The wait for the appointment of a new chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is finally over. Pramod Deo, chairman of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Authority and a Maharashtra cadre IAS officer has been selected as the new chairperson of CERC.
Deo was the top contender for the post. Confirming the move, the minister of state for power, Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that Deo’s appointment has been cleared by the government. The CERC is the leading body of state regulatory commissions and sets the regulatory agenda for the country?s power sector. The CERC head is also the chairman of the “forum of regulators”.
The post of the chairman CERC has been vacant for nearly two years now and at a time when the country has embarked upon the most ambitious capacity addition programme so far?of adding 78,000 mw by the end of the 11th plan. The last chairperson of the CERC Ashok Basu, demitted office in March 2007 but the government has not been able to find someone for the post.
The other candidate in the run for the post was the principal advisor, energy, Planning Commission Surya Sethi. The selection (search) committee headed by the Planning Commission member (energy) Kirit Parikh had shortlisted two candidates including Deo and Sethi but apparently union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was not happy with the selection process.