Gurgaon: Residents of a Faridabad colony, who were caught in a regulatory tussle between a real estate developer and the power utility, can now look forward to uninterrupted access to electricity connections. Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has allowed BPTP to retain its existing power distribution network in the group housing society — BPTP Park 81 — in Sector 81 instead of dismantling it and laying an entirely new system and directed Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) to release all pending and new individual connections.HERC also directed DHBVN to initiate departmental action against officials responsible for approving estimates, drawings or works contrary to the sanctioned electrification plan. The order requires BPTP to apply for an electrification plan under the single-point supply regime within a month. DHBVN must consider the application and communicate its approval within 30 days of receiving it. If no decision is communicated within that period, the submitted plan will be deemed approved. The commission clarified that its decision was confined to the peculiar circumstances of Park 81 and would not constitute a precedent for other projects.The dispute centred on a change in the prescribed electricity distribution configuration. While the existing colony network comprised 11 kV internal lines and 11/0.4 kV transformers, DHBVN insisted that BPTP replace it with a 33/0.4 kV system under the revised electrification plan. The commission has now directed DHBVN to energise and commission the existing 33/11 kV substation and associated 33 kV feeding lines within 30 days of receiving the order. The utility has also been directed to release pending connections, subject to technical, safety and administrative formalities.BPTP had argued that the existing infrastructure had been developed following approvals from DHBVN itself and that replacing it would entail unnecessary expenditure, dismantling of operational assets and further delays for residents seeking electricity connections. The commission directed BPTP to complete, augment or upgrade the electrical infrastructure, including transformer capacity, to meet the approved ultimate load and technical requirements within two months.The colony’s electrification history involved two different regulatory arrangements. BPTP Park 81 initially formed part of a comprehensive scheme approved by DHBVN in Oct 2011, which envisaged a 33/11/0.4 kV distribution network. Later, a project-specific electrification plan approved in Nov 2020 prescribed a 33/0.4 kV system with multipoint connections, allowing the 11 kV arrangement only as an interim measure. The developer was required to create the prescribed 33 kV infrastructure at its own cost.The commission found that the existing network had not been developed unilaterally by BPTP. DHBVN’s field officers had approved the infrastructure and the utility had sanctioned a deposit estimate of Rs 12.3 crore for the 33/11 kV substation and associated works. A clarification issued by DHBVN’s chief engineer (commercial) in May 2022 had also recognised the 33/11/0.4 kV configuration in specified old cases, subject to compliance with single-point supply regulations.Taking these circumstances into account, HERC observed that dismantling the existing infrastructure and developing an entirely new 33/0.4 kV network would cause avoidable hardship to consumers awaiting connections, lead to financial waste and delay electricity supply. It allowed the existing system to be retained and commissioned as a project-specific exception, without diluting the 33 kV requirements applicable to other developments.
