Power Ministry sets up division to monitor regulatory compliances by DISCOMs

• The Ministry of Power is working on resource adequacy guidelines and guidelines for procurement of power
• Both are expected to be unveiled by the ministry in the next two to three months

New Delhi: The Ministry of Power has set up a regulatory compliance division to monitor various regulatory parameters and their compliances by DISCOMS as well as state commissions. In an official statement released on Thursday, the ministry said that Power Minister RK Singh held an interaction with Electricity Regulators, during which the forum of regulators resolved to prepare norms on various regulatory parameters and issues. These norms would be adopted by the State Commissions and would help them in adopting best practices for faster implementation of reform and regulatory policies.

Govt working on guidelines for power procurement

In the course of the meeting, it was informed that the Ministry of Power is working on resource adequacy guidelines and guidelines for procurement of power in line with load fluctuation requirement, contract term, energy mix, and renewable purchase obligations etc. Both are expected to be unveiled by the ministry in the next two to three months, said the statement.

Issues related to Electric Vehicles were also discussed at the meeting. Technical as well as commercial issues would be resolved by the State Commissions so that EVs can be promoted. Emphasis was made on the determination of cost-reflective tariff, setting up of adequate number of the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forums with consumer representatives.

Measures to reduce retail power tariff

Regulatory issues like financial viability of power DISCOMS, payment of dues, reduction in AT&C losses, roll out of smart metering in prepayment mode, timely issuance of tariff orders, timely disposal of petitions, promotional tariff for EV charging stations etc were discussed. The forum of regulators had recently undertaken a study to analyse the impact of various factors on the retail tariff of electricity and to develop measures to address them. The Ministry of Power has already acted on most of the recommendations pertaining to the Central government and has requested that State Commissions should quickly act upon the recommendations so that retail tariff for consumers can be reduced.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)