GUWAHATI, June 3? Power consumers in Assam have often suffered big losses with their electrical gadgets getting burnt out due to sudden power fluctuations. Consumers have often complained about their televisions, refrigerators, ACs, music systems and even bulbs and tubes being damaged. The power supplier, Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB), says it has no control over the fluctuations, laying the blame on the power generating utilities like NEEPCO.
Asked about the reasons behind the fluctuations, especially in the evenings, ASEB officials, not wishing to be named, said that the problem is mainly technical with the power supplying machines of the NEEPCO, the main supplier to the ASEB, being switched on manually. ?We understand that the people suffer, but we can do little about it,? the officials said.
According to the officials, the NEEPCO machines are switched off during the daytime and switched on only during the peak period. As the machines are switched on, between 5 and 6 pm, there is a ?jerk? in the supply due to the unstable power condition. That is why most of the power fluctuation is experienced in the evenings, they said. The unstable condition lasts as much as three seconds sometimes, the officials said, attributing it to the mostly manual operations involved in swtiching on the machines.
?It would not have happened if there was automated synchronisation,? the ASEB officials said. The ASEB has requested NEEPCO that the peaking time be started at 5 pm so that the machines are suitably ?warmed? before the power demand shoots up. Under normal circumstances, the voltage should not vary more than ten per cent. But in Assam, the variation sometimes touches 13 to 14 per cent with serious consequences for the consumers.
Things are set to improve, however, the officials promised. From June 15, such fluctuations will come under a penalty clause with the introduction of availability based tariff (ABT) in the North East. The ABT is already implemented in the rest of the country, they explained. ABT will enable ASEB to take action against its suppliers for power fluctuations.
?We hope to address the problem of the consumers with this,? the officials stated, adding that the ASEB is already doing a lot to improve the power position in the State, especially by trying to reduce load-shedding.