Power crisis: Kerala seeks cheap electricity from Himachal to avert October outages

Thiruvananthapuram: To prevent widespread power cuts across Kerala during October, the state government has initiated high-level negotiations with Himachal Pradesh to secure additional electricity. State officials are seeking to negotiate a reduced tariff, as the Himachal Power Corporation currently demands an average rate of ₹14.50 per unit.

Following a recent delegation visit by Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) directors to Himachal Pradesh, the host utility expressed willingness to supply power until May next year. The proposed arrangement could yield between 600 MW and 800 MW of supplementary power during peak night-time hours, which KSEB estimates would mitigate severe supply deficits even if domestic consumption surges dramatically.

Given that a Congress-led government is in power in Himachal Pradesh, state leaders are optimistic that direct government-to-government intervention outlining the severity of Kerala's energy deficit will yield a tariff reduction.

32 short-term power contracts submitted for approval

Concurrently, KSEB has submitted 32 short-term power purchase agreements totaling ₹336.25 crore to the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) for approval, spanning October through April next year.

Under these pending contracts, power rates remain below ₹10 per unit through February, but escalate sharply to ₹13.89 per unit for March and April. Procurement will commence immediately upon receiving regulatory clearance.

Night-time deficit persists for October

Existing procurement agreements have left Kerala short of its target night-time power requirement for October, securing only 175 MW between midnight and 5 am.

To bridge part of this gap, PTC India Limited has agreed to supply 25 MW at ₹8.99 per unit, while Jindal Power Limited will provide 150 MW across two contracts at ₹9.50 per unit. Total expenditure under these specific October contracts amounts to ₹25.57 crore.