Govt mandates e-discoms to undertake energy accounting periodically

The centre has made it mandatory for electricity distribution companies (discoms) to undertake energy accounting periodically.

According to an official statement, the Bureau of Ministry of Power (BEE), with the approval of the Ministry of Power, issued a regulation under the Energy Conservation (EC) Act 2001.

The energy accounting will provide detailed information regarding energy consumption by the consumers and the transmission and distribution losses in multiple sectors. It will also identify losses and theft and enable actions by fixing the responsibility of the officers. It will enable the discoms to take appropriate actions to reduce their electricity losses.

The discoms could plan for upgrading infrastructure and demand-side management (DSM) effectively. Energy accounting will contribute towards the climate actions of India in meeting the goal of the Paris Agreement.

The regulation will specify quarterly energy accounting by discoms via certified energy management in two months. An annual energy audit will also take place by an independent accredited energy auditor.

It has been issued under the ambit of the Energy Conservation Act 2001, with a target to reduce energy losses, thereby moving towards economic viability.

According to a statement, BEE's National Accredited Energy Auditors and Energy Managers are preparing energy accounting reports, providing suggestions for loss reduction and other technical issues.

Energy accounting will account for energy inflows at several voltage stages in the distribution network, such as renewable energy generation, open access consumers, and energy consumption by the end consumers.

Energy accounting with an annual energy audit will help to identify losses and pilferage and focus on taking appropriate measures.

The target of energy accounting is to be achieved through a periodic development of a comprehensive energy accounting system to determine losses in the power distribution system, separated into technical and commercial losses.

The initiative will also identify electricity leakage, theft, wastage or insufficient use of electricity and enable the discoms to take appropriate measures to reduce transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.

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