AI tools helped A.P. check power purchase costs: official

‘On an average, the power utilities saved ₹1 crore per day for three months’

Power Finance Corporation former CMD Rajeev Sharma has appreciated the sustained efforts of the State Energy Department in procuring cost-effective power through exchanges, which benefit the consumers and saves public money. In a communication to Energy Secretary N. Srikant, Mr. Sharma said the measures taken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh were widely acclaimed and that its initiatives were worthy of emulation by other States. Addressing a meeting in this connection with AP-Transco Joint Managing Director K. Venkateswara Rao, CMDs of DISCOMs, H. Haranatha Rao, J. Padma Janardhana Reddy and K. Santosha Rao and AP-Transco Director (Grid & Transmission) K. Praveen Kumar and Director (Finance) K. Muthupandian on purchasing cost-effective power, on Thursday, Mr. Srikant said the utilities were able to control the electricity procurement costs by using artificial intelligence and machine learning and that purchases from the open market accounted for 80% of the overall cost of power sector.