Electricity bills pending, solar plants at 880 Punjab schools non-functional

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 30

A move of the state government to cover 880 government schools under the on-grid solar net metering project scheme has failed to achieve the ‘desired’ result even after one year of the starting of its first phase.

The photovoltaic panels installed on rooftops on many government schools in the area are unable to turn the solar energy into electricity, as these systems cannot be connected with the power supply lines of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) due to the pending electricity bills of the schools.

Unless a consumer (including school) clears the pending electricity bills, the PSPCL cannot allow the connectivity of the solar energy system with its utility grid under on-grid (grid tied) solar system.

PSPCL offers to settle dues

• The PSPCL has given an offer to the government schools to settle their pending bills with 30-40 per cent ‘rebate’ in the amounts under the one-time settlement scheme
• Deputy Controller (finance and account), Department of School Education, had recently written to schools to avail the benefit of the scheme to clear their dues

Many government schools have failed to pay the electricity bills. Sources in the PSPCL said the amount of pending electricity bills of the government schools in the state had crossed Rs 13 crore. The PSPCL had failed to recover these bills, even after snapping the power supply to many schools.

About two years ago, the state government had allotted Rs 3,080 lakh for solar on-grid system in 880 government schools to install 5kW power system in each institution. Even after installation, no power has been generated due to non-connectivity with the PSPCL grids.