History of KEB, KERC, KPTCL & ESCOMS
The erstwhile Mysore State had the enviable and glorious position of establishing the first major hydro-electric generating station at Shivasamudram as early as 1902 for commercial operation. The art at that time was still in its infancy, even in the advanced countries. The longest transmission line, at the highest voltage in the world, was constructed to meet the power needs of mining operations at Kolar Gold Fields. The generating capacity of the Shivasamudram Power House gradually increased to 42 MW in stages. To meet the increasing demand for power, the Shimsha Generating Station, with an installed capacity of 17.2 M.W, was commissioned in the year 1938.
The power demand was ever on the increase, for industries and rural electrification, and additions to generating became imperative. The 1st Stage of 48 MW and 2nd stage of 72 MW of the Mahatma Gandhi Hydro-Electric Station were commissioned during 1948 and 1952 respectively. Subsequently, the Bhadra Project, with an installed capacity of 33.2 MW, and the Thungabhadra Left Bank Power House, with an installed capacity of 27 MW at Munirabad were commissioned during 1964 and 1965, respectively.
The State of Karnataka, with availability of cheap electric power, and other infrastructure facilities, was conducive for increased tempo of industrial activity. It became necessary therefore, to augment power generating capacity by harnessing the entire potential of the Sharavathi Valley. The first unit of 89.1 MW was commissioned in 1964 and completed in 1977.
The demand for power saw a phenomenal increase in the mid sixties and onwards with the setting up of many public sector and private industries in the State. As power generation in the State was entirely dependent on monsoon and was subject to its vagaries, the State Government set up a coal based power plant at Raichur.
The present installed capacity of the power plant at Raichur is 1260 MWs. To augment the energy resources of the State, the Kalinadi Project with an installed capacity of 810MW at Nagjhari Power House and 100 MW at Supa Dam Power House, with an energy potential of 4,112 Mkwh, were set up.
The transmission and distribution system in the State was under the control of the Government of Karnataka (then Mysore) till the year 1957. In the year 1957, Karnataka Electricity Board was formed and the private distribution companies were amalgamated with Karnataka Electricity Board.
Till the year 1986, KEB was a profit making organisation. However, in the subsequent years, like other State Electricity Boards in the country, KEB also started incurring losses, mainly due to the increase in agricultural consumption and due to the implementation of the socio economic policies of the Government, the performance of the power sector was affected.
To improve the performance of the power sector and in tune with the reforms initiated by Government of India, the Government of Karnataka came out with a general policy proposing fundamental and radical reforms in the power sector. Accordingly a bill, namely Karnataka Electricity Reforms Act was passed by the Karnataka Legislature.
The restructuring of the power sector was therefore essential for taking decisions in a professional and independent manner. Keeping this in mind, the Government of Karnataka enacted the Karnataka Electricity Reform Act, 1999 and has set up the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) in the year 1999, so as to entrust the Regulatory responsibilities from the Government to the Regulatory Commission. Consequent to the enactment of The Electricity Act, 2003, the Commission established under the State Reforms Act is deemed to be the State Commission for the purposes of Electricity Act, 2003. The Commission is discharging its duties as per section 86 of the Electricity Act 2003. Further, guided by the National Electricity Policy, The National Electricity Plan and the Tariff Policy published under section 3 of the Electricity Act 2003.
The Reform bill has mandated major restructuring of the Karnataka Electricity Board and its Corporatisation. As part of Corporatisation, the Karnataka Electricity Board ceased to exist and the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited to look after Transmission and Distribution in the State and VVNL (Visweshwaraiah Vidyuth Nigama Limited) to look after the generating stations under the control of erstwhile Karnataka Electricity Board were constituted from 01.08.1999.
Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited is a registered company under the Companies Act, 1956 was incorporated on 28-7-1999 and is a company wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka with an authorised share capital of Rs. 2182.32 crores. KPTCL was formed on 1-8-1999 by carving out the Transmission and Distribution functions of the erstwhile Karnataka Electricity Board.
KPTCL is headed by a Chairman and Managing Director at the Corporate office. The Managing Director is assisted by four functional Directors. The Board of KPTCL consists of a maximum of twelve directors.
Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited is mainly vested with the functions of Transmission of power in the entire State of Karnataka and also Construction of Stations & Transmission Lines and maintenance of 400/220/110/66 KV Sub-Stations. Many new lines and Sub-Stations were added & existing stations were modified in the Transmission network. It operates under a license issued by Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission.
KPTCL has 09 No. of 400 Kv Station, 131 No. of 220 Kv Station, 485No. of 110 Kv Station and 714 No. of 66 Kv Station. The Total Transmission Line in CKMs is 41913.274 as on 31.03.2023.
The various wings of KPTCL is as follows :
- Corporate Office at Kaveri Bhavan, Bangalore
- Six Transmission zones, each zone is headed by a Chief Engineer.
- State Load Despatch Centre
- SCADA(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)
The annual turnover of the Organisation was nearly Rs. 4380 crores(Provisional) during the year 2021-22.
KPTCL Unbundled
Government vide order No. 69 BSR 2001 Bangalore, dated 15/02/2002 has unbundled KPTCL and formed four distribution companies.
Consequent to this the function of distribution of power has been totally separated from KPTCL. KPTCL is now vested with the responsibility of transmitting power all over the State and construction and maintenance of Stations and lines of 66KV and above.
The four newly formed independent distribution companies, which were registered on 30/04/2002, are Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company, Hubli Electricity Supply Company and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company. They have started functioning w.e.f.. 01.06.2002. These companies are incharge of distribution of power within their jurisdiction.
The Fifth Distribution Company Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation limited is a company incorporated under the company act 1956 and is a successor entity to Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) and MESCOM in respect of Distribution and retail supply of Electric power for five districts. Its operation started from 01.04.2005 as per the GOK order E.N.08 P.N.R 2005/262.
PCKL was incorporated on 20th August, 2007 under the Companies Act, 1956 and commenced its business operations with effect from 16.10.2007. PCKL is responsible for capacity addition and procuring power on behalf of the ESCOMs from various sources including purchase of power through Energy Exchange, Banking (SWAP) as well bilateral transactions. PCKL also co-ordinates with other States and Central Government agencies on power related issues.
Source: kptcl.karnataka.gov.in
