirit of the Common Minimum Programme.

In a strongly worded statement given to the Power Minister P.M. Sayeed on Friday, the forum of regulators headed by the chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission CERC A.K. Basu have urged the ministry not to proceed with the amendments as it would be a retrograde step for the reforms in the sector and would make them subservient to the government of the day. A similar missive has been sent to the PMO, sources said.

The power minister, in return, has assured the regulators that their powers would not be compromised when some of the chairmen of the regulatory commissions said they were even willing to vacate office if these amendments were made.

The objections of the regulators centre around proposed changes in the words used in the Electricity Act. Instead of the existing phrase in the Act that regulators 8216;8216;shall be guided by8217;8217; the ministry proposes to introduce a phrase which either says 8216;8216;shall be in conformity with8217;8217; or 8216;8216;shall act in conformity with8217;8217; policies of the Centre/state government.

It is understood that these changes were proposed as there were 8216;8216;general concerns8217;8217; raised on the functioning of the regulatory commissions. Questioning these 8216;8216;general concerns8217;8217;, sources said the forum of regulators have placed the ball in the power ministry8217;s court and have pointed out that similar concerns have also been raised over the functioning of the power ministry itself. These relate to the ministry8217;s initiatives on capacity addition, the accelerated power development and reform programme APDRP and even the settlement process of the Dabhol project.