Thiruvananthapuram: With daily power consumption threatening to set new records even before the arrival of peak summer, the KSEB is planning to come up with a power savings incentive scheme.
For every unit saved by the consumer, the public utility will pay 50 per cent of the cost of the saved unit. The consumption recorded in previous month will be taken as the benchmark for calculating the savings and the resultant incentive.
Say, for instance, a consumer had utilised 340 units the previous month, if the new bill shows a consumption of 330 units, it will mean a savings of 10 units. Since every unit above 300 is charged at Rs 5.70 per unit, the consumer will get a reduction of Rs 28.50 in the monthly bill (5.7x10 = 57, 50 per cent of which is Rs 28.50). KSEBL, a source said, has set aside Rs 3 crore for the programme.
To enroll in the campaign, consumers will have to SMS their name and other basic details to a number that will be announced shortly. The registered participants would also be given tips on how to reduce power consumption. “We hope the campaign would help the board to keep the daily power consumption level below 65 million units in the days ahead,’’ the source said. At the moment, daily consumption has crossed 70 MU.
In 2014, KSEB had announced a ‘no load-shedding’ scheme for consumer groups served by a dedicated feeder. If it is forced to impose power curbs in the coming days, this scheme could be dusted off and re-introduced. Under this, if the group can bring down their consumption by 10 per cent a week, they will be exempted from load shedding the next week. “Of course this could be possible only with the earnest efforts of residents associations, people’s representatives and other organisations,’’ the official said.
