Now, consumers can track power quality in their area

Frequent supply interruptions and low voltage levels will soon become a thing of the past for Pune residents. Prayas, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has specially developed data loggers which will record voltage as well as supply interruptions when installed at different locations in an area.

The data loggers, is an Electricity Supply Monitoring Initiative (ESMI) tool developed as a compliment to ongoing efforts by consumers and regulators to monitor power supply quality.

According to Prayas, frequent supply interruptions and low voltage levels are the most common complaints by consumers and often results in consumer unwillingness to pay. The poor supply quality forces consumers to either invest in back-up devices such as generators, the NGO said.

“While authorities have made efforts to capture supply quality, there is still a long way to go for availability of reliable indicators of supply quality. The ESMI will now enable consumers to verify if load shedding is being carried out as per the regulatory commission’s directive,’’ said a Prayas spokersperson.

He added that the ESMI data could be used to assess the impact of large capital expenditure like the infrastructure plan by MSEB’s distribution company on improving supply quality.

Pune, however, does not face any scheduled load shedding due to implementation of the ‘Pune Model’. Under this arrangement local industries give the required relief to the grid by generating power through their captive power plants (using liquid fuel such as diesel). In spite of this the Pune consumers face 10 to 20 sustained interruptions every month and do not have supply for about 11 hours per month.

As per Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) regulations voltage for low-tension consumers should be between 225 volts to 255 volts. But voltage levels in Pune are significantly below MERC norms.