Assam’s residents have been facing unusually high-power bills over the past couple of months. Various sections of society have weighed in on this providing divergent explanations. While the Chief Minister blamed it on faulty digital, Artificial Intelligence enabled “smart meters”, the state’s main power utility – Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) refuted this, saying the readings were fool proof and not susceptible to human error.
What is also striking is that for the first time, bureaucrats blamed ‘unusually warmer and drier’ weather for increased consumption, backing it with data comparisons over the past couple of years. While they did not expressly blame climate change, ample evidence suggests such weather extremes would be the norm in the coming years. Officials also pointed to the increase in the price of power supply due to a 30 paise surcharge on account of a steep rise in fuel costs, mostly likely triggered by the soaring demand for coal globally.
In India electricity pricing is regulated by the state electricity regulatory authorities set up under the Electricity Act of 2003 (EA 2003), who determine power tariffs after considering the views of various stakeholders, including the public, generation, transmission and distribution companies, and policy makers. In Assam’s case, Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) fixes the power tariffs for the state. Indeed, a surcharge in supply price is part of the in-built mechanism of the EA 2003, allowing for marginal increases in tariff to absorb the shock of a sudden rise in fuel costs, much like the current situation.
While smart metering, hike in fuel costs, and growing use of appliances in urban areas are all factors that have contributed to high power demand and rise in consumer costs, there is no denying that irregular spurts of hotter weather is here to stay. But there are ways to rein in these rising costs in a climate resilient manner.
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Rooftop solar is good, but Assam has limitations
One of the best ways to reduce consumer costs in the long term is by adopting rooftop solar plants that are grid connected. Energy users could become prosumers, meaning, those who produce energy through the installation of solar panels on, or near their homes. They also consume solar power for their home electricity needs while exporting excess energy to the grid at a rate fixed by the AERC. However, Assam’s prosumers feel discouraged due to the EXIM metering regulation that the state follows. This regulation determines the price at which APDCL can buy excess power back from prosumers, which is lower than the sale price of the power supplied by APDCL.
Assam is characterised by heavy rains and fewer days of sunshine than many other Indian states. The average solar irradiation availability in Rajasthan is 6.123 kWh/m2 per day when compared to 4.513 kWh/m2 per day in Assam. This leads to an increase in the payback period for Assam’s residents. A 10 KW system, which might cost about Rs. 4,50,000 could be paid back in about eight years in Assam, while it would take half that time in Rajasthan. Despite this, rooftop solar is one of the best options for consumers to reduce their electricity bills in the long term.
Climate-proofing Assam’s power infrastructure
Aside from RTS and backing it up with behind-the-meter battery storage to address the variability of renewable energy (RE), we must remember that this infrastructure is also susceptible to weather extremes in Assam. We must therefore, climate-proof current and future RE infrastructure to withstand such weather extremes. Geography-specific designs and installations could ensure this. In Assam’s case, we must factor in heavy rains, flooding, and high wind speeds. Such climate-proofed designs could help reduce downtime, loss of assets, and build resilience, and would be cost effective in the long run.
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Energy efficient appliances, built infrastructure
Assam is a growing economy and infrastructure in the state is yet to be built. Therefore, we must design buildings that allow for passive cooling, energy efficiency and creating sustainable supply chains in the construction business. To attain this, Assam’s government has issued the Assam Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), which has been designed accounting for the state’s hot, rainy and humid weather. The Assam ECBC is a guideline that establishes minimum standards for buildings’ energy-efficient design and construction.
The government could also mandate the use of energy efficient appliances in public procurement and promote consumers to adopt these as well. The Union Ministry of Power established the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to monitor, record, and verify the energy usage of appliances, and introduced the “Star Labelling” standard. Currently, energy efficient appliances are priced higher, but they are cheaper in the long run, as they use less power overtime. And if the top star-labelled energy efficiency is mandated as a requirement for large procurements across appliance categories, then the prices would get evened out.
Behavioural change with smart metres
With smart metres, discoms could also influence changes in consumer behaviour by providing information on consumption patterns. A growing volume of research suggests behavioural change could boost household energy efficiency, which would reflect in lower power bills. This could be coupled with Time-of-Day metering, which nudges consumers to use energy in a staggered manner, and evens out the load on the grid, while reducing end-user power bills.
These are some solutions to the current predicament of high energy bills that Assam’s residents are facing, but they are by no means exhaustive. We must move away from looking at easy fixes and veer toward a deliberate and deep structural change of the energy sector, integrated with data driven planning and governing process, to attempt a conscious shift toward sustainability.
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Rishikesh Mishra works on expanding energy access in rural and remote parts of India as part of Energy program at WRI India. Views expressed are personal.
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