UERC releases draft of Open Access Regulations, 2014
The Hon’ble Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission has drafted UERC (Terms and Conditions of Intra-State Open Access) Regulations, 2014. It was notified on 8th September, 2014. Comments for the same are invited till 8th October, 2014. This regulation, after coming into force, will supersede all existing regulations of OA.
Major highlights of this draft regulation are mentioned herewith:
- Proposal to change the current methodology for settlement of energy
- Introduction of Intra-State ABT in near future
- Introduction of slab based method instead of pro-rata method, for calculating transmission and wheeling charges.
- Proposes to bring limited OA customers and Embedded OA customers on same level.
Key features of the regulations are mentioned below:
The draft, in our opinion, is quite comprehensive and covers all aspects of Open Access, including the detailed procedures of applying for OA and other operational procedures that follow after registration.
UERC has recently passed an RPO order, in which it has taken a tough stand against UPCL, by allowing it to carry forward Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for FY 2012-13 and FY 2013-14, but has directed it to comply with all previous and current RPO’s by end of this year, else heavy penalty will be levied.
The draft regulation can be accessed here.