Replicate Patiala model to reduce transmission and commercial losses
V K Gupta
15 February, 2012
PSEB Engineers Association in a presentation to Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission has given suggestions to reduce transmission & commercial losses. They have demanded that 'Patiala model' be followed in other Punjab towns that will increase the efficiency and would need lesser number of staff.
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PSEB ENGINEERS Association has demanded “Patiala model” be replicated in other towns of Punjab to reduce Transmission and Commercial losses in state. They have submitted a presentation to Punjab State Electricity regulatory Commission (PSERC) suggesting ways to reduce the line losses to save energy. The presentation highlights the reduction of AT& C losses achieved in Patiala city. The pilot project was started at the instance of association, said H S Bedi president of Association. A project on similar pattern has been started in rural area at Nabha and progressing satisfactorily.

The pilot project has incurred an expenditure of 16 crore and 233 lakh units of energy have been saved. The expected AT&C losses by the end of current financial year are likely to 16 % and this will be further reduced to 12 % in next financial year. The system reliability index has been improved to 99.75%. The damage rate of distribution transformers has also been reduced, said Bhupinder Singh, General Secretary of Association.

There are 20 towns in Punjab where AT&C losses are more than 30 %. Jagraon tops the list of highest AT&C losses with 45.615 followed by Ferozepur(45.05%0,Malerkotla(44.82%)and Jalalabad(43.33%).The other towns exceeding 35% losses are Kotkapura, Sangrur, Sirhand and Gidderwaha.

AT&C losses are expected to be between 17 to 17.5% in year 2012-13. As per result achieved on urban power feeders, AT & C losses on rural feeders can be reduced from 50% to 25%. As per achievements made at Patiala AT&C losses can be reduced by 8 to 10 % in other cities of Punjab.

Another benefit of following the Patiala model is fewer requirements of staff with more efficiency. The power outages have been reduced and supply restoration time has been reduced. The voltage at end of feeders has been improved. The single window working has benefitted most the earlier harassed consumers.