Electricity Consumer Cell (ECC), Cuddalore, organized a capacity building programme titled “Energy Governance” on December 22, 2017, at Krishnasamy College of Engineering and Technology, Cuddalore. The participants included Civil Society Organizations, electricity experts, engineering students, and academicians. Mr. Ambikapathi, ECC Coordinator, Cuddalore, welcomed the guests and participants and gave an introductory speech on the purpose of the capacity building programme.
Mr. Selvaraj, Chairman, Federation of Consumer Organisation Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry (FEDCOT), addressed the participants about consumer rights and its benefits. He explained the issues faced by consumers and shared information about various renewable energy options apart from the conventional energy resources. He also spoke about benefits of renewable energy resources, advantages of using energy-efficient appliances, the importance of energy conservation, and shared examples of simple electricity-saving practices such as turning off lights when not in use, replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulb, etc.
Mr. Vishnu Mohan Rao, Senior Researcher from Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), explained the purpose of the ECC and showcased the work of ECC Cuddalore to the participants. He focused on how ECC serves consumers in facing day-to-day electricity issues and challenges. He spoke about the various sections of the Electricity Act 2003 on generation, distribution, transmission, and trading in power. He said that the Act addresses all the key areas of electricity.
Mr. G.N. Bharath Ram, Researcher, CAG, elucidated recent efforts undertaken by CAG and FEDCOT on “Ockhi Electricity Infrastructure Mapping” in Nagercoil and Kanyakumari (https://ecc.ushahidi.io/). He presented details about the implementation of the survey, which highlighted the infrastructure damages and power outage in the villages of Kanyakumari and Nagercoil caused by the cyclone Ockhi. He gave a presentation on the number of ECC complaints lodged with the help of ‘CARTODB’ map and explained about mapping the complaints.
During the discussion session, participants posed questions on their everyday challenges pertaining to electricity, the Electricity Act, and ECC related queries.
