SECM to act as State Designated Agency (SDA) on Energy Conservation

Hyderabad, Feb 3 : The State Energy Conservation Mission has crossed a major milestone. The SECM, set up to achieve the targeted goals of Energy Efficiency & Energy Conservation (EE&EC) programmes taken up in the State, will now be an independent body to coordinate with the Government in enforcing energy conservation measures rather than confining its role as an advisory body. The Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has initiated another significant step for registering SECM as a Society under the Societies registration act and nominating it as State Designated Agency (SDA) on Energy Conservation to coordinate, regulate and enforce the provisions of Energy Conservation Act 2001 for the benefit of Power utilities, Electricity consumers and all stakeholders.

The Govt. today have issued G.O.Ms.No.8, Energy (RES-A2) Dept., dated 03.02.2014, in which SECM has been given new form and shall be responsible for advising government on policy & strategy formulation, coordination with key Govt. and non Govt. stakeholders, global organizations & companies, bilateral/multilateral funding agencies for Energy Efficiency (EE) projects, Bureau of Energy efficiency, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), etc, for funding and implementation of pilot projects, preparation of Action plan for rolling out state level schemes, undertaking research & capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation of programmes etc.

The State Energy Conservation Mission shall: (i) Devise effective communication strategies and champion the cause of Conservation of Energy. (ii) Act as the ‘State Designated Agency (SDA)’ for Energy Conservation in accordance with Sec 15 (d) of the Energy Conservation Act 2001, in place of NREDCAP, to achieve the targeted goal of Energy savings. (iii) Access appropriate technologies and Energy Efficiency practices from across the world for developinh locally suitable projects. (iv) Advise the State Government on the implementation of various provisions of Energy Conservation Act, 2001. (v) In consultation with the HOD of the respective Department / Organization, shall ensure creation of the Department / Organization-specific Energy Conservation Cell, which acts as a Nodal Agency to coordinate with the CEO of SECM for effective implementation of Energy Conservation & Energy Efficiency measures in that Department / Organization. vi) Access / raise funds from Central and State agencies for activities connected to Energy Conservation. vii) Take up and fund pilot projects and develop state-wide projects for implementation. (viii) Facilitate/ enforce the efficient use of energy and its conservation on various Government and Government supported organizations covering all areas of energy use.

The SECM will also co-ordinate with District Energy Conservation Committees, headed by the District Collectors, DISCOMs and other Government Departments, Organisations / Agencies. An yearly budget will be prepared on utilization of the Society’s fund and also a monthly draw down schedule will be prepared which will be approved by the SECM.

The executive committee of SECM will be chaired by Dr. P.K. Mohanty, CS, and members consisting of M. Sahoo, Spl. CS, Energy (Vice-Chairman/SECM) and members Anil Kumar Kutty, IAS (Retd.), Suresh Chanda, CMD/APTRANSCO, K. Vijayanand, MD/APGENCO, S.A.M. Rizvi, CMD/APCPDCL, Munindra, Spl. Secretary, Energy, Kamalakar Babu, VC&MD/NREDCAP, A. Chandra Sekhara Reddy, CEO/SECM.

The general body of SECM will consist the above members along with S.P. Tucker, Spl. CS, Finance, Anil Punetha, Prl. Secretary, Agrl, Pradeep Chandra, Prl. Secretary Industry, S.K. Joshi, Prl. Secretary, MA&UD, Sanjay Jaju, Prl. Secretary, IT &C, Nagi Reddy, Prl. Secretary, Panchayat Raj, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Prl. Secretary, School Education, Ajay Mishra, Prl. Secretary, Higher Education, Dana Kishore, Commissioner I& PR and CMDs of 4 DISCOMs S.A.M. Rizvi, Kartikeya Misra, Seshagiri Babu, H.Y.Dora.

After issuing the G.O.Ms.No.8, Energy (RES-A2) Dept., dated 03.02.2014, the CS in an interaction with top officials of Energy Department disclosed that all Govt. Depts., should gear up to expedite the Energy Efficiency projects as Govt. is determined to achieve the desired goals which will help the State and consumers to a larger extent. It is pertinent to note that, Dr. P.K.Mohanty, Chief Secretary, Govt of A.P., Chairperson/SECM, during the press conference on 16.01.2014 has announced the proposal of strengthening of SECM, which ultimately benefit the state as well as stakeholders. INN