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CHAPTER – IV

AP EASTERN POWER DISTRIBUTION COMPANY LIMITED (APEPDCL): A BIRDS EYE-VIEW

Introduction

Power is one of the prime movers of economic development. The level of

availability and accessibility of affordable and quality power is also one of the

main determinants of the quality of life. The Government has, since

Independence, been giving priority to this sector while fixing the Plan outlays. As

a result, the installed generation capacity has risen from a mere 1,300 megawatt

(MW) at the time of Independence to more than 1,00,000 MW today. Along with

the growth in installed generation capacity, there has also been a phenomenal

increase in the transmission and distribution (T&D) capacity. However, despite

these achievements, the power sector has not kept pace with the growth in

demand with the result that the country has always faced energy and peaking

shortages.

India is the fifth largest producer of electricity in the world and according to

the Planning Commission, while the State Governments account for 51.5% of the

total generation capacity, the central sector and the private sector account for

33.1% and 15.4% of the generation capacity respectively. In line with the

respective power generation share, while the government sector (both central

and state) have contributed 85.5% of the total capacity addition of 45,295 MW

during 1999-00 and 2008-09, the private sector has contributed the balance

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14.5%, almost at par with its share in the total installed capacity in the country.

Transmission of power is entirely looked after by government utility companies

and distribution too barring a few states are in the hands of the government

entities. India’s current installed power generation capacity as on 30th June, 2009

is at 1,50,324 MW as against 89,103 MW during 1997-98 and 1,32,329 MW at

the end of March, 2007. In addition to this, the captive power capacity has been

pegged at over 24,000 MW at present.

Andhra Pradesh

The state of Andhra Pradesh is situated in the South Eastern part of India

spreading over an area of 275, 045 Sq Km. It has a population of 73 millions of

which 73% live in rural areas. About 35% of the state’s domestic product comes

from primary sector (i.e.) agriculture, forestry etc., 19% from secondary sector

(manufacturing sector) and 45% from tertiary sector (services sector). The per

capita electricity consumption in the state is about 470 KWh per annum in

FY1999.

Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board (APSEB)

APSEB was formed in the year 1959 and is responsible for all the three

functions of the power sector, namely, generation, transmission and distribution

of power. There are a number of rural electric cooperatives also functioning as

supply licensees in the state. Besides generating power from its own power

plants APSEB procures power from central sector generating stations, other

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states, joint venture power plants and more recently from the private sector since

1995. The entry of private sector into power generation was facilitated by the

Central government under a liberalized policy announced in 1991.

APSEB – Growth over the 4 decades: APSEB witnessed stupendous growth

during the last four decades. The present installed capacity is 7341 MW

comprising of 5612 MW of its own capacity, 897 MW of share from central sector,

273 MW from joint sector and 560MW from private sector. The peak demand met

in 1998-99 was 6480 MW. The length of T&D lines is of the order of 608000 KM

of which EHV lines (220 KV & 132 KV) comprise of 18783 CKM. The total

number of consumers is about 11millions of which 1.8 millions are agricultural

consumers.

Operational performance of APSEB’s Power Plants: APSEB’s power plants

made a name for themselves for their enviable performance. The thermal

stations are noted for their high PLFs year after year. The average PLF during

1998-99 was 77.64% which is the highest in the country.

Power Sector Reforms in Andhra Pradesh

Present power sector reforms are being taken up in the background of the

unauthorized in process that started in 1991 at the national level (when Congress

party was in power) as a precondition to the IMF/WB bail out of India from the

balance of payments (BOP) problem. Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board

(APSEB) was formed in the year 1959 and is responsible for all the three

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functions of the power sector, namely, generation, transmission and distribution

of power. There are a number of rural electric cooperatives also functioning as

supply licensees in the state. Besides generating power from its own power

plants APSEB procures power from central sector generating stations, other

states, joint venture power plants and more recently from the private sector.

APSEB was the key power utility in the state of Andhra Pradesh and had a

monopoly in the power sector under the overall guidance of the State

government. Apart from its own generation capacity of 5612 MW, APSEB was

drawing 885 MW capacity from the Central sector generating stations and around

940 MW of IPP & other private sector plants.

Every element in a power system offers resistance to power flow and

consumes some energy while allowing current to flow through it. The cumulative

energy consumed by all these elements is termed as Technical Loss. The

distribution system in developing countries suffers from the problem of low

voltage and high energy loss. The problem of the losses and voltage drop in

distribution feeders dependent on each other and varies with the pattern of

loading on the feeders. Total transmission and distribution losses are about 40-

50%. The major part of the loss is taking place only in distribution sector which

accounts for 80-90% of total T&D losses. Cost of power theft is Rs 20,000 Crores

/ year and the total loss incurred by all State Electricity Boards is Rs 26,000

Crores per year in India.

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In India, there are forty power distribution companies in various states and

Union Territories supplying power. As on March, 2005 the total transformer

capacity of the distribution utilities is 330,829 MVA and total distribution line

length of the forty distribution utilities is 6,081,878 km. Total electricity

consumption is 381,359.5 Million Unit. To reduce the losses and to improve the

system efficiency, a policy has been made [1]. The Policy initiatives for

Distribution Reforms are aimed at system up-gradation, loss reduction

(aggregate technical and commercial losses), theft control, consumer orientation,

commercialization, decentralized distributed generation and supply for rural

areas, introducing competition [2]. Power losses of primary distribution system

shall be between 3-5%. The maximum limits of voltage variation at the customer

premises as per the Indian Electricity Rule are +6% and -9% at high voltage and

±6% at low voltage.

Evolution of Reform Process in AP

Present power sector reforms are being taken up in the background of the

unauthorized in process that started in 1991 at the national level (when Congress

party was in power) as a precondition to the IMF/WB bail out of India from the

balance of payments (BOP) problem. According to the government, financial

problems of APSEB/APTRANSCO surfaced as early as 1990-91 when subsidy

from State Government was required. Between 1990-91 and 94-95, the Board

could achieve the 3% rate of return, as required under the Electricity (Supply) Act

1948, through a variety of adjustments. It was only from 95-96 onwards that the

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government has actually provided relief to APSEB by writing off loans etc. It can

be seen that the annual deficits of APTRANSCO have been rising during the last

few years. The main reasons for this are explained below:

1. Changing Hydro –Thermal Energy Mix over time. Hydel power is cheaper

than thermal power. Until recently installed capacity of hydel power is

more than thermal power. In 1960-61 while hydel power accounted for

58.2% thermal power accounted for 41.8%. In 1990-91 installed capacity

of hydel power was 50.1% and that of thermal power is 48%. In 1997-98

hydel power capacity stood at 36.5% and thermal power capacity stood at

42.9%. Remaining power capacity is in gas projects. As the proportion of

cheaper hydel power declines and the proportion of costly thermal power

increases average unit cost of power increases.

2. Change in Load Mix: With steadily increasing demand from the agricultural

sector disparity between agricultural and industrial tariff was steeply

increasing over the years and was causing pressure on the industrial

sector, leading to stagnation in industrial consumption as industry moved

towards cheaper captive generation.

3. No reliable data for energy audit and estimation of losses: The major

portion of the agricultural consumption is not metered. The technical

losses are on account of power consumed by the system in Transmission

and Distribution of electricity. The non-technical losses are due to theft of

power. Theft of energy has become rampant and assumed alarming

proportions threatening the very viability of Power Sector. In order to

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initiate effective steps to reduce the losses, it is important that realistic

levels of losses are determined.

4. Unauthorized connections: A large number of consumers resort to

unauthorized withdrawal of power.

In the background of the deteriorating situation on the power front, the

then state government of Andhra Pradesh contemplated to restructure the power

sector. As a first step it constituted a high level committee under the

chairmanship of Hiten Bhaya, a former chairman of Central Electricity Authority,

to suggest reforms to be introduced in the power sector. This committee was

constituted in January 1995 and submitted its report in June 1995. The important

proposals made by the Hiten Bhaya committee include:

Fixing of tariff structure to cover production costs,

Separate generation, transmission and distribution activities and keep

them in the hands of different companies,

Keep these companies as subsidiaries of APSEB,

Run them on commercial lines,

Privatise power distribution companies gradually,

Retain the Board only as a holding company in charge of long-term sector

planning, supervision and co-ordination of the subsidiaries,

Monitoring of reform implementation and provision of policy advice to be

with the government,

Setting up a regulatory commission to fix tariff structure, keeping licensing

powers with the state government.

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Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation Limited (APGENCO)

APGENCO is the GoAP-owned generation utility in the State and is

primarily engaged in generation of power, apart from other activities. The

organisation was carved out of the erstwhile APSEB and currently it owns and

operates a total of 6581 MW of generating capacity comprising of about 2982.5

MW of thermal capacity and about 3588.4 MW of hydel capacity. All its

generation plants are located within the State. The entire power generated by

APGENCO is exclusive for consumption within the state.

Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APTRANSCO)

APTRANSCO is the GoAP-owned transmission utility in the State and is

engaged in transmission of power within the State. The Organisation is

incorporated under Companies Act, 1956. APTRANSCO was notified as State

Transmission Utility (STU) under Electricity Act, 2003 and as such is the nodal

agency at state level for all transmission related activities. Till recently, the

Organisation was engaged in bulk supply business (buying and selling of power)

and due to prevailing legal requirements, the same was divested in favour of

distribution companies with effect from June 9, 2005.

AP Central Power Distribution Company Limited (APCPDCL)

APCPDCL is a GoAP owned distribution licensee and operates in the

central part of the State. The Organisation is registered under the Companies

Act, 1956 and supplies power to various consumers located in Medak,

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Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Mahaboobnagar, Kurnool and Anantpur districts. The

corporate office and headquarters of the Organisation is located in Hyderabad.

On operational front, the Organisation operates in about 86,800 Sq. KM of area

with a consumer base of about 5.22 Million.

AP Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (APNPDCL)

APNPDCL is a GoAP owned distribution licensee and operates in the

northern part of the State. The Organisation operates is registered under the

Companies Act, 1956 and supplies power to various consumers located in

Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam districts. Corporate

office of the Organisation is situated at Warangal city. On the operational front,

the Organisation operates in an area of about 66,760 Sq. Km with a consumer

base of about 2.86 Million.

AP Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL)

APSPDCL is a GoAP owned distribution licensee and operates in the

southern part of the State. The Organisation is incorporated under the

Companies Act, 1956 and supplies power to retail consumers located in Chittor,

Cuddapa, Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts. Corporate office of

the Organisation is located at Tirupati city. On operational front, the Organisation

operates in an area of about 81024 Sq. KM with a consumer base of about 4.06

Million.

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AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL)

APEPDCL is a GoAP owned distribution licensee and operates in the

eastern part of the State. The Organisation is incorporated under the Companies

Act, 1956 and supplies power to retail consumers located in West Godavari, East

Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. The

headquarters of the Organisation is located at Visakhapatnam. On operational

front, the Organisation operates in an area of about 42, 101 KM with a consumer

base of about 2.82 million.

The advent of power reforms in the country, the Eastern Power

Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APEPDCL) was formed on the

31st of March, 2000, to serve as a Distribution Company of AP Transco.

APEPDCL, Visakhapatnam is the leading Indian power utility serving a consumer

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base of over 4 million spread across five districts in the southern state of Andhra

Pradesh. It has always been a pioneer in delivering technology centric customer

care services to its customers. EPDCL has the lowest AT&C losses and one of

the best in terms of operational efficiency. APEPDCL is responsible for

undertaking distribution and bulk supply of power in the operation circles of

Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, East and West Godavari districts

and 17 Divisions of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. APEPDCL supplies power to over

42 lakh consumers belonging to different categories through a network consisting

of 427 Sub-stations of 33 KV level, 1807 feeders of 11 KV level and more than

93,204 distribution transformers of different levels. The Corporate Office and

Headquarters of APEPDCL is situated at Visakhapatnam. Serving Style of the

APEPDCL are:

To ensure reliable, efficient and sufficient power supply to consumers.

To ensure a balanced all-round development of power infrastructure in

all circles of operation.

To ensure operational efficiency through managerial, functional

autonomy and technological up gradation.

To focus on customer care and customer service in all spheres of

activity, by maintaining good quality and cost-effectiveness in power

distribution.

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Table 4.1 Details of APEPDCL’s Operations Statistical Data as on 31-03-10

SI No Details

1 Area in Sq. Km 42,086

2 Population(in Millions) 17.23

3 Connected Load (KW) 7028.40

4 Total No. of Services 44,75,679

5 Total No. of LT Services 44,73,755

a) No. of Domestic Services (Cat-1) 38,75,643

b) No. of Non-Domestic/Commercial Services (Cat-2) 33,5237

c) No. of Industrial Services (Cat-3) 28,359

d) No. of LT Cottage Industrial Services (Cat-4) 1,979

e) No. of Agricultural Services (Cat-5) 1,71,380

f) No. of Street light Services (Cat-6) 28,475

g) No. of General Purpose Services (Cat-7) 32,670

h) No. of Temp. Supply Services (Cat-8) 12

6 No. of HT Services 1,924

7 No. of Sub-stations

a) 220 KV 14

b) 132 KV 45

c) 33 KV 528

8 Length of Lines in Km

a) 220 KV 2005

b) 132 KV 2208

c) 33 KV 5241

d) 11 KV 34134

a) LT 68253

9 No. of Distribution Transformers 106154

a) Three Phase 76587

b) Single Phase 29567

Organization Chart

APEPDCL is led by a Chairman and Managing Director, appointed by the

Government of Andhra Pradesh, assisted by a Board of Directors. For details of

individuals occupying a post, click on the link below.

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Key Achievements of APEPDCL

47 Nos. new 33/11 KV Sub-stations charged under JBIC & internal

funding with a total cost of Rs.65 Crs.

Augmentation of 78 Nos. Power Transformer capacities completed for 27

Crs.

8935 Nos. new DTRs charged for Rs 102 crs.

HVDS conversion completed covering 8,560 Nos. Pump sets with an

expenditure of Rs. 103 Crs.

DTR failures reduced to 1.29%.

Automatic meter reading of HT services and feeders in Vizag and

Vizianagaram circles is completed.

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Repairs & Maintenance of existing network started in a drive mode with an

allocation of about Rs 20 Crs to further improve supply reliability and

customer delight besides technical loss reduction.

Segregation of Non Agricultural loads completed for 200 Nos rural feeders

to ensure 7 hrs. quality supply for agricultural consumers.

ISO 9001-2000 certification achieved for 5 Nos. Operation Divisions and

for corporate Office.

Call centers are standardized for enhanced customer satisfaction.

Any Time Payment (ATP) machines installed at 4 Nos. locations in

Visakhapatnam.

Bill payment through internet introduced.

Distribution of CFLs taken up under CDM and distribution completed in 2

sections for 20000 consumers in Visakhapatnam District.

Distribution losses reduced from 9.46% to 7.78% resulting in savings of 71

MU with a monitory savings of Rs. 24 Crs.

Line clear module integrated with Customer Service Centers to have quick

data of scheduled outages and interruptions.

IVRS facility introduced in Visakhapatnam city and a promotion campaign

launched to encourage max utilization

Feeder franchising implemented for 8 Nos. 11 KV feeders in tribal areas

Under RGGVY 1,86,824 Nos. Rural Households are electrified out of

which 1,58,542 Nos. are BPL beneficiaries, 251 Nos. Habitations were

electrified.

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SAP implemented throughout APEPDCL.

Power Distribution in Simhachalam Region

APEPDCL has been in the forefront in reduction of Distribution Losses

and in ensuring customer delight which are also the key objectives of the Power

Sector Reforms. This has become possible by your dedicated efforts and

enthusiasium for continuous improvements. As per the latest Quarterly

performance research report of State Power utilities for the period of July-

September 2008 conducted by Power Finance Corporation EPDCL stands 1st in

having AT&C losses at 7%, Distribution Transformers failures at 0.5% and

collection efficiency at 100%.

Sale of Energy (MU)

Technical & Commercial Losses

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Revenue Demand Versus Revenue Collections

On the Operational front we have taken up a large scale drive on R&M of

our lines and equipments to improve the quality of power supply and reduce

technical losses in the system. We have also taken up for installation of TYCO

``clamps for 10 nos. Sub-stations in Visakhapatnam which minimizes contact

resistance reduce Technical Losses and supply interruptions.

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We have standardized the call centre operations and also IVRS

introduced in Siripuram call centre. In future centralized call centre with IVRS is

will be established at Siripuram call centre that can handle all the calls originating

from 5 districts for all complaints and service request including new service

connection. RAS (Revenue Assurance System) has been implemented in

Visakhapatnam Circle from December 2008 to streamline the billing system. RAS

will be extended to four Districts within short time. ISO implementation for all

offices in the Company is going on in full swing. With increased focus on Energy

Audit we replaced all non standard feeder meters with MRI compatible meters. In

order to reduce the work load the meter reading tasks both for feeders and high

value services are outsourced. Our key focus is to ensure that the Human

Resources are optimally utilized for the core improvements in the sector.

Automatic Meter Reading for feeders and HT services is rolled out to other

circles and the work is in progress. AMR tender is also in process for high value

services. Spot Billing Activity is getting streamlined after we brought in stringency

in the eligibility criteria and in the agreement conditions. SCADA system is being

streamlined by making the equipment SCADA ready for incorporating control

functions. An initiative is taken up 2 nos. existing SCADA sub-stations unmanned

and the process of finalization with ABB is in progress.

Customer Care Initiatives

Eastern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited

(APEPDCL) is embarking on a drive to provide next generation of customer

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services unheard of in the Indian power distribution sector. As part of this

initiative APEPDCL is launching a series of customer friendly services based on

its state-of-the-art centralized call center. Single number for all consumers: All

the calls made to 155333 from any where in the 5 districts of APEPDCL will land

at the centralized call center in Visakhapatnam. The call center is operated round

the clock throughout the year. Single number for all services: Customers can use

a single number (155333) to seek information, lodge complaints (including power

failure, billing, payments), inform about power theft, and register service requests

(including new service connection, title transfer, category change, load

enhancement requests) over phone.

Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS): An advanced IVR system

helps the customers to easily retrieve the required information, lodge complaints

and place service requests without the intervention of customer representatives

at the call center. Customer facilitation centers: If a complaint or service request

requires a fee to be paid to EPDCL or some documents to be submitted, the

complaint/request is registered and the caller is requested to visit the nearest

customer facilitation center by referring the registration number. All such

complaints/requests would be resolved as per the service levels defined by the

citizen charter, after the payment of fee and document submission. Door-step

services: If the customers do not have the time or convenience to visit the

customer facilitation centers, they can avail the door-step service at a nominal

charge. A messenger will be dispatched to customer premises to collect the fee

and documents and issue a receipt for the same.

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