Poor Quality Power

While we buy any good in the market, we check its quality and consider if it is worth the money we are spending.

In respect of the power sector, we required to consider: Do the consumers who buy electricity have a selection and a voice over the quality of power supplied? The fact is that although there are consumer courts for redressal, a majority of complaints remain unresolved. You will agree in which you must ensure power quality in terms of uninterrupted power supply, non- fluctuating voltages, etc.

If you have satisfactory answers to all these questions, you are doing a good job and providing your customer his/her money's worth.  If not, then quality is an extremely big challenge for your utility.  The sooner you recognize it, the easier it would be for you to contribute to reforms in your utility.

Some other Problems

1   Almost 100 percent of the networks are overhead which makes the system quite vulnerable to weather conditions.

2   Inadequate reactive compensation leading to poor quality of power supply.

3   Inadequacy of load management leading to peaks and valleys that are beyond manageable limits.

4   Poor reliability of supply.

Does your utility suffer from one or more of the above problems as well? Write yes or no against each question above.

So far, you have studied the problems, issues and challenges faced, in common, by power distribution utilities. You have also done exercises to assess your own utility. Do these challenges seem insurmountable or could they be overcome? We now briefly discuss this issue.