Solar2010

Mr. Jayant Deo, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of India's first power exchange- Indian Energy Exchange. Earlier, he was a Member of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). The three member quasi-judicial commission was appointed in August 1999 for the first time under Electricity Regulatory Commission Act 1998. Mr. Deo believes that the Regulatory framework is essential for democratic working-namely community participation in collective decision-making. Hence he advocated for introduction of ERCs in India. He understood the strong linkage between energy, Economy and Ecology and considers "Tariff Making" as a potent tool for ensuring sustainable development. His belief is reflected in contributions he made in operationalising MERC and in initiating several innovative measures in tariff matters.

He played an important role in rationalizing electricity tariffs and in 2000 introduced successfully new concepts like Time Of Day tariff, Power factor, Load factor and prompt payment Incentives along with bulk discounts. For the first time increasing Industrial tariffs in Maharashtra, were brought down to the lowest level in India. MSEB was made accountable to consumers through transparent public hearing process.

The closure of 700 Megawatt Dabhol plant in 2001 did not affect Maharashtra for two years, on account of Demand shift caused by TOD tariffs. The TOD tariff and power Factor incentives alone arrested the peaking demand and improved the combined power factor of 8000 plus industrial consumers to .97 from .94. This has released the capacity by 100 Megawatt and saved 240 million units in annual losses.

The achievement is commendable as all the concerned including several International Consultants resisted it, on the ground that TOD Tariffs are highly sophisticated and this tool can not be applied in India. Later in 2002 the New York State Regulator appreciated success in Maharashtra and informed Jayant Deo that they could not introduce it in spite of 80 years Regulatory experience.

Mr. Jayant Deo changed two highly misused conditions of Supply and brought relief to millions of consumers. One was related to the definition of connected load that was changed to Sanctioned Load meaning maximum drawl of current and not sum of current drawing capacity of all the electrical gadgets connected to the system. This change stopped the entry of Utility personnel in the dwelling unit/factory for checking connected load and protected the privacy of consumers.

The other provision is in respect of limiting past liability to 6 months energy consumption whenever occupancy/ownership is changed. The Utility was slapping old dues for the several years. The logic put forward by Mr. Jayant Deo was that when Utility is having Right to disconnect for non-payment, after due notice and that they have security deposit they can not enjoy the luxury of making bills (forgotten?) for past several years period and expect a payment only from the new owner/occupier.

Mr. Jayant Deo propagated the principal of Differential Tariffs to all the stakeholders. This has been accepted by MERC and is made applicable from 1st October 2006. Now the quota supply is at lower prices and additional supply is at high price of more than Rs. 5 per kilowatt-hour. This will give boost to addition of generation capacity. His other concept of power financed by user is being considered by many consumers now. After completing his five years term in August 2004 he restarted practice as Industrial Engineer. Since 1979, Mr. Deo has been providing Resource Optimization Services to Industry, Government and NGOs in the name of Deo & Associates. As an Industrial Engineer, he has handled many landmark assignments in manufacturing, Transport and Energy management field. Mr. Jayant Deo earned degree in Mechanical Engineering (1965, College of Engineering Aurangabad-India), did post-graduate work in Industrial Engineering (1970) and Financial Management (1976 Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Mumbai).

He is an independent Director on the Board of Aplab Ltd, and Board of Studies Member for Industrial and Production Engineering discipline of Viswakarma Institute of Technology VIT Pune.