Last Updated: 6 Jan 2025

FREE: Free 200 units and 50% subsidy for consumption between 201 to 400 units per month^[1]

24x7 Power i.e. No Cuts: Load shedding has dropped to the lowest level in last two decades at 0.019%(2021-22) & 0.028%(2022-23) of the total consumption^[1:1]

No Hike in Electricity Prices since 2015: Even non-subsidy consumers are getting cheapest rates^[1:2]

Inverter Sales in Delhi were DOWN by 70% as of 01 Dec 2019^[2]

2014 - Before AAP: 4-5 hours of power cuts were normal during peak summer^[3]

^[2:1]

¶ 1. Highest Power Load and Still no cuts

• Delhi's electricity consumers grew from 43.01 lakh(2011-12) to 68.51 lakh(2022-23)^[1:3]
• State's peak demand in the financial year (FY) 2022-23 was 60% higher (7695 MW) than FY 2010-11 (4,810 MW)^[1:4]

Shedding as % of Energy Consumption^[4]

¶ 2. Reforms

a. Real-time data Dashboard of the entire network is facilitated for constant access with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA)^[1:5]

b. Minimised Operational Losses^[1:6]

*_{Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (AT&C) is the difference between energy units put into the system and the units for which the payment is collected}

c. Energy Storage^[5]: Used for electricity load management

Probably largest Energy Storage in South Asia, with 10 MW battery energy storage system inaugurated in Aug 2021

¶ 3. Before AAP

a. Discom threat of blackout in 2015^[6]

AAP Govt not only did we refuse to give in to these demands, also pushed harder for a CAG audit of their accounts

February 2015

Years of corruption, incentivised inefficiency and large-scale over-reporting of losses

• Distribution companies (discoms) had threatened to push more than half of the city into darkness, citing inability to pay for purchase of power
• Discoms were claiming to be short on cash, even after 5 years of continuous hikes in power tariffs
• Discoms had extracted ₹500 crore from the Delhi government in 2011 under similar circumstances

Aug 2019

Discoms were no longer short on cash, despite Delhi’s lowest power bills in the country

• Regulatory assets (dues owed by the people of Delhi to the discoms) for these discoms have reduced to ₹8,400 crore from ₹11,406 crore in Feb 2015

b. High Purchase Costs^[7]

PPAs with local Power plants had 70% higher electricity purchase
-- Average cost of power purchased was Rs. 6 per unit while other states could buy from Rs 1 to Rs 3.2 per unit

References:

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1. https://delhiplanning.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/Planning/chapter_11_0.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

2. https://www.millenniumpost.in/delhi/delhi-power-cut-electricity-disruptions-down-by-70-but-pinches-inverter-sellers-388710 ↩︎ ↩︎

3. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/bses-discoms-blamed-for-power-cuts/article6215725.ece ↩︎

4. https://delhiplanning.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/Planning/ch._11_energy_0.pdf ↩︎

5. https://www.eqmagpro.com/satyendar-jain-inaugurates-10-mw-battery-energy-storage-system-eq-mag-pro/ ↩︎

6. https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-transformative-story-of-delhi-s-power-sector/story-EpBaBzKrHBZRotHtNBD9gK_amp.html ↩︎

7. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/stateowned-power-plants-too-pricey/article7307821.ece ↩︎