18 districts in Maharashtra may soon have zero power cuts

After implementing the zero load-shedding (ZLS) model at the headquarters of revenue divisions, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) now wants to extend the model to even the district headquarters. MSEDCL has submitted to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) a petition to the effect, which the commission has admitted and a hearing is scheduled for March 25.

The MSEDCL has proposed to implement the ZLS model at district levels between A to D categories where distribution and commercial losses (DCL) are well below the 42% mark. As per principle and protocol approved by MERC and MSEDCL, divisions across the state are categorised as A, B, C, D, E and F according to their loss percentage.

Thus, at present there are 18 district headquarters that qualify for the ZLS model. They are Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Alibaug, Chandrapur, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Bhandara, Satara, Buldhana, Latur, Akola, Washim, Nanded, Yavatmal and Gadchiroli.

Once the model is implemented, local residents of the districts will have to pay a reliability charge as per the category they fall in.