Consortium urges Tangedco not to measure harmonics until new norms come into force

Measuring harmonics at this juncture would create unnecessary anxiety and mental agony among the consumers, a letter from the consortium said

The Power Quality (PQ) Welfare Consortium, a think tank working on power quality, has written to the Tangedco chairman, urging him to instruct the distribution regions to stop measurements of harmonics until the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) notifies the new regulations and measurement methodology.

Harmonics are generated by any load that draws power disproportionate to the voltage applied, and affects the quality of power supplied. Earlier, the norms on harmonic discharge were applicable for power systems above 33 KV. The TNERC has proposed an amendment to the regulations in the supply code stipulating harmonic limits, in order to comply with the regulations of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which will be applicable to all HT services from 11 KV and above.

“Of late, it seems certain Meter Relay Testing Engineers of Tangedco are taking harmonic measurements in HT services. The CEA has revised the Harmonic regulations in February 2019, and the TNERC is yet to notify harmonic regulations and the measuring methodology,” A.D. Thirumoorthy, representing PQ Welfare Consortium said, in its letter.

“Hence it may not be legally correct to measure harmonics in HT services based on old regulations with old limits. It is also not correct to measure harmonics with unapproved instruments which Tangedco has at present,” he noted.

Measuring harmonics at this juncture would create unnecessary anxiety and mental agony among the consumers. As HT industries were recovering from the pandemic it was not correct on the part of Tangedco to create unnecessary panic among the HT consumers with their irrelevant method of measurement and obsolete model instruments, Mr. Thirumoorthy said.

As per a draft amendment proposed by the TNERC, industries may face a penalty of up to 10% of their consumption charges, if they do not maintain discharge of harmonics within the prescribed level by installing filters.

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