Kerala Government Seeks Approval to Purchase High Cost Power Amid Shortage

The Kerala government is exploring options to procure additional electricity from other states and central entities to address an ongoing power shortage. Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph announced on Sunday that the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will seek permission from the state government and the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission to buy power at higher rates. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has granted permission for KSEB board members to visit other states to explore the availability of surplus power.

Minister Joseph attributed the crisis to a supply and demand imbalance, noting that demand has increased by more than 1,000 MW compared to last year while generation has not kept pace. He cited deficient rainfall and a sharp increase in consumption as contributing factors. To manage the shortage, the minister appealed to the public to avoid unnecessary electricity use and suggested that a new electricity policy focusing on increased production and regulated consumption is necessary.

Regarding the cause of the crisis, the center left framing emphasizes the complexity of underlying factors and the need for a new policy. In contrast, the center right framing highlights specific failures of previous administrations, noting the minister's claim that the crisis could have been avoided if a long term power purchase agreement from the Oommen Chandy government had not been scrapped. Minister Joseph also stated that the current UDF government should not be held solely responsible for the outages.