PSPCL plans to make urban areas wireless

Chandigarh, The state has been able to bring down peak-hour power demand by around 1,000 MWs through the use of various innovative measures. This will save 1,200 MUs annually, besides cutting down transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and checking power theft.Punjab will also be the first state in the country to have the entire urban area with underground power cable network. The step aims at having wire-free roads and uninterrupted power supply. The project will cost around Rs 2,000 crore.On the directions of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds the power portfolio, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has implemented major initiatives to control power theft and scale down transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.

The measures include shifting to high-voltage distribution system, replacement of ordinary lamps with CFLs, addition of capacitors, shifting of meters outside consumers’ premises, upgrading and strengthening power-distribution system, automated meter reading (AMR) facilities etc.Sukhbir said the best performing power-distribution utility award to PSPCL was a slap on the face of those ridiculing the SAD-BJP dream of making Punjab a power-surplus state.The T&D system of major towns was being upgraded in a phased manner.Department officials said Punjab would be the first state in the country to have the entire urban area with underground power cable network in order to have “wire-free” roads and uninterrupted power supply in the next two years.There was 8.55 per cent increase in 66 KV grids and substations, 21.22 per cent increase in the capacity of 66 KV substations, 23.51 per cent increase in the number of distribution transformers, 3.79 per cent increase in the length of distribution lines and 2.69 per cent reduction in T&D losses against 4.9 per cent increase in consumers and 4.34 per cent increase in tubewell connections.All 12,428 villages in the state have been provided with quality supply on urban pattern.