Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission has said that it would issue a draft notification after reviewing the KSEB’s plea to amend the rules on the purchase of solar and wind power from consumer
During a hearing held on Friday, Regulatory Commission chairman Preman Dinarajan said that the demands of the board and the opinions of others would be included in it. After issuing the notification, another hearing would be held. And only after that the Commission would issue the final order.
The officials clarified that the amendments proposed by the board are applicable to those consumers who generate more than 500 kilowatts of solar and wind power. However, this was not mentioned in the board's petition to the Commission.
The main demand of the board is to switch from net metering to gross metering. The consumers, who also produce solar and wind power and sell it to the grid, are currently being paid the average cost of power purchased from outside by the board last year.
Instead, the board has sought for an amendment that allows it to pay only the rate at which the board purchased solar power recently. With that, the rate would drop from Rs 3.22 per unit to Rs 2.44 and this would mean a loss to the consumers, who generate renewable power.
During the 3.5-hour-long hearing held on Friday, the consumers urged the commission not to approve the amendment.
The Regulatory Commission too expressed concerns over this recommendation of the board. The rules stipulate that a fixed percentage of renewable power should also be supplied in the state. The Commission also shared the concern that the electricity board, without fully complying with this, is bringing in more stipulations and discouraging consumers, who are generating renewable power.
