NEEPCO has finally agreed to restore supplying of power to Meghalaya from 4.30 pm on Saturday.
Sources in NEEPCO headquarters in Shillong told Northeast Now on Saturday afternoon that the power generation PSU has agreed to Meghalaya government’s ‘request’ to restore supply of power.
NEEPCO had stopped supplying power to Meghalaya from midnight after Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MECL) failed to clear outstanding payments and failure to guarantee payment security.
Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MECL) has failed to clear Rs 690 crore outstanding payments to NEEPCO.
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During the last few months, the Meghalaya government has been making advance payments to NEEPCO for the supply of power.
Sources said NEEPCO decided not to supply power after the Meghalaya government failed to make advance payment till Friday evening.
On average, Meghalaya buys about 135 MW of power from NEEPCO. Meghalaya’s peak load requirement is about 500 MW of power.
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NEEPCO officials claimed the decision to restore supply of power to Meghalaya was taken at the highest level after intervention of the Ministry of Power.
Officials at the Ministry of Power reportedly told NEEPCO officials that people of Meghalaya would be caught in darkness amid Christmas celebrations if power supply is not restored.
However, there is possibility of rotational load-shedding in some parts of Meghalaya as one of the units of ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) has been shut down following technical issues.
On an average, Meghalaya gets about 60 MW of power from OTPC. Because of the technical snag, OTPC, for the next few days, will not be able to supply more than 30 MW of power.
In addition to NEEPCO, the Meghalaya government is yet to clear outstanding payments of other major power generation organizations like NHPC, NTPC and ONGC Tripura Power Company.