Andhra Pradesh Publishes Draft RPO Regulation

Andhra Pradesh published its draft RPO regulations. This is significantly delayed (AP was the only major state remaining to publish RPO; Delhi has a draft order, and West Bengal is essentially a non-participant – more on this later in the article), and was much awaited.
Highlights of the draft regulation are:

• Total RPO is fixed at 5% (4.75% Non-Solar and 0.25%). However, the devil is in the details – 1) this obligation does not start until 2014-15, and 2) remains constant till 2018-19. This is important due to several reasons – it is a deviation from the practice of other states where RPO% progressively increases, and also from the NAPCC target.
• Till 2014 the earlier order on RPO remains in force (of 2009). The earlier order only placed the obligation on Discom’s. Further, it did not recognize RECs, or allowed purchase of RE power from outside the state. The current draft order places the obligation on Captive and Open Access users. However, it is unclear whether that obligation will apply immediately to captive and open access users (from a first reading of the draft order, it appears not so). Also, can Discom’s in AP use RECs to meet their current obligation?
• The 2009 order does not specify the penalty in case of non-compliance
• Another implication of the current regulation will be that eligible renewable energy generators in AP are likely to be allowed to register in the REC mechanism. This will lead to a situation where RE generators can participate in the national REC market, while consumers in AP face no obligation.

There are also other generic issues like no clarity on the definition of Average Pooled Purchased Cost (APPC). While this is also the case in regulations of other states, it appears AP has had no benefit of coming last!
As an interesting aside, APERC has decided to call its regulation RPPO (Renewable Power Purchase Obligation). We would have to like to see changes of a more progressive nature than this. Public hearing is set for January 12, 2012.
See our founder Vishal Pandya’s comments in the Hindu Businessline on this topic.
A quick note on the Delhi and WB regulations – Delhi came out with the draft regulation a while back, but has not yet fixed a date for hearing. WB has an RPO regulation, but does not recognize RECs.
 
Try India’s First Online RPO (RPPO!) Calculator here