The Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), in collaboration with the Consumer Rights Movement, Salem organized a Capacity Building Workshop on Clean Energy Transition and Electricity Governance on 5 August 2024, in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. This workshop is part of the initiative to improve stakeholder participation for electricity governance in India, thereby accelerating the clean energy transition. The goal of the workshop was to provide consumers with the information and resources they needed to fully understand their rights and responsibilities within the electricity sector.
The event began with an introduction to CAG ‘s work
Mr. J.M. Boopathy, Founder, Consumer Rights Movement (CRM), gave a welcome speech to kick off the event. He highlighted the importance of the workshop and its goals. In addition to introducing the speakers, he provided an overview of the significance of the electricity sector in our everyday lives and the necessity of consumer involvement in it. Additionally, he emphasized how crucial it is for customers to be informed of their rights so they can seek better protection and services.
Discussion led by Mr. A. Jayaraman and Mr. J.M. Boopathy
Mr. A. Jayaraman, Electricity Assessor (Retd., TANGEDCO), spoke about his experiences in handling electricity complaints as a regular citizen and customer and provided insights into common issues and practical solutions. He underlined the significance of TNERC regulations, including those pertaining to which officers should be notified in the event of a grievance and how to hold the authority accountable for failing to carry out its duties within the allotted time.
M. Manikandan, a researcher with the CAG's Electricity Governance team, gave a summary of consumer involvement in the energy industry and emphasized the vital part that consumers play in guaranteeing accountability and transparency in electricity governance. He gave a summary of the generation, transmission, and distribution segments of the electricity sector. He also went on to discuss with the audience the significance of energy efficiency and conservation. He then used the findings of the energy audits conducted by CAG in Vengikkal Panchayat and Public Health Centers in Tiruvannamalai district to illustrate the importance and necessity of energy conservation.
During the discussion, the participants actively interacted about their challenges in getting fair services from officials, benefits from installation of solar panels in residential homes and the importance of energy efficient utilities like LED light, BLDC Fan etc.,
Discussion with participants
Mr. A. Jayaraman provided a summary of the key concepts discussed during the workshop. He underlined the importance of ongoing stakeholder collaboration and consumer engagement in order to enhance the effectiveness and consumer-friendliness of the electricity sector. He talked about how the representatives of the electricity board took a long time to respond to customer complaints. He also explained how to hold the concerned employees responsible by having them abide by the rules set forth by the electricity board. Next, the participants responded that they now understood the importance of holding the officials responsible by following the right procedures. It was determined from the participant feedback that this kind of capacity building program was informative and helpful.