Experts show how electricity for poor people is possible

Is electricity for all a pipe dream? Should we forget about electricity for all until we are able to provide more basic amenities like drinking water, nutritious food, education and healthcare?
 
India is home to the largest number of people without electricity. Half of Indian households do not have access to power, which constitute a third of the world's population without electricity. Though electricity generation has increased by 60% in the last decade, it has only led to about a 10% increase in access for households. This means that the bulk of the fresh generation capacity is consumed by the existing customers leaving the have-nots largely untouched.

A recent paper by the Prayas Energy Group tackles the issue of electricity for all head on. The 40-page study called “Electricity for all: Ten ideas towards turning rhetoric into reality” (See link below) does what the name suggests; it simplifies the problem to assert that equitable power generation and distribution is not rocket science.

The report says that the current business-as-usual approach must make way for certain urgent, innovative steps. Some of these steps require major policy or structural changes and therefore would take time, while others could be implemented more easily, and in the existing framework.

In fact, some ideas have been adopted in some states, and need to be replicated by others. Briefly, the ten actionable ideas are:

1. 100 X 100 Connection Drives : Mountain to go to Mohammed

Bold proactive initiatives like 100 x 100 drives where the DISCOMs approach the consumers to give connections to all within 100 meters of the existing power lines are essential for universal access. This needs a change in the mindset where a consumers has to chase the DISCOMS.

2. Rationalising tariff structure: A just and fair tariff for the poor

Special attention has to be paid to the BPL households and those who use very low amounts of electricity to ensure that their electricity bills are fair and not unreasonably high. This includes improving BPL tariff implementation, and adoption of graded tariff systems.

3. Transparency and equity in load shedding: Share the shortage

An equitable sharing of shortages needs transparency, fairness and predictability in load shedding. This can be a achieved through public consultative processes initiated by Regulatory Commissions to design and monitor load shedding, as has been done in some states.

4. UMPP for the East & west, how about a UMPP for the poor?

Backward areas suffer from a vicious downward spiral: load shedding leads to low development, which further increases the load shedding. The only way out is to plan an Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in the most backward districts, thus helping the poor get out of poverty.

5. Third party audits of DISCOM metering & billing: Set your house in order first

For most legally connected consumers, especially the poor, the biggest problem areas are metering and billing. DISCOMs are responsible for this function, and unless there is a third party audit by a credible agency, the situation cannot improve.

6. Make grievance redressal effective: Reach out to people

This can be achieved by quantifying supply and service performance, and setting up of pro-poor consumer grievance forums. The existing mechanisms are known to few and used by even fewer and they hardly pressure the DISCOMs to improve quality of supply and service.

7. For whom the RGGVY tolls? Organise public reviews

For better participation of people and course correction, a public review of India’s biggest rural electrification programme, the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidutikaran Yojna (RGGVY), is required.

8. Listen to the poor: Bring their voice into regulatory forums

The regulatory processes have indeed helped to increase the participation of consumers in regulatory forums, including public hearings. But the representation of the poor in these forums has remained dismally low. This needs to change with pro-active efforts by state utilities.

9. Power-power everywhere, not near the power house!

It is a sad commentary on our development paradigm, that houses even in the vicinity of big power plants do not get electricity. Providing sustainable electricity access to poor households near the power houses should be an integral part of the project design.

10. How can one fix what one does not know? Data & analysis for small consumers

There is a severe inadequacy in data collection and analysis for all aspects of small consumers: their actual numbers, consumption patterns, and hours of supply. It is imperative that existing reporting agencies like the CEA increase their coverage to regularly report these aspects.

Further Readings:

Electricity for all: Ten ideas towards turning rhetoric into reality, Prayas Energy Group
xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/8951350/1939291332/name/ElectricityForAll.pdf

India’s energy programme is anti-poor and carbon-intensive, Greenpeace, 17 November, 2009,

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/releases/india-s-energy-programme-is-an

Rice husk power to light up villages, Live Mint, 21 July, 2010,

http://www.livemint.com/2010/07/21185202/Harsh-ground-realities-could-t.html

Rural electricity to speed up inclusion, The Economic Times, 27 May, 2010,

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/Rural-electricity-to-speed-up-inclusion/articleshow/5978914.cms

Will India be the world's fastest growing economy?, Rediff.com, 8 June, 2010,

http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/07/slide-show-1-will-india-be-the-worlds-fastest-growing-economy.htm

20 m. solar lights planned by 2022 by Sujay Mehdudia, The Hindu, 12 January, 2010,

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/12/stories/2010011255281100.htm

‘Green’ electricity for Bihar villages by N Gopal Raj, The Hindu, 24 November, 2009,

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/24/stories/2009112455240900.htm

India to Spend $900 Million on Solar by Vishal Bajaj, The New York Times, 20 November, 2009, http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/india-to-invest-900-million-in-solar/?scp=3&sq=india&st=cse

Why Bharat isn’t India by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, The Asian Age, 23 November, 2009,

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/op-ed/why-bharat-isn’t-india.aspx