The other day “Twitter” was abuzz with complaints from several places/localities in Jammu province that the electric voltage at the consumer end was continuously fluctuating & at several places it was 90 volts as against the standard 220 volts.

One of the consumers, Shubham Dogra (@Shubham_7778), was persistently following it up with the senior officers of the Jammu Power Distribution Corporation. After 12 days he received a reply from the power distribution utility which is reproduced herein:

“Due to severe heat in the ongoing summer season, the power demand of the UT of J&K has increased & the temperature of the Power Transformers is rising beyond limits. To prevent permanent damage to the power transformers at Receiving/Grid Stations, load shedding has to be imposed in most of the areas of Jammu province, including metered areas, during peak load hours. These days, a large number of complaints regarding “severe voltage fluctuations” are continuously pouring in from Jammu & its adjoining areas. To overcome this, voltage has been stepped up from the power transformers in Receiving / Grid stations, to some extent. However, the consumers are also requested to curtail their consumption, as far as possible. JPDCL is always ready to serve all its esteemed consumers satisfactorily with their support, by reducing their electricity consumption till the prevailing phase of hot summers is passed”.

This reply took me by surprise & carried me back, as in a time machine, to 1978 when I joined power Development Department, after graduating from REC Srinagar (now NIT) & was posted to Bemina Grid Station. Bemina Grid station those days was the main Load Dispatch Center for the Kashmir province. Its responsibility included coordination with the Load Dispatch Centre at Jammu. There was only one 132 KV Double Circuit Transmission line between Udhampur & Bemina Grid Station (near Srinagar) of PDD that connected the Valley to the Northern Grid. Udhampur Grid Station was of course connected to Sarna Sub Station in Punjab & thus to Northern Grid. The 132 KV Udhampur – Bemina Transmission line was the “anchor” that ensured that the system frequency in the Valley remained stable & voltage too would continue to stay in a “respectable” range at 132 KV level.

The 132 KV Transmission Line was very unstable especially during the winter months when the Peer Panjal mountains, over which the line passed, would get snowed down resulting invariably to damage to the line. In summers too high-speed winds & thunderstorms over the mountain range would cause break down of the line but this was infrequent. Thus summers were remarkably good for power system stability but the winter months were an absolute challenge. Those days the hydel power houses operating in the Valley were Lower Jehlum, Ganderbal & Sumbal. During the summers they would operate at full installed capacity viz 105, 14 & 20 Megawatts respectively but during winter their generation would drop down to one third of their installed capacity in view of reduction in the water flow in the rivers on which these were constructed thus upsetting the electricity demand / supply equilibrium. Ganderbal Powerhouse had the “unique capability” of operating at as low a frequency as 45 Hz as its protection system was “outrageously” so configured. Thus, the efficiency of the shift staff at the Bemina Grid Station was measured by the speed at which they would rush to put off maximum load by switching off 33 KV lines emanating from Bemina in case of failure of 132 KV Udhampur – Bemina Transmission Line so that Ganderbal powerhouse could be saved from a complete shutdown & power could be fed to the essential services like hospitals & VIP areas. The tripping of 132 KV line would invariably trip the Lower Jehlum & Sumbal powerhouses as their protection system was configured as per the ‘best practices’ in vogue as operating at low frequency also results in unwanted wear & tear of the machines. Total electric load of the Valley as that of Jammu wasn’t much those days as compared to what it is now. Total power demand of the Valley those days must have been around 150 MW.

Till the time 132 KV line would come back after a ‘break down’ or if we were lucky to synchronize lower Jehlum power house with Ganderbal power house manually (communication was awfully poor) the Valley would be operating at a frequency between 45 & 52/53 Hz & the minimum voltage at the consumer end could be anything like 40 Volts. The idea was to keep the incandescent lamp aglow so that the consumers would get the satisfaction of seeing the dim orange glow of filament of the bulb.

Over the years power generation & transmission system of J&K has been improved/strengthened. There are two 400 KV Double Circuit Transmission Lines (Kishenpur – New Wanpoh of POWERGRID) passing over Peer Panjal connecting the Valley to the Northern Grid & an additional 400 KV line from Jallandhar to Samba & Amargarh along the Mughal road. Jammu is also connected to the Northern Grid via Kishanpur & Samba substations with the construction of several interstate transmission lines. Many sub stations in central sector (Wagoora, New Wanpoh, Kishanpur & Samba owned by POWERGRID) & state sector have also come up. Hydel generating stations have also come up in Jammu & Kashmir provinces under both the sectors. Additionally, there is no shortage of power supply in the country & its transmission has been further made easy by establishment of one electric grid for the entire nation so that power can flow by displacement method from generator to consumer from any part of the country.

Therefore, it is a pain to see that after 42 years of infrastructural development in power sector the consumer is still stuck in the “LOW/FLUCTUATING VOLTAGE SYNDROME” in several parts of Jammu province. Same must be true of Kashmir province as well. This in effect means that there is something seriously wrong in the way distribution network has been planned & implemented in J&K in general & Jammu in particular. What could be the reason that after augmentation of power infrastructure at generation & transmission level the available voltage at consumer end still continues to be 90 Volts (many a times less than 90V too) against the technically specified requirement of 220 volts? Added to this is the menace of regular voltage fluctuation.

Notwithstanding the contention of JPDC as communicated to Mr. Shubham Dogra it is the responsibility of the distribution utility to ensure that technically specified voltage is available at the consumers end. Consumer has a right to have “quality power” at his/her premises. That is what he/she pays his/her electricity fee for. The fee is for “quality power”.

Today we cannot afford to have substandard, fluctuating/low voltage power supply as it can damage electronic & other electrical gadgets of consumers. How will the gadgets / equipment used for communication network of “Digital India”, for example, be able to sustain the fluctuating / abysmally low voltages?

Power problem has been impacting water supply in several areas too.

Under the circumstances will the Government’s flagship programme like “Digital India” & “Jal Jeevan Mission” succeed?

The contention of JPDC that the present distress in power supply is because of hot weather is nothing but superfluous. Is Jammu the only place in the country or the world where temperatures rise during the summer months? Does it mean that all those places or countries that have warm sub-tropical climate akin to that of Jammu have fluctuating / low voltage phenomenon & the consumers in these places are destined to live with “substandard electricity”? Transformers & associated electric equipment are designed to withstand warm sub-tropical climatic conditions.

As a part of regular consultations & planning / implementation a meeting of Northern Region Power Committee (NRPC) / Technical Coordination Committee (TCC) was held on 02.05.2017 in which engineers from J&K PDD also participated. The minutes of the meeting were issued on 14.07.2017. This is the period during which Northern Region Power Committee was requesting & also encouraging state power utilities to install capacitor banks at their electrical installations for improvement of power factor enabling improvement of system voltage.

J&KPDD was requested to install 1102 MVAR capacity capacitor banks as per the “study carried out by Central Power Research Institute”.   J&KPDD was also informed in the said meeting that this may be one step towards ameliorating the low voltage problem of the distribution network in J&K but what is required is comprehensive “system strengthening”. (Para B.3.4, B.3.7, B.3.8).

To put things straight; it is only through faithful system study & faithful strengthening of the electricity distribution network in consonance with the system study report that the problem of low voltage in Jammu can be bid a good-bye. If the Distribution Utility doesn’t take steps in the right direction today then the consumer shall be facing the same problem of “substandard electricity” next year & then the year thereafter & finally the decade after.

It may be noted that it is we, the organization & also the society, that are responsible for sub standard and fluctuating electricity; though the responsibility stays 80% with the Distribution Utility as it has to create infrastructure & 20% with those who use it. It wasn’t exactly a great sight to see JPDC disconnecting several illegal power connections in such well-to-do areas of Jammu as Gandhi Nagar, Channi Himmat, Sainik Colony & Shastri Nagar a few weeks back.

It does not speak well of the society that is consuming electricity & not paying for it. If the influential & the rich of the society will not pay for the electricity consumed then who will?

Another important problem with electric supply is that it fails in the face of a mild windy condition. Should this situation be considered “NORMAL”?

Thus JPDC shall have to put its act together now so that consumers are fed “quality power” the next year & probably in phases!! If the planning & execution doesn’t start today then, I am afraid, the power position in Jammu will not improve for many more years to come.