Dhinakaran hits out at State govt over unscheduled power cuts

In a statement, he alleged that the State was witnessing power cuts and the people were suffering due to the poor administration of the Edappadi Palaniswami government. 

Dhinakaran alleged that Minister for Electricity P Thangamani had failed to understand the significance of stocking coal and had messed up the State power sector by not utilising wind energy during the peak season.

Late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had made Tamil Nadu a power surplus State during her regime, but today it is understood that the State reels under power shortage with a daily deficit of 2,500 MW, Dhinakaran said. 

The usual practice of Tangedco is to stock coal for 20 days and now the Chief Minister in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has submitted that the State had run out of stock, he said.

The Chief Minister said in the letter the thermal power plants in the State can be operated only for the next three days, exposing the mess in the administration. 

Further, the production of coal in West Bengal and Odisha had been badly hit due to the recent rain and this will also affect the coal supply to power-starved Tamil Nadu. 

Under these circumstances, the State should have utilised the power generated by private windmills, which is a regular practice, he said.

“I understand that due to ‘certain conditions’ put forth by the ruling AIADMK, private windmill power generators have stopped their supply. Further, Tangedco refrained from using green energy consuming additional coal stock thus creating the unnecessary power cuts,” the statement said.