PANAJI

Nearly 60 per cent of households overuse electricity in Goa, putting additional load on transformers, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Assembly today and suggested hiking tariff for customers with higher power usage.

Responding to the demands of grant of the electricity department, Parrikar said more than 50-60 per cent of the households exceed their electricity limits.

“If a house has a connection for five kilowatts, they install four air conditioners, geyser, cooking range, heater and other appliances so that the electricity consumption touches 20 KW.

“And this is done by every household because of which the transformer gets loaded and starts developing problems,” he said.

Parrikar said the state witnessed frequent power outages due to unseasonal rains and winds.

“Unseasonal rains and winds have resulted in uprooting of 650 poles. Due to lightning, 45 transformer centres and three power transformers had conked off,” he said.

The chief minister said the government has worked out a standard operating procedure (SOP) so that issues which arose this year on the power front don’t recur next year.

“I have asked them to trim trees by February-March rather than waiting for the last month. I have also told them to take police force along with them as a SOP. If anyone obstructs the linesman from trimming trees, he would be arrested,” he said.

The chief minister suggested that tariff for customers with higher power usage should be increased.

“There is a limit to who should not consume after certain unit. You will have to pay. This year the government’s budgetary support to electricity is Rs 317 crore because of various subsidies,” Parrikar said.

“While we speak about green electricity (cleaner sources), you don’t get cheap green power,” he said.

Parrikar said right now 6 MW power is being drawn from renewable energy which is generated at places like the Solid Waste Treatment Plant at Saligao (North Goa) and by private companies.