Market Council association supports 'overbooking' in power industry

MOSCOW. Sept 19 (Interfax) - The Market Council Non-profit Partnership association supports so-called "overbooking" in the power industry, the association's head, Maxim Bystrov, said at the Council of Energy Producers conference.

"The prospective consumption volumes for which this is being built [are not guaranteed]. The interested parties that have declared them do not bear any responsibility whatsoever for their plans. This is wrong in our opinion," Bystrov said.

In order to resolve the problem, Bystrov has proposed a type of "overbooking" that is similar to what airlines do by selling more tickets for a flight than there are seats.

"For example, there is always overbooking when selling tickets. Airlines have looked at the statistics and seen that, relatively speaking, five passengers do not show up for each flight. They sell five more tickets, and if a passenger does show up, he or she leaves on the next flight. This is what the UES System Operator is already doing when it cuts - and I am not afraid to say it - the fantastic requests [for forecast consumption] that some regions submit," Bystrov noted.

Bystrov said that unrealistic requests should be "cut" and liability should be introduced for unscrupulous requests for consumption.

"Take-or-pay is a complex topic, but we need to think about it, because there must be responsibility, especially when consumers create demand for which expensive capacity is being built. Well, and investment agreements, the most advanced, in our opinion, but also the most difficult to implement. In general, the regulator needs to think about this, there is no time left, let alone 'entirely'," Bystrov said.