Darkness At Noon, OERC Chairman Resigns In A Huff?

Former Odisha Chief Secretary and Chairperson Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) Pradip Kumar Jena has resigned on May 25,2026 citing “personal grounds” amidst heat wave and recurrent power cuts. His resignation was accepted by the Odisha government with immediate effect. However, tongues are wagging about his abrupt departure. Jena cited personal reasons for putting in his paper, however his sudden resignation coincides with widespread dissatisfaction in the state because of power crises outages, grid overloads, transformer failures in peak summer in Odisha. The main issue which led to Jena’s resignation is he not only deducted Rs 400 crore from Tata Power Company (TPC) towards contract linesman salary which ensured uninterrupted power supply to Odiayas amidst sweltering heat, he also threatened TPC that same deduction will take place next year as well. This led to Odisha LineMan Association numbering 12,000 opting for mass agitation to protect their job on the street which paralysed power supply state wide. Odisha’s deputy CM Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo who holds the energy portfolio has already warned Discoms of legal action if unscheduled power cuts are there. Rumour is CM Mohan Charan Majhi has already held high-level meetings with the Energy Department and Tata Power management to address outages, improving infrastructure, and also discussed major investments in the state’s power sector.