Two ministries held talks on power consolidation
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THE ENERGY and Interior Ministries have discussed the possibility of amending laws to allow the transfer of the Provincial Electricity Authority and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority to the Energy Ministry in the interest of national power security,
Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee and Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda recently met on the matter, the source said.
Consolidating the country’s electricity management system in terms of production and power transmission would also make it easier to get agencies to work in the same direction, especially on the universal electricity and energy saving policies.
The universal policy aims to wire up all households in the country.
The Energy Ministry supervises the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, while the Interior Ministry oversees the PEA and MEA, which deliver electricity to end-users.
If they can reach an agreement on the law amendment, they will jointly submit their proposal to the National Energy Policy Council and the Cabinet, which will lead to the law amendment.
The Energy Ministry has been attempting to bring the PEA and MEA under its wing but to no avail.
The source said that if the Energy Ministry could oversee all three electricity agencies, it would order them to launch measures to require their customers to reduce their electricity use, in line with the ministry’s energy saving policy.
If the country can cut electricity consumption, it will have no need to build many more power plants in the future.
