HYDERABAD: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been listed as payment defaulters at the Indian Enegry Exchange, which could threaten their ability to purchase power from the exchange.
The two are among the 13 states which have been barred from buying and selling power at the exchanges. Such restrictions had been imposed in the past but were removed soon after.
Of the Rs 5,085 crore that the 13 states owe the power exchange, Telangana tops the list with a little over Rs 1,380 crore arrears and Andhra Pradesh Rs 412 crore. This is the first time that so many states have been barred from trading simultaneously.
The other states facing a ban are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Manipur and Mizoram.
The situation came to a head on Thursday with the Power System Operation Corporation, working under the Union power ministry, invoked the Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022 which can penalise discoms by stopping them from electricity purchases.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, D. Prabhakar Rao, Telangana state Transco and Genco chairman and managing director, said that they had cleared all dues with the power generators.
He said the National Load Dispatch Centre was meant to regulate power supply, but it was being roped in to deal with commercial aspects. “We have challenged the NLDC role in the High Court and the stay order continues to be in operation in this regard,” he explained.
He also pointed out that power purchase agreements between generators and discoms were in place, and questioned the role of others in the arrangement and their interference.
The Telangana High Court has allowed the state discoms to operate through the power exchange as well as secure power through open access without any hindrance, he explained.
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