Many people in the State have slammed the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) for resorting to load shedding in the State for no faults of theirs
It may be noted that the ailing Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) has resorted to a seven-hour daily load-shedding across the State from today. The outages are being carried out in three shifts on a rotational basis.
“Why should we suffer from load shedding when we pay our electricity bills every month,” a resident of the city said adding that the failure by MeECL to pay the dues to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) as transmission charges is not the fault of the consumers.
Another resident said, “Why did they (MeECL) delay in paying the dues of PGCIL? We the consumers pay our power bills in time and it is the duty of MeECL to pay the dues from the bills paid by us.”
Others blamed the State government and said that it had failed to run the State.
“This MDA government has totally failed on all fronts and we the common people are bearing the brunt,” a resident said.
The MeECL owes Rs 74.65 crore to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) as transmission charges, and it was not in a position to pay the dues due to the extreme financial condition of the company.
The MeECL was forced to regulate about 70MW of energy and the PGCIL wanted a firm commitment on payment of 50 per cent of dues in one week and a definite timeline for the remaining 50 per cent, it added.
“We can barely afford to pay the salaries of our employees. Recently we had requested the State government to extend Rs113.47 crore financial assistance to make payment for the outstanding bills of PGCIL and to reinstate the letters of credit with central generating stations. Deliberations are going on at the highest levels of the government,” the MeECL said in a statement.
The State government has availed a loan of Rs1,345 crore under Atma Nirbhar Bharat from the Centre to clear all outstanding power purchase dues of the MeECL.
“The loan under the special package given by the Prime Minister will be disbursed to all generation companies and transmission companies which include NEEPCO, OTPC, NHPC and PGCIL. We expect that we will be able to end all our liabilities to the generating companies and transmission companies soon,” Power Minister James Sangma said.
