New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval on Wednesday to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's (CERC) proposal for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), United States of America (USA), for exchange of information and experiences in areas of mutual interest to both in the electricity sector. The approval follows a discussion that took place in this regard between Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette at the India-US Strategic Energy Partnership meeting earlier on July 17 this year.
At the time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (USA) and the CERC had discussed forging an agreement to share best practices for regulating electricity and developing electricity markets.
The MoU will help in improving regulatory and policy framework for developing efficient whole sale power market and enhancing grid reliability, said an official statement. The activities to be carried out under the MoU include identifying energy-related issues and developing topics and possible agendas for the exchange of information and regulatory practices in areas of mutual interest, organizing visits by Commissioners and/or staff to participate in activities at each other's facilities, Participation in seminars, planning visits and exchanges, developing programmes of mutual interests, and where appropriate, hold these programmes locally to enhance participation, providing speakers on energy issues and other personnel (management or technical).
As India pursues its ambitious renewable energy targets and seeks to transform its energy sector, India and the US decided to collaborate on the deployment and integration of renewable energy and new technologies into the grid; modernising the power distribution sector; supporting state-level planning for renewable energy; deploying distributed energy technologies, electric vehicles, rooftop solar, and battery storage; redesigning markets, and increasing off-grid energy access at the Strategic Energy Partnership meeting held in July.
A statement of intent framed between the US Department of State and India's Ministry of Power was released at the time under the Flexible Resources Initiative of the US-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force to enhance the flexibility and robustness of India's grid to support the country's energy transition and mobilise private investment to deliver reliable, low-cost power for the country.
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