All India Power Engineers Federation has demanded an immediate meeting of the Forum of Regulators to curb black marketing of electricity by Independent Power Producers (IPP) at the energy exchange. The AIPEF alleged that the private sector was making a killing during the power crisis triggered by the coal shortage.

In a letter to Union Power Minister RK Singh, AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey said that the subject of putting a cap on profiteering by IPPs be placed before the Forum of Regulators to stop black marketing in energy exchange mostly by private operators during the crisis. He said that the coal shortage was recognised as a major factor leading to spurt in power tariff.

Dubey demanded that an expert committee with a Central Electricity Authority (CEA) member be constituted immediately to enquire about the coal shortage resulting in power crisis so that the reason for the present crisis was technically analysed and accordingly stern action was initiated against those responsible for the crisis.

The AIPEF chairperson said that it was necessary for state regulators as well as Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to intervene and impose price caps to prevent excessive profiteering by IPPs and also to ensure that unbearable burden was not put on consumers of discoms, which were constrained to purchase high cost power in order to limit power cuts

Dubey also expressed his concern on the closure of ultra mega power plants of Tata and Adani at Mundra that are run by imported coal and have nothing to do with the present coal crisis in the country and also closure of several thermal units run by IPPs at Rosa, Lalitpur and Bara, adding to the crisis.