CONSUMER representatives, solar industry experts and experts in power sector on Tuesday strongly opposed Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited’s (MSEDCL) multi-year tariff review petition at a public hearing held by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), terming it as illegal and detrimental to consumers’ interest. Out of the total 89 stakeholders who submitted objections and suggestions, 24 made oral submissions at the hearing.  Atul Londhe, Spokesperson, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), said that unfair tariffs are making it more difficult for industries to survive in Maharashtra. “Today, neighbouring states have cheaper electricity and more consumerfriendly renewable energy policies than MSEDCL,” Londhe said.

 

He added that the current 10 k Wthreshold for gaining exemptions should be raised to 15 kW to accommodate consumers like restaurant owners and showrooms to help them mitigatefinancial losses. Lastly, he demanded an enquiry into procurement of coal for power generation to check if it is expensiveonly for Maharashtra. Sudhir Budhay, expert in solar energy sector, also presented a strong case focusing on critical issues of Grid Support Charges (GSC) and Banking of Renewable Energy (RE). He argued that the threshold of 5000 MW has not been reached as MSEDCL failed to provide verified data. As per the MYT order, GSC requires a fresh petition and public consultation once threshold is crossed , making the current petition both premature and procedurally incorrect. Budhay warned that since solar generation is largely confined to day time hours, restricting banking to same-slot, same month would destroy the viability of existing solar projects.

 

He argued that MSEDCL’s attempt to alter banking rules retroactively violates contractual certainty and undermines renewable energy promotion. Rahul Kolte, Nilesh Dhote, Jayesh Gantade, Abhijit Shukla, Karan Hazare, Suraj Gupta were among the solar aggregators who also spoke at the hearing. They all iterated that the new 10 kW threshold is affecting employment and GSC is unwarranted for rooftop solar plants. Pranay Vijayakar, another solar entrepreneur, worryingly said , “I am getting threats of police FIRs from my existing customers who felt cheated after the new tariffs.” According to experts, decentralised generation (Solar rooftop plants) reduces load on the grid hence improving its reliability.

 

It also reduces transmission losses to a significant amount. Mahendra Jichkar, representing the consumers side, at the hearing made a submission that the order delivered in March last should have continued. So it is strange that MSEDCL choose to oppose the same, and expressed surprise that despite lengthy hearing MERC stayed its own ruling leaving the consumers dejected. It is already well known that tariff in Maharashtra is one of the highest and even benefit from solar to has been restricted. Further, he stated that MERC should fix the tariff for entire control period instead of mid-year revision as it leaves consumers in fix and most of all the it should be affordable. The fresh hearing was necessitated due to nomination of new Chairman, and since composition of MERC was altered, the entire process had to be heard anew, states the rule. Sanjay Kumar, Chairman, MERC, retired before delivering the judgement on the tariff petition of MSEDCL, and he was replaced by Valsa Nair Singh, a career bureaucrat as the new Chairperson.