Electric Department
Since 1926, the BEST has been sourcing its power from Tata Power, part of the Tata Group conglomerate. The power cables are laid underground, which reduces pilferage and other losses that plague most other parts of India. The nominal rating of power supplied by BEST is 3-phase, 50 Hz, 220/110 kV. Unlike the transport company, the electricity department services only the Mumbai City area, and not the suburbs. It provides power to over a million residential and commercial establishments and over 33,000 street lights within the city limits. As of 2000, BEST supplies a total of 700 MW (938,715 hp), with a consumption of 3,216 GWh (11,578 TJ).
The electricity department has 6,000 employees. The city has three 110 kV, twenty-two 33 kV and 22 kV substations. BEST has a distribution loss of around 10% (2001), among the lowest in India.
In 2006, the RPS (Renewable purchase specificaiton) framework came into force, which has made it mandatory for electricity providers to generate or purchase fixed percentage (6% for FY 2009–10) of their power through renewable sources. To comply with this act, BEST plans to install photovoltaic cells in each of its 25 depots. They also plan to use solar power in gardens and street lighting where the demand is low. Another option being considered is the possibility of using the 7,000 tonnes (6,889 long tons; 7,716 short tons) of garbage disposed by the city on a daily basis, which can be potentially used to generate 350 megawatts (469,358 hp) of electricity.
Read more about this topic: Brihanmumbai Electric Supply And Transport
Famous quotes containing the words electric and/or department:
“A sociosphere of contact, control, persuasion and dissuasion, of exhibitions of inhibitions in massive or homeopathic doses...: this is obscenity. All structures turned inside out and exhibited, all operations rendered visible. In America this goes all the way from the bewildering network of aerial telephone and electric wires ... to the concrete multiplication of all the bodily functions in the home, the litany of ingredients on the tiniest can of food, the exhibition of income or IQ.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
““Which is more important to you, your field or your children?” the department head asked. She replied, “That’s like asking me if I could walk better if you amputated my right leg or my left leg.””
—Anonymous Parent. As quoted in Women and the Work Family Dilemma, by Deborah J. Swiss and Judith P. Walker, ch. 2 (1993)