SUMMER INTERNSHIP

REPORT
ON

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VIABILITY OF OPEN

ACCESS IN MAJOR INDIAN STATES
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Mrs. INDU MAHESHWARI , (DEPUTY DIRECTOR)

CAMPS, NPTI
&
Mr. SURUJIT CHANDA, (MANAGER-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT)
MOSER BAER CLEAN ENERGY LIMITED
AT
MOSER BAER PROJECTS PRIVATE
LIMITED
Submitted by
ANKUR KUMAR
REGISTRATION NO:
12NPTIF0044
MBA (POWER MANAGEMENT)

AFFILIATED TO

MAHARSHI DAYANAND UNIVERSITY, ROHTAK

AUGUST 2013

DECLARATION

I, ANKUR KUMAR, Registration No. 12NPTIF0044 , student of MBA-Power Management

(2013-14) at National Power Training Institute, Faridabad hereby declare that the Summer
Training Report entitled COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VIABILITY OF OPEN
ACCESS IN MAJOR INDIAN STATES is an original work and the same has not been
submitted to any other Institute for the award of any other degree.

Seminar

presentation

of

the

Training

Report

was

made

on

________________________ and the suggestions as approved by the faculty were duly

incorporated.

Presentation In-Charge

Signature of the Candidate

(Faculty)

Countersigned
Director/Principal of the Institute

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Apart from efforts of the person doing the project, the success of any project depends largely
on the encouragements and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my
gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of the
project.
I express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Subodh Singh, Senior Manager- Corporate HR
MBPPL for giving me the opportunity to work in such a wonderful organization and
facilitating me for the successful completion of my project. I would like to extend my thanks
to my project convener Mr. Sumit Pandey, GM MBPPL & my mentor Mr. Surajit
Chanda, Manager-Business Development, Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited for showing
me the right path and approach towards the project.
I express my solemn regards to Mr. J.S.S.Rao, Principal Director, Corporate Planning &
Monitoring, Business Development Department, Mr. S.K.Chaudhary, Principal Director,
Department of Management Studies, NPTI. I am sincerely thankful to Mrs. Manju Mam
Director, NPTI for her effort & guidance in arranging my internship at MBPPL.
I also thank my Project In-Charge Mrs. Indu Maheshwari (Deputy Director) NPTI for
guiding me through the project duration and providing valuable suggestions.
Last but not the least I would like to express my special thanks to my parents for their
continuous motivation, encouragement and support.
Thank You
Ankur Kumar

iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Electricity Act 2003 is essentially a shift from monopoly government supply to
competitive power markets. In the process, the government came out of power generation and
distribution business. Nine years have passed since then, but the core of reforms, i.e., Market
development is yet far away. This is causing Indian economy to suffer.
Markets cannot exist with regulated prices. The required economic efficiency cannot be
achieved. The objective of the society developing its power cannot be achieved. Open Access
gives the consumer to make a choice between suppliers at competitive prices, however the
implementation has not been able to take place in a decade.

This project has been developed to understand the viability of Open Access Consumers in
major Indian States and its comparative analysis with Group Captive in that State. The
analysis has been done considering the Solar and Non-Solar types of generation.
The study begins on a comparison of Pre-reform Market Structure based on Monopoly
market and the Single Buyer Model and the Post- reform Market Structure Power Market
aiming at bringing competition in the market.
The report mentions the regulations enabling the Open Access and the application process &
procedure detailing the manner in which the Open Access can be granted. The Procedure
mentioned in the report is as per the CERC (Grant of Connectivity, Long Term Open Access
and the Medium Term Open Access in Inter-State Transmission & Related Matters)
Regulations, 2009.The regulation is the Umbrella regulation in grant of connectivity & the
grant of Open Access for the major Indian States. With few minor differences depending on a
state the regulatory skeleton for the matter is same.
The Open Access Charges & losses have been defined briefly to make a comprehensible
understanding of such Charges & losses implemented in the states & also in the analysis of
business model developed for the report.

iv

A Landed Cost sheet has been developed for each state at the end of the report. The analysis
has been done from a Developers point of view and also from a consumers point of view so
as to identify the states beneficial for a captive developer or/and consumer and an open
access developer or/an consumer for different injection & drawal voltage.
Based on these findings the report establishes the viability & non-viability of Open Access in
major Indian States and makes recommendations.

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 :REGULATION FOR THE INDIAN POWER SECTOR ....................................................... 2
Figure 2 :MONOPOLY MODEL/SEB MODEL.................................................................................... 4
Figure 3: SINGLE BUYER MODEL ..................................................................................................... 5
Figure 4: OPEN ACCESS MARKET STRUCTURE ............................................................................ 7
Figure 5: CATEGORIZATION OF OPEN ACCESS .......................................................................... 10
Figure 6: PROVISIONS ENABLING OPEN ACCESS ....................................................................... 21
Figure 7: PROVISIONS ENABLING RENEWABLE ENERGY ....................................................... 26
Figure 8: TYPES OF OPEN ACCESS ................................................................................................. 37
Figure 9: OPEN ACCESS LOSSES ..................................................................................................... 39

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING LOSSES FOR MAHARASHTRA ................................. 43
Table 2: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES FOR MAHARASHTRA............................. 43
Table 3: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR MAHARASHTRA ................................................ 44
Table 4: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING LOSS FOR GUJARAT .................................................. 48
Table 5: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES FOR GUJARAT ......................................... 48
Table 6: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR GUJARAT............................................................. 49
Table 7: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING LOSSES FOR RAJASTHAN ........................................ 51
Table 8: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES FOR RAJASTHAN .................................... 51
Table 9: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR RAJASTHAN ....................................................... 52
Table 10 : TRANSMISSION LOSS FOR TAMIL NADU .................................................................. 55
Table 11: WHEELING LOSS FOR TAMIL NADU ............................................................................ 55
Table 12: TRANSMISSION CHARGES FOR TAMIL NADU .......................................................... 55
Table 13: WHEELING CHARGES FOR TAMIL NADU ................................................................... 55
Table 14: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR TAMIL NADU.................................................... 55
Table 15: TRANSMISSION LOSS & CHARGES FOR ANDHRA PRADESH ................................ 56
Table 16: WHEELING LOSS FOR ANDHRA PRADESH................................................................. 57
Table 17: WHEELING CHARGES FOR ANDHRA PRADESH ........................................................ 57
Table 18: TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION LOSS FOR MADHYA PRADESH ...................... 59
vi

Table 19: TRANSMISSION CHARGES FOR MADHYA PRADESH .............................................. 59

Table 20: WHEELING CHARGES FOR MADHYA PRADESH ....................................................... 59
Table 21: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR MADHYA PRADESH ........................................ 59
Table 22: TRANSMISSION LOSSES & CHARGES FOR HARYANA ............................................ 62
Table 23: WHEELING LOSSES & CHARGES FOR HARYANA..................................................... 63
Table 24: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR HARYANA ......................................................... 63
Table 25: TRANSMISSION LOSSES & CHARGES FOR PUNJAB ................................................. 67
Table 26: WHEELING LOSSES FOR PUNJAB ................................................................................. 67
Table 27: WHEELING CHARGES FOR PUNJAB ............................................................................. 68
Table 28: TRANSMISSION LOSS & CHARGES FOR BIHAR ........................................................ 70
Table 29: WHEELING LOSS & CHARGES FOR BIHAR ................................................................. 70
Table 30: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR BIHAR ................................................................ 71
Table 31: TRANSMISSION LOSS & WHEELING LOSS FOR KARNATAKA .............................. 73
Table 32: WHEELING CHARGES FOR KARNATAKA................................................................... 73
Table 33: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR KARNATAKA ................................................... 73

vii

ABBREVIATIONS
Act /EA:

Electricity Act, 2003

APERC:

Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission

BERC:

Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission

CEA:

Central Electricity Authority

CERC:

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

CPP:

Captive Power Plant

CSS:

Cross Subsidy Surcharge

CTU:

Central Transmission Utility.

DISCOM:

Distribution Company

EHT:

Extra High Tension

GERC:

Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission

HERC:

Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission

IPP:

Independent Power Plant

KERC:

Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission

LTOA:

Long Term Open Access

MERC:

Maharashtra State Electricity Regulatory Commission

MPERC:

Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission

MTOA:

Medium Term Open Access

MW:

Mega Watt

OA:

Open Access

PERC:

Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission

RERC:

Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission

SEB:

State Electricity Board

SERC:

State Electricity Regulatory Commission

viii

SLDC:

State Load Despatch Centre

STOA:

Short Term Open Access

STU:

State Transmission Utility

T&D:

Transmission & Distribution

TNERC:

Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission

TRANSCO:

Transmission Company

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION................................................................................................................................... ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... vi
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................ viii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
1.1 WHAT IS OPEN ACCESS : ...................................................................................................... 1
1.1.1 EVOLUTION OF OPEN ACCESS .................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 MARKET STRUCTURES: PRE & OPEN ACCESS MODEL: ..................................... 3
1.2 NEED OF OPEN ACCESS: ....................................................................................................... 8
1.3 CATEGORIZATION OF OPEN ACCESS: ............................................................................ 9
1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT: ..................................................................................................... 11
1.5 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT:......................................................................................... 11
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY: ...................................................................................................... 12
1.7 ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION: .......................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, REGULATION AND RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................. 15
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW: ....................................................................................................... 15
2.2 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK : ......................................................................................... 20
2.2.1 PROVISIONS FOR OPEN ACCESS: ............................................................................. 20
2.2.2 PROVISIONS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY: ............................................................. 25
CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR OPEN ACCESS ......................................... 31
3.1 PROCEDURE FOR AVAILING THE OPEN ACCESS IN INTER-STATE
TRANSMISSION............................................................................................................................ 31
3.2 PROCEDURE FOR CONNECTIVITY: ................................................................................ 32
3.3 PROCESSING OF APPLICATION FOR CONNECTIVITY: ............................................ 33
3.4 GRANT OF MEDIUM TERM ACCESS AND LONG TERM OPEN ACCESS: ............. 34
3.4.1 CRITERIA FOR GRANT OF MEDIUM TERM OPEN ACCESS: ............................. 34
3.4.2 PROCESSING OF MEDIUM TERM OPEN ACCESS APPLICATION: ................... 34
3.4.3 CRITERIA FOR GRANT FOR LONG TERM OPEN ACCESS:................................ 35
3.4.4 PROCESSING OF THE LONG TERM OPEN ACCESS APPLICATION: ............... 35

CHAPTER 4: OPEN ACCESS CHARGES & LOSSES ................................................................. 37

4.1 OPEN ACCESS CHARGES: ................................................................................................... 37
4.2 OPEN ACCESS LOSSES: ....................................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER 5: STATE WISE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OPEN ACCESS CHARGES 41
5.1 MAHARASHTRA: ................................................................................................................... 41
5.2 GUJARAT: ................................................................................................................................ 44
5.3 RAJASTHAN: ........................................................................................................................... 49
5.4 TAMIL NADU .......................................................................................................................... 52
5.6 MADHYA PRADESH .............................................................................................................. 57
5.7 HARYANA ................................................................................................................................ 60
5.8 PUNJAB ..................................................................................................................................... 63
5.9 BIHAR ....................................................................................................................................... 68
5.10 KARNATAKA ........................................................................................................................ 71
CHAPTER 6: LANDED COST SHEET ANALYSIS...................................................................... 74
6.1 BRIEF UNDERSTANDING OF SHEET: .............................................................................. 74
6.2 STATE-WISE LANDED COST SHEET ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION: ......................... 74
CHAPTER 7: IMPEDIMENTS TO IMPLEMENTATION OF OPEN ACCESS ....................... 82
8.1 CONCLUSION: ........................................................................................................................ 85
8.2 RECOMMENDATIONS: ........................................................................................................ 85
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 87

xi

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 WHAT IS OPEN ACCESS :

As per Electricity Act, 2003 Open Access has been defined under Section 2 (47) as follows:
The non-discriminatory provision for the use of transmission lines or distribution system
or associated facilities with such lines or system by any licensee or consumer or a person
engaged in generation in accordance with the regulations specified by the Appropriate
Commission
To put simply, Open Access implies enabling of non-discriminatory sale/ purchase of electric
power/energy between two parties utilizing the system of an in- between (third party), and
not blocking it on unreasonable grounds.
Open access,

is a framework for development of power market and for promoting

competition, is mandated to allow freedom for consumers (suppliers) to choose suppliers

(consumers). It basically means that the buyer has the freedom of selecting the seller, and
vice-versa.

1.1.1 EVOLUTION OF OPEN ACCESS

The Indian Power Sector has come a long way since independence. Currently the electricity
generation capacity in India is the fifth largest in the world. India is also the sixth largest
consumer of electricity, and accounts for 3.4 per cent of the global energy consumption
signifying the manifold growth of the Industry.
Activities in the Indian Power Sector has largely remained a natural monopoly. The Sector
has always remained regulated but at the same time has undergone significant transformation.
After Independence the government, took upon itself the task of developing the Power market
but that could not improve the financial condition of the sector or could effectively address
the Power shortages.
However over the time the regulation has undergone several changes prominent being the
involvement of Private participation, Power trading development, empowering consumers to
choose supplier, a few to say. Fig.1 shows the regulatory changes the sector has undergone to
evolve as a competitive market from the monopolistic one.

Figure 1 :REGULATION FOR THE INDIAN POWER SECTOR

While the First two acts namely The Electricity Act, 1910 and The Electricity Act 1948 are
the belong to Pre-reform framework (prior to 1991).Reforms in the sector commenced in
1991, when the Indian Economy underwent liberalisation, amendments were made in these
existing acts The Indian Electricity Act, 1910 & The Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948.
The major purpose of making amendments in these laws was to attract Private investments
for capacity addition in generation and also diluting the monopoly of SEBs in phases. Thrust
to the development of Indian Power Sector came in form of The Electricity Regulatory
Commissions Act, 1998 which sought to delegate the role of government in matters
pertaining to Tariff regulations to independent Regulatory Commissions namely CERC &
SERCs.
Finally it was The Electricity Act, 2003 woven around a framework aimed to promote
competition combined with the regulatory oversight that gave evolution to the concept of
Open Access.

1.1.2 MARKET STRUCTURES: PRE & OPEN ACCESS MODEL:

The Pre-reform market structure was a typical of Monopolistic market while the Post-reform
characterizes the competitive market.
The Pre- reform market has two models namely Monopoly & Single Buyer Model:
A. MONOPOLY MODEL:
In this model, a single entity takes care of all the businesses such as generation, transmission
and distribution of electric power to the end users.In this, a single utility integrates the
generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Usually (but not necessarily), in this
kind of model, the monopoly lies with the Government. It is quite natural that this kind of
model should have strict regulation in order to protect end consumers against monopoly.
Most of the electric power systems followed this model prior to deregulation.

GENERATION

g SEBs

CPSUs

PRIVATE LICENSEES

TRANSMISSION

GRIDCO

PRIVATE LICENSEES

SEBs

DISTRIBUTION

SEBs

PRIVATE LICENSEES

Consumer

DOMESTIC

INDUSTRIAL

AGRICULTURAL

FigureMODEL:
2 :MONOPOLY MODEL/SEB MODEL
B. SINGLE BUYER

COMMERCIAL

In this model, there is competition in the wholesale sector, i.e., generation. Here, the single
buyer agency buys power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in addition to its own
generation. The power purchasing agency in turn sells it to state distribution utilities or
distribution companies in the service area. All power generated by generating companies
(Gencos) must be sold only to a purchasing agency and not to any other agency. Distribution
companies (Discoms) are only able to purchase from the single buyer agency. They do not
have a choice of choosing their power supplier.
In this model, sales from power pool to retailers take place at a pre-set tariff price. The single
buyer or the existing utility makes a long term contract with IPPs. A contract is necessary
because, without it, a generator would be reluctant to invest large amounts of capital in a
generating plant. The contracts are generally of life-of-plant type, indicating sale of all
capacity of generating units for its lifetime.

Figure 3: SINGLE BUYER MODEL

C. OPEN ACCESS MARKET MODEL:

With the enactment of the Electricity Act 2003 and implementation of open access, the
market structure in the power sector changed from the old single buyer structure to a multibuyer model. The generator could sell power to any buyer using the open access provision in
transmission and users had the choice to choose their supplier. Ever since the Electricity Act
2003 was introduced, there was increased competition among generators and suppliers, which
improved the sectors performance. Currently many states, which have unbundled the SEBs,
have reported improvements in their operational efficiency and are able to ensure reliable
power supply to consumers.
Even though SEBs are handling the regulatory operations, the Act has mandated the creation
of regulatory commissions in each state; these commissions have played a significant role in
passing different regulations and monitoring performances of the state utilities. Few of the
state regulatory bodies have set targets for their utilities, and achievement of these targets
before the scheduled time which fetches them incentives and any delay gets them penalised.
Thus, the structure is more regulated.
The market structure, which has taken shape after the Electricity Act 2003, looks promising
as it gives the right of choice to the supplier as well as buyer while attempting to ensure
quality and regular supply of power.

GENCOs
HIM

CPSUs

PVT. LICENCEES

IPPs

CAPTIVE

PTC & OTHER TRADERS

CTUs

STUs

PRIVATE LICENSEES

BULK
POWER
MARKET

DISCOMs

PRIVATE LICENCEES

RURAL CO-OP etc.

MULTIPLE DISTRIBUTION LICENCEES

DOMESTIC

INDUSTRIAL

AGRICULTURAL

Figure 4: OPEN ACCESS MARKET STRUCTURE

COMMERCIAL

1.2 NEED OF OPEN ACCESS:

The Power industry round the globe has undergone a radical changes in its business as well
as in its operational model. Following their successes in such transformations The Indian
Power Industry was propelled to bring in such transformation and Open Access is one such
tool to put the Power Sector on the path of progress.
The important reasons why Open Access is required in the Indian Power Sector are based on
following benefits that are expected to accrue:

1.2.1 PROMOTING COMPETITION:

The Power industry has for long remained a monopoly. It has been an obligation for a
generating system to sign a BPTA (Bulk Purchase Transmission Agreement) and to
adhere to connectivity conditions of the Transmission Company.

Open Access in this context grants right to the generating company, the nondiscriminatory use of

Transmission & Distribution lines thus reducing the

monopolistic nature of the electricity market and promoting competition at various

level of Power Industry.

Competition is distribution sector is based on the concept of Multiple licensees in the

same area so that consumers have a choice to decide to source their need.

1.2.2 CHANGING & DEVELOPING MARKET STRUCTURE:

Electricity Act 2003, aims to develop a full-fledged market of electricity and as such
Open Access is one of the many tools to change & develop a competitive market and
diluting its monopolistic nature.

Development of Competitive market will lead to competitive prices which will

obviously be lesser than monopolistic price.

1.2.3 OPTIMUM RESOURCE UTILIZATION:

Open Access led competitive environment can raise investment sentiments in the
sector and thus it can help network strengthening for better evacuation and
distribution.

Power sector has been currently marred by ageing and inadequate infrastructure.
With competitive players active in the sector infrastructure and network connectivity
can be developed as well as strengthened.

This will help route electricity from the area with surplus amount of electricity to the
region of deficit.

1.2.4 CONSUMER FRIENDLY:

Open Access makes Power Sector more consumer friendly in the sense that consumer
will have choice for the retailer who in turn will not only compete on prices offered
to the consumer but also on the facilities offered to him in form of better quality, a
better plan or better reliability.

Consumers who have requirement of more than 1 MW can directly source their
requirements from generators, instead of contacting themselves to trader or
distributor.

1.3 CATEGORIZATION OF OPEN ACCESS:

Open Access is categorized as the following depending upon the location of buying and
selling entities and further sub-categorized depending on the duration of the access.

1.3.1Inter State Open Access:

When buying and selling entity belongs to different states, it falls in the category of Inter State Open
Access. In this case CERC regulations are followed.
It is further categorized as:
i) Short Term Open Access (STOA): Open Access allowed for the period of less than one
month.
ii) Medium Term Open Access (MTOA): Open Access allowed for a period of 3 months
to 3 years.
iii) Long Term Open Access (LTOA): Open Access allowed for a period of 12 years to 25
years.
Note: If one requires open access for two months, then application for STOA should be
reapplied before the expiry of first month.

1.3.2 Intra State Open Access:

When buying and selling entity belongs to same state, it refers to Intra State Open Access. In
this case SERC regulations are followed.
It is further categorized as STOA, MTOA, and LTOA and the duration of which depends
on the respective state open access regulations.
9

Figure 5: CATEGORIZATION OF OPEN ACCESS

While the above categorization largely follows the inter-state open access, in intra-state open
access the type of consumers and the duration of term of open access may vary from state to
state.

10

1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT:

Open access to the inter-state transmission network (that is, inter-state open access) was
available from the very beginning of the Act coming into effect. The charges for transmission
capacity and quantum of power transmitted over it are easily discernable for effecting
payments.
Open access to the distribution network (that is, intra-state transmission), owned by Discoms,
however, was to be implemented in phases on payment of open access charges and charges
for cross-subsidy and additional subsidy if any, which were to be progressively reduced to
within 20 per cent of the average cost of power by 2010-11.
Open access is available for power purchase or sale by utilities or distribution licencees.
However, when it relates to generators and consumers, only some of the States have
permitted limited open access. Some are permitting open access to generators if they are
connected to central transmission network.
Lack of open access in intra-State transmission has stifled the development of the power
market, jeopardising competition. The competition is only feasible if players in the power
market are permitted access to both intra and inter-state transmission networks on payment of
reasonable charges.
While inter-state open access within the limitation of adequate available transfer capability'
(ATC) has been operational, intra-State open access has not progressed because of tardy
implementation of certain pre-requisites.
Lack of open access has also restricted transfer of power from surplus to deficit regions and
failed to optimise procurement costs.

1.5 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT:

The Project has been under-taken with an objective to understand the reasons for lack
of intra-state Open Access and to give recommendations for the progress of the same.

11

To compare & analyze the feasibility or non-feasibility of Open Access consumers

against Group Captive consumers for Solar & Non-Solar generation in major Indian
States.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

To identify favorable and non-favorable states for Open Access from the following
ten states considered for study:
1. Maharashtra
2. Gujarat
3. Rajasthan
4. Tamil Nadu
5. Andhra Pradesh
6. Madhya Pradesh
7. Haryana
8. Punjab
9. Bihar
10. Karnataka

To understand the various types of charges in monetary term and losses in kind levied
in case of normal & Solar Open access transaction in the identified states.

1. Transmission charges
2. Transmission losses
3. Wheeling charges
4. Wheeling losses
5. Cross subsidy surcharge

To develop a business model to compute the landed cost of electricity from Solar and
Non-solar Open Access and Group Captive project in identified states by assuming a
typical 1MW capacity project.

To compare commercial viability of these projects by comparing the landed cost of

such transaction with the industrial & commercial tariff for 1 MW consumer,
applicable in the identified states.

To draw a conclusion and way forward

12

1.7 ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

Moser Baer India Limited was founded in New Delhi in 1983 as a Time Recorder unit in
technical collaboration with Maruzen Corporation, Japan and Moser Baer Sumiswald,
Switzerland. Headquartered in New Delhi, Moser Baer successfully developed cutting edge
technologies to become the world's second largest manufacturer of Optical Storage media
like CDs and DVDs. Later, the company has diversified into manufacturing of Solar
Photovoltaic cells and modules (in 2006), home entertainment (in 2006), power generation
(in 2007), IT peripherals & consumer electronics (in 2007).
Moser Baer Projects Private Limited: In 2007, founders of Moser Baer ventured into
power generation through Moser Baer Projects Private Limited (MBPPL). MBPPL is one of
the fastest growing integrated power companies in India, operating across a synergetic span
of verticals comprising Power Generation, Power Trading, EPC, Development and
Renewables (Solar). MBPPL is committed to meet the energy requirements of country and is
aimed at promoting industrial development and living standards of society. The company
plans to commission 5000 MW of thermal, 500 MW of solar and 520 MW of hydro to
emerge as a leading player in Indias energy sector.Additionally the company has a pipeline
of over 6100 MW of power projects.

MBPPL DIVISIONS:
Solar Power Division: Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited (MBCEL), a 100% subsidiary of
MBPPL, was incorporated in September 2008 with a strategy to undertake development of
solar power projects worldwide. MBCEL is a project developer, owner and operator of solar
power projects. MBCEL is a Moser Baer promoted company, established for setting up solar
PV power projects in India and in international geographies. It is Indias largest solar power
development company with a presence in key international markets. MBCEL has 250 MWp
under development across multiple states in India and a project portfolio of over 200 MWp in
Europe to be developed by 2012.
Hydro Division: Moser Baer Electric Power Limited (MBEPL) undertakes development of
hydropower projects sustainably by respecting the environment, public safety and well-being
by synergizing economy and development in a viable balance. MBEPL current have two
hydro projects viz. (3 X 40 MW Miyar Hydro Electric Project and 4 X 100 MW Seli Hydro
Electric Project) in its portfolio.
Thermal Power Division
13

Moser Baer Power & Infrastructures Ltd (MBPIL) was incorporated in 2008 with the strategy
to foray into power and infrastructure. The company aims at having a thermal generation
portfolio of 5000-6000 MW by 2015. The company is all set to enter into power distribution
business through strategic tie-ups with various leading power sector companies. Currently
MBPIL is developing three Thermal Power Generation Projects with a combined generation
capacity of around 4000 MW in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Mining Services Division
Mining Division in MBPPL became functional in 2008 with the two pronged objective:
1.Building a portfolio of technically feasible and economically viable coal assets in India and
other coal rich countries to:
a. Provide fuel security to coal based thermal generation portfolio.
b. Explore opportunities arising out of growing demand of commodity (coal) amongst bulk
and marginal consumers, contribute a major share in organic growth of MBPPL and become
a favored supplier of coal from domestic and international source.
2. To provide consultancy services to the mineral industry from planning to optimization of
operation and value addition for organic growth of the customer.
Projects: Sondiha Coal Block, (Dist. Sarguja), Chhattisgarh
Moser Baer Projects Private Limited, (MBPPL) one of its promoted company (Lumen
engineering Private Limited) has formed a joint venture with Chhattisgarh Mineral
Development Corporation Limited (CMDCL) as partner for development of a commercial
coal block. The State Government holds 51% of the stake and 49% of economic interest of
this coal block is held by MBPPL. This project is expected to add at least one million tonnes
per annum of coal to the Indian economy.

14

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, REGULATION AND

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW:
S.B. Warkad et al [2005] in journal OPTIMAL ELECTRICITY NODAL PRICE
BEHAVIOUR: A STUDY IN INDIAN ELECTRICITY MARKET identifies that
the electric power industry has now entered in an increasingly competitive
environment where the trend of electricity market is heading towards Transmission
Open Access. In India, the Electricity Act 2003has implemented to undertake
comprehensive market reforms in electricity sector. Transmission Open Access seeks
to achieve the objective of ensuring optimal development of transmission network, to
promote efficient utilization of generation and transmission asset in the country and to
attract the required investment in transmission sector and to provide adequate returns.
Shafqat Mughal [2010] in National Power Engineering Conference presented a paper
on THE CHANGING SCENARIO OF ELECTRICITY TRADING AND POWER
MARKET MECHANISM IN INDIA described the significance of Open Access in
the power market. He describes Open access as the key to a free and fair electricity
market. Power producers (sellers) and dealers/customers (buyers) have to share a
common transmission network for wheeling the power from the point of generation to
point of consumption. The open access provided non-discriminatory use of the
interstate and intrastate transmission system, facilitating the trading of power from
one utility to other. It also facilitates setting up of Independent Power Producers
(IPPs), Captive Power Producers (CPPs), and merchant power plants. Open access at
the state level will be facilitated by the intrastate availability based tariff (ABT). The
open access can yield desirable results if one can ensure adequate margins in the
transmission system. After implementation of open access, the experience gained has
been providing signals for identification of congested corridors and expansion
planning.
Schweppe et al [1988. Portland, Oregon] in journal [Mandatory Wheeling: A
Framework for Discussion. in IEEE/PES Summer Meeting] mentions that wheeling
is a mongrel concept resulting from the mating of two inherently different economic
15

concepts; an ideal world of regulated utilities and an ideal deregulated competitive

market. Wheeling would not exist in either extreme.
Caramanis et al in journal [The costs of wheeling and optimal wheeling rates. IEEE
Transactions on Power Systems, 1986] have described the procedure for estimating
wheeling charges under open access. This involves solving an optimal power flow
problem for minimizing the cost of supply (or losses) subject to the constraints of
voltage level at each bus and maintaining power transactions between buses.
N. Balavenkata Muni et al in journal [ADVANCED OPEN ACCESS PRICING
METHODOLOGIES IN ECONOMICALLY ADAPTED ELECTRIC POWER
SYSTEM] [IJART, Vol.2 Issue 2, 2012, 33 42] describe Open Access as the key to
free and fair electricity market. Under Open Access, transmission acts as a Gate
Keeper. It can be closed in defence of regulated market place or opened to support a
greater number of participants.

Ravinder, Talegaonkar Ajay in his journal [Developing Power Exchanges in India :

Issues and challenges] [2008, Vol. 65, Issue 3] discussed the introduction of open
access for inter-state transmission as per the new electricity legislation in India has
facilitated bilateral trading resulting in better resource optimization within an overall
deficit scenario. While the volume of traded electricity is tiny compared to the total
consumption, nonetheless it has electrified an otherwise grim scenario. As a result, the
Indian power sector has started at tracing private investment in hydro and thermal
generation at an unprecedented scale.
K. Sarkar S. in his journal [Competition in the electricity sector: tracing recent
developments] [2006, Vol. 12, Issue: 23] described that the Electricity Act 2003 is
bold enough to set its objectives to promote competition in the electricity sector. It has
obligated the distribution licensee to allow non-discriminatory open access to
various consumers subject to technical requirements and payment of certain charges.
The National Electricity Policy 2005 and the NTP (National Tariff Policy) 2006 have
contained elaborate provisions to meet these objectives. The electricity regulators at
the central level and in more than 12 states have framed the open access regulations.
These enabling frameworks are supposed to bring in many players seeking open
16

access to the distribution and transmission electricity system. Unfortunately, this has
not happened. The often quoted reason is that the surcharge formula, as stipulated
under the NTP 2006, gives rise to an amount, which, in many cases, is more than the
cross subsidy amount. Even in the remaining cases, the number of players seeking for
open access is almost nil. This calls for a closer look at the open access regulation.
Clyde Wayne Crews [1999] in his journal Rethinking Electricity Deregulation: Does
Open Access Have It Wired -- Or Tangled? discusses that Open access to the power
grid, is intended to mean every commercial, residential or industrial customer shall
have a choice of any electricity provider, while the local utility would be required to
distribute the new providers electricity.

N. Rajkumar in his journal [Direct Current and Alternating Current Systems]

describes that The introduction of Open Access Transmission Network is expected to
handle a large transfer of power under secure and stable conditions. The Transmission
company is required to enlarge their transmission capacity and maintain a stable and
secure transmission system. Due to the problems associated with constructing new
transmission lines it becomes necessary to increase the transmission capability.
S.K. Soonee (C.E.O. POSCO) in his paper [Open Access in Inter-State Transmission]
cites the significance of Open Access in Trading Market Evolution. It describes
various products of Trading, accounts the short term trade in various financial periods.

Prof. S.A. Khaparde in his paper [Power Sector Reforms and Restructuring in India]
discusses the issues of provision of non-discriminatory use of inter-state transmission
system, payment of transmission charges and surcharges for use of transmission
system belonging to CTU, reducing and eliminating surcharges as the cross subsidy
surcharge in a phased manner, specification of rates, charges and terms and conditions
for use of inter-state transmission facilities.
Tushar Giri Nath in his paper [OPEN ACCESS: UNFINISHED AGENDA OF
POWER SECTOR REFORMS IN INDIA] described Open Access Regulations in

17

transmission and distribution as a must for the development of private sector power
generation and in the development of market for distribution entities. The charges
payable by the generator for using the network should be reasonable and access
should be non-discriminatory. This will not only ensure the power flow to the deficit
areas but also facilitate optimal use of the network and investment in the network by
the distribution and transmission utilities based on the actual demand of the region
rather than on their capacity to procure and distribute power. This paper attempts to
find out the limiting factors in the success of open access regulations in India.

J.P. Nawani et al [Power Market Design in India] cite issues related to

implementation of Open Access e.g. Complexity in Transmission System with
increased uncertainty in planning, concern of standard cost would increase,
transaction cost would become higher, regulatory control on transmission access and
pricing would be critical.
CERC Concept Paper on [Open Access in Inter-state Transmission] [August 2003]
highlights the issues associated with open access and frame regulations as the
outcome of the exercise. It also describes the transmission pricing schemes designed
to promote efficient day to day operation of bulk power market including power
trading. It gives economic signals for efficient use of transmission resources,
investment in transmission, location of new generation and loads, compensating
owner of transmission system. It also describes energy accounting e.g. Active Energy,
Reactive Energy etc. The paper concluded that:

The existing long-term transmission agreements should be honoured until modified;

else the issue of stranded assets would arise.

To begin with only spare transmission capacity can be made available for open
access.

Since, RLDCs will have a key role to play in the open access related issues; neutrality
in their functioning is expected.

In the new scenario, original beneficiaries will also be treated as open access
customers at par, for the purpose of power trading and bilateral exchanges. However,
the original beneficiaries shall continue to pay transmission charges for transmission
of allocated power from the ISGS.
18

Contract Path Method and Incremental Postage Stamp Methods have been suggested
for Open Access Pricing

The Transmission Service Providers in the country (CTU, STU, Licensees etc.) will
have to declare rates for various types of services within the ceiling price as decided
by the Commission.

Special Energy Meters will be installed by the open access customer as and when
required.

S.K. Chatterjee, Deputy Chief (RA), CERC [7th July, 2009] [Open access
challenges & way forward] describes application procedures and approval for
consumers connected to distribution system, intra-state transmission system. It
describes eligibility conditions and provisions under FOR model regulations. It also
describes the provision for imbalance settlements and various charges payable by
open access consumers.
Planning Commission, Government of India (2009) [Report of the Task Force on
Measures for Operationalizing Open Access in the Power Sector] confirmed that no
consumer in any State has availed of open access under Section 42 of the Act so far
and in fact in many States the provisions of the Act have not been operationalized so
far. The facility has been availed of only by captive producers and that too marginally.
The Task Force noted that the surplus states were extracting undue rent from their
surplus supplies, some of which actually came from the Central Public Sector Units
(CPSUs). The Task Force concluded that it would be in public interest to amend
Section 62(1) (a) to make it explicit that supply of electricity by a generating company
to a distribution licensee includes supply through an electricity trader. The Task Force
also recommended that since no case of open access under Section 42 of the Act had
been reported so far, the Regulators should meet with the stakeholders to address their
concerns with a view to operationalising the scheme of the Act. It further
recommended that consumer education and pro-active action by the electricity
regulators both at the Centre and in the States was vital for encouraging open access
to consumers.
Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) [Consultative Paper on
Cross subsidy surcharge] evaluates the residual Generation rate of various discoms on
19

basis of different approaches e.g. Embedded Cost Approach, Avoided Cost Approach,
Retail Tariff Based Approach.

S.S. Barpanda [2010] in his paper [Open Access in Inter State Transmission System]
3rd Capacity Building Programme for Officers of Electricity Regulatory
Commissions discusses the overview of Indian Power Market and the contribution of
Open Access to it. It provides an insight into the Open Access in inter-state
transmission, Open Access charges, scheduling of collective transaction through
Power Exchanges, Real time congestion management.
Hari Natarajan in his paper [An approach to introduce competition in The Indian
Power Sector] proposed a model allowing bilateral between IPPs and large users.
Given the current state of transmission infrastructure, the generating companies
should be allowed to contract with industrial customers in their own region with first
preference to customers within the state in which the generating company is going to
be located.

2.2 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK :

2.2.1 PROVISIONS FOR OPEN ACCESS:

20

Figure 6: PROVISIONS ENABLING OPEN ACCESS

I. SECTION 9(2) (CAPTIVE GENERATION)

Every person, who has constructed a captive generating plant and maintains and
operates such plant, shall have the right to Open Access for the purposes of carrying
electricity from his captive generating plant to the destination of his use.
Provided that such Open Access shall be subject to the Central Transmission Utility
or the State Transmission shall determine availability of adequate transmission facility
and such availability of transmission facility Utility, as the case may be:
Provided further that the Appropriate Commission shall adjudicate upon any dispute
regarding the availability of transmission facility.

II. SECTION 38(2)(D) FUNCTIONS OF CTU:

To provide non-discriminatory Open Access to its transmission system for use by:

21

 Any licensee or generating company on payment of the transmission charges can avail
open access.

Any consumer as and when such Open Access is provided by the State Commission
under sub-section (2) of section 42 on payment of the transmission charges and a
surcharge thereon.As may be specified by the Central Commission:
Provided that such surcharge shall be utilised for the purpose of meeting the requirement
of current level cross-subsidy: Provided further that such surcharge and cross subsidies
shall be progressively reduced in the manner as may be specified by the Central
Commission.
Provided also that the manner of payment and utilization of the surcharge shall be
specified by the Central Commission.
Provided also that such surcharge shall not be leviable in case Open Access is provided
to a person who has established a captive generating plant for carrying the electricity to
the destination of his own use.

III. SECTION 39(2)(D)FUNCTIONS OF STATE TRANSMISSION UTILITY:

To provide non-discriminatory Open Access to its transmission system for use by:

Any licensee or generating company on payment of the transmission charges.

Any consumer as and when such Open Access is provided by the State Commission
under sub-section (2) of section 42, on payment of the transmission charges and a
surcharge thereon, as may be specified by the State Commission.
Provided that such surcharge shall be utilized for the purpose of meeting the
requirement of current level cross-subsidy.

Provided further that such surcharge and cross subsidies shall be progressively reduced in
the manner as may be specified by the State Commission.

22

Provided also that the manner of payment and utilization of the surcharge shall be
specified by the State Commission.

Provided also that such surcharge shall not be leviable in case Open Access is provided to
a person who has established a captive generating plant for carrying the electricity to the
destination of his own use.
IV. SECTION 42 (DUTIES OF DISTRIBUTION LICENSEE AND OPEN ACCESS)

It shall be the duty of a distribution licensee to develop and maintain an efficient, coordinated and economical distribution system in his area of supply and to supply
electricity in accordance with the provisions contained in this Act.
The State Commission shall introduce Open Access in such phases and subject to such
conditions, (including the cross subsidies, and other operational constraints) as may be
specified within one year of the appointed date by it and in specifying the extent of Open
Access in successive phases and in determining the charges for wheeling. It shall have
due regard to all relevant factors including such cross subsidies and other operational
constraints.
Provided that such Open Access shall be allowed on payment of a surcharge in addition
to the charges for wheeling as may be determined by the State Commission.

Provided further that such surcharge shall be utilised to meet the requirements of current
level of cross subsidy within the area of supply of the distribution licensee.

Provided also that such surcharge and cross subsidies shall be progressively reduced in
the manner as may be specified by the State
Provided also that such surcharge shall not be leviable in case Open Access is provided to
a person who has established a captive generating plant for carrying the electricity to the
destination of his own use.

Provided also that the State Commission shall, not later than five years from the date of
commencement of the Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2003, by regulations, provide such

23

Open Access to all consumers who require a supply of electricity where the maximum
power to be made available at any time exceeds one megawatt.
Where any person, whose premises are situated within the area of supply of a distribution
licensee, (not being a local authority engaged in the business of distribution of electricity
before the appointed date) requires a supply of electricity from a generating company or
any licensee other than such distribution licensee. Such person may by notice, require the
distribution licensee for wheeling such electricity in accordance with regulations made by
the State Commission and the duties of the distribution licensee with respect to such
supply shall be of a common carrier providing non-discriminatory Open Access.
Where the State Commission permits a consumer or class of consumers to receive supply
of electricity from a person other than the distribution licensee of his area of supply, such
consumer shall be liable to pay an additional surcharge on the charges of wheeling, as
may be specified by the State Commission, to meet the fixed cost of such distribution
licensee arising out of his obligation to supply.
Every distribution licensee shall, within six months from the appointed date or date of
grant of licence, whichever is earlier, establish a forum for redressal of grievances of the
consumers in accordance with the guidelines as may be specified by the State
Commission.
Any consumer, who is aggrieved by non-redressal of his grievances under sub-section (5),
may make a representation for the redressal of his grievance to an authority to be known
as Ombudsman to be appointed or designated by the State Commission.
The Ombudsman shall settle the grievance of the consumer within such time and in such
manner as may be specified by the State Commission.
The provisions of sub-sections (5),(6) and (7) shall be without prejudice to right which
the consumer may have apart from the rights conferred upon him by those sub-sections.

24

V. SECTION 43 (1) (DUTY TO SUPPLY ON REQUEST):

[Save as otherwise provided in this Act, every distribution] licensee, shall, on an

application by the owner or occupier of any premises, give supply of electricity to such
premises, within one month after receipt of the application requiring such supply:

Provided that where such supply requires extension of distribution mains, or

commissioning of new sub-stations, the distribution licensee shall supply the electricity to
such premises immediately after such extension or commissioning or within such period
as may be specified by the Appropriate Commission:
VI. SECTION 49(AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO SUPPLY OR PURCHASE OF
ELECTRICITY):

Where the Appropriate Commission has allowed Open Access to certain consumers under
section 42, such consumers, notwithstanding the provisions contained in clause (d) of
sub-section (1) of section 62, may enter into an agreement with any person for supply or
purchase of electricity on such terms and conditions (including tariff) as may be agreed
upon by them.
VII. SECTION 86. (FUNCTIONS OF STATE COMMISSION)
(1) The State Commission shall discharge the following functions, namely:
Determine the tariff for generation, supply, transmission and wheeling of electricity,
wholesale, bulk or retail, as the case may be, within the State:

Provided that where open access has been permitted to a category of consumers under
section 42, the State Commission shall determine only the wheeling charges and
surcharge thereon, if any, for the said category of consumers;

2.2.2 PROVISIONS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY:

25

The Electricity Act 2003 has specified following enabling policy / regulatory provisions for
development of Renewable Energy:

SECTION 3 (1)

SECTION 4
SECTION 61 (h & i)
SECTION 86(1)(e)

Prepare and publish the National Electricity Policy and

Tariff Policy

Notify a national policy, permitting stand-alone

systems
Terms and conditions for the determination of tariff,

Suitable measures for connectivity with the grid and

sale of electricity to any person

NATIONAL ELECTRICITY POLICY

2005

Stipulated progress in share of RE

NATIONAL TARIFF POLICY

2006

RPO and policy for tariff fixation of RE

NATIONAL RURAL
ELECTRIFICATION POLICIES, 2006

Electricity for all & Stand alone systems

Figure 7: PROVISIONS ENABLING RENEWABLE ENERGY

I. SECTION 3(1):
Under Sections 3(1) it has been stated that the Central Government shall, from time to time,
prepare and publish the National Electricity Policy and Tariff Policy. In consultation with the
state governments and authority for development of the power system based on optimal
utilization of resources such as coal, natural gas, nuclear substances or material, hydro and
renewable sources of energy.

II. SECTION 4:
Section 4 states that the Central Government shall, after consultation with the state
governments, prepare and notify a national policy, permitting stand-alone systems (including

26

those based on renewable sources of energy and other non-conventional sources of energy)
for rural areas.
III. SECTION 61(H & I):
Section 61, 61(h) and 61(i) state that the appropriate commission shall, subject to the
provision of this Act, specify the terms and conditions for the determination of tariff, and in
doing so, shall be guided by the following. Namely the promotion of cogeneration and
generation of electricity from renewable sources of energy and the National Electricity Policy
and Tariff Policy.
IV. SECTION 86(1)(E):
Section 86(1) and 86(1)(e) states that the state commissions shall discharge the following
functions; promote cogeneration and generation of electricity from renewable sources of
energy by providing suitable measures for connectivity with the grid and sale of electricity to
any person. Specify, for purchase of electricity from such sources, a percentage of the total
consumption of electricity in the area of a distribution license.
V. NATIONAL ELECTRICITY POLICY 2005:
The National Electricity Policy 2005 stipulates that progressively the share of electricity
from non-conventional sources would need to be increased. Purchase by distribution
companies shall be through competitive bidding process; considering the fact that it will take
some time before non-conventional technologies compete, in terms of cost, with
conventional sources, the commission may determine an appropriate deferential in prices to
promote these technologies
VI. TARIFF POLICY 2006:
The Tariff Policy announced in January 2006 has the following provisions:
Pursuant to provisions of section 86 (1) (e) of the Act, the Appropriate Commission
shall fix a minimum percentage for purchase of energy from such sources taking into
account availability of such resources in the region and its impact on retail tariffs.
Such percentages for purchase of energy should be made applicable for the tariffs to
be determined by the SERCs latest by April 01, 2006.
It will take some time before non-conventional technologies can compete with
conventional sources in terms of cost of electricity. Therefore, procurement by
27

distribution companies shall be done at preferential tariffs determined by the

Appropriate Commission.
Such procurement by Distribution Licensees for future requirements shall be done, as
far as possible, through competitive bidding process under Section 63 of the Act
within suppliers offering energy from same type of non-conventional sources. In the
long-term, these technologies would need to compete with other sources in terms of
full costs.
The Central Commission should lay down guidelines within three months for pricing
non-firm power, especially from non-conventional sources, to be followed in cases
where such procurement is not through competitive bidding.

VII. NATIONAL RURAL ELECTRIFICATION POLICIES, 2006:

Goals include provision of access to electricity to all households by the year 2009,
quality and reliable power supply at reasonable rates, and minimum lifeline
consumption of 1 unit / household/day as a merit good by year 2012.

For villages/habitations where grid connectivity would not be feasible or not cost
effective, off-grid solutions based on stand-alone systems may be taken up for supply
of electricity. Where these also are not feasible and if only alternative is to use
isolated lighting technologies like solar photovoltaic, these may be adopted.
However, such remote villages may not be designated as electrified.

State government should, within 6 months, prepare and notify a rural electrification
plan, which should map and detail the electrification delivery mechanism. The plan
may be linked to and integrated with district development plans. The plan should
also be intimated to the appropriate commission.

Gramapanchayat shall issue the first certificate at the time of the village becoming
eligible for declaration as electrified.

Subsequently, the Gram Panchayat shall

certify and confirm the electrified status of the village as on 31st March each year.

28

2.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & ASSUMPTIONS:

This project of is based on the basic concept of research methodology. The data has been
collected

by

keeping

the

following

in

mind

RESEARCH DESIGN
This study is an exploratory research to understand about the viability of Open Access

SAMPLE
The sample states taken for the study are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Haryana & Karnataka

COLLECTION OF DATA
The data such as Transmission Charges, Transmission Losses, Wheeling Charges.
Wheeling Losses & Cross Subsidy surcharges have been collected from various SERC
websites from the sample state.
Solar generation related charges have been collected from MNRE websites and also by
visiting the renewable orders of the sample states taken for the study.

ANALYSIS PATTERN
Data Analysis has been done by developing a landed cost sheet model of the sample state
& making a comparative analysis of Open Access Consumer & Captive Consumer to
study the feasibility of Open Access in that particular state.

The research methodology is based on certain assumptions. Some of them are summarized as
follows:
The selection of sample states have been done on the following assumptions:

Solar Potential State

Solar & OA regulations are in place

Data availability by SERCs orders and MNRE website.

The business model developed for Landed Cost Sheet analysis on the following
assumptions:

Consumers are High voltage and of Industrial & Commercial category.

29

Calculations have been done for the Long term & Medium term Open Access
consumers depending upon the availability of charges on the SERC website

The injection & drawal voltage wherever not mentioned have been considered
generally at these voltage levels and taken from the respective SERCs website of
the sample state :
i) 11Kv
ii) 33Kv
iii) 66Kv &
iv) 132Kv

Non- Solar category refers to thermal generation and not other means of
renewable energy.

Calculation of Landed Cost has been done for 1MW plant with CUF 19% & tariff
at bus bar to be Rs. 7/kWh for Solar category and CUF with 80% & tariff at bus
bar of Rs.4/kWh for the Non-Solar category.

Calculation of Landed cost has been done taking into account the Transmission
charges, Wheeling charges, Transmission losses & Wheeling losses

30

CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR OPEN ACCESS

3.1 PROCEDURE FOR AVAILING THE OPEN ACCESS IN INTER-STATE
TRANSMISSION
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Grant Of Connectivity, Long-Term
Access and Medium-Term Open Access In Inter-State Transmission And Related
Matters) Regulations 2009 lays down the detail procedure of availing the Open Access.
Regulation 3 under Chapter 2 of the General Provisions forms the basis of availing the
Open Access Rights in respect of Inter State Transmission System. The Regulation States that
an applicant seeking Open Access without applying for Inter State connectivity first, cannot
apply for the Long Term access or the Medium Term Open Access. However an applicant
may simultaneously apply for connectivity and long-term or medium-term open access.
However merely stating the word Applicant does not clearly define who can apply for the
Inter-State Connectivity. Regulation 2 (1)(b) under Chapter 1 of Preliminary defines the
applicant as follows:
i) W.R.T Grant of Connectivity:
a) A generating station with installed capacity of 250 MW and above, including a
captive generating plant of exportable capacity of 250 MW and above.
b) A hydro generating station or a generating station using renewable sources of energy,
of installed capacity between 50 MW to 250 MW.
c) One of the Hydro generating stations or generating stations using renewable sources
of energy, individually having less than installed capacity of 50 MW but collectively
having an aggregate capacity of 50 MW and above, and acting on behalf of all these
31

generating stations, and seeking connection from CTU at a single connection point at
the pooling sub-station under CTU, termed as the lead generator.
d) A bulk consumer meaning any consumer who intends to avail supply of a minimum
load of 100 MW from Inter-State transmission System defined in Regulation 2 (1)(c)
e) 3rd amendment has added a new definition of applicant which entitles any renewable
generating station as an applicant with capacity between 5 MW and 50 MW by a
generating company in its existing generating station.
This addition has been made to facilitate development of renewable energy projects in
the premises of existing generating stations.

ii) W.R.T long-term access or medium term open access

A generating station including a captive generating plant, a consumer, an electricity trader or
a distribution licensee.
Central Transmission Utility which is nodal agency for grant of connectivity, long-term
access and medium-term access, if satisfied that an applicant is eligible to avail the aforesaid
rights in the inter-state transmission system, it may further direct the applicant to proceed
The sequence of procedure is as follows:

3.2 PROCEDURE FOR CONNECTIVITY:

Regulation 8 under Chapter 3 of Connectivity Central Electricity Regulatory
Commission (Grant of Connectivity, Long-term Access and Medium-term Open Access
in inter-state and related matters) Regulations, 2009 lays the detailed procedure of Grant
of Connectivity.
The application for connectivity shall contain details such as, proposed geographical
location of the applicant, quantum of power to be interchanged with the inter-state
Transmission system and such other details laid down by Central Transmission
Utility.
32

However an applicant has to apply for a fresh application in cases of Material Change
in the location of the applicant such as:

A change in more than 100 MW in the case of applicant defined under

Regulation 2(1) (b)(1)(a).

A 40% change in the installed capacity in case of applicant defined under

Regulation 2(1)(b)(1)(b).

A 40% change in the aggregate installed capacity in the case of applicant

defined under Regulation 2(1)(b)(1)(c).

Also in case of applicant defined under Regulation 2(1)(b)(1)(c), application will be

accepted by the CTU only if all the generators agree in writing amongst themselves
that the lead generator will be acting on their behalf to undertake all the operational
and commercial responsibilities for all the collective generators.

3.3 PROCESSING OF APPLICATION FOR CONNECTIVITY:

i) Upon receiving the application the nodal agency processes the application in consultation
with other agencies involved in the Inter-State transmission system.
ii)The nodal agency shall specify the name of the sub-station or switch yard or pooling
station where connectivity is to be granted and in case the connectivity is granted by looping
in and looping-out of an existing or proposed line, the nodal agency shall specify the point of
connection and the name of line at which connectivity is to be granted.
Iii)In turn the applicant shall sign a connection agreement with the Central Transmission
Utility agreeing to connect with the sub-station or transmission line identified by the nodal
agency.
A tripartite agreement in compliance with CEA (Technical Standards for Connectivity to the
Grid) Regulations, 2007 has to be signed between the applicant, the Central Transmission
Utility and inter-state transmission licensee, in case connectivity of an applicant is granted to
the inter-state transmission system of an inter-state transmission licensee.

33

3.4 GRANT OF MEDIUM TERM ACCESS AND LONG TERM OPEN

ACCESS:
3.4.1 CRITERIA FOR GRANT OF MEDIUM TERM OPEN ACCESS:
Medium Term Open Access is granted only if the resultant power flow can be accommodated
in the existing transmission system.
Application for the medium term open access is to be processed on first-come-first-served
basis and applications received in a particular month have to be treated to have arrived at the
same time. The processing of the application starts from the last day of the month during
which application had arrived.
Also application seeking longer term for the access will be given higher priority.
3.4.2 PROCESSING OF MEDIUM TERM OPEN ACCESS APPLICATION:
The procedure of processing a medium-term application is as follows:
a) The application for grant of medium term open access should contain all the details laid
under detailed procedure and particularly information such as point of exchange of power and
the quantum of power.
b) Upon receiving the application, the nodal agency in consultation with other agencies
involved in inter-state transmission system should process the application and also do the
necessary system study to decide on grant of refusal to the medium term open access.
c) If the nodal agency is satisfied that the access can be granted to the supplier it will provide
medium

term

access

for

the

period

mentioned

in

the

application.

However in case if the agency cannot grant the access for the period mentioned in the
application, but can grant the same for a period less than sought by the applicant, the reason
for the same has to be provided in writing.
d) The applicant in turn has to sign an agreement for medium term open access with the
Central Transmission Utility agreeing to the terms of detail procedures. The agreement
should mention details such as the date of commencement and end of medium term open
access, point of injection into the grid and point of drawal from the grid.
e) Immediately after the grant of Medium term open access, the nodal agency shall inform the
RLDCs and the SLDCs so that they can consider the same while processing request for short
term open access.
34

3.4.3 CRITERIA FOR GRANT FOR LONG TERM OPEN ACCESS:

Before awarding long-term open access to an applicant, Central Transmission Utility has to
consider if the augmentation of inter-state transmission system is required or not.
Just like the medium term Open Access, Applications seeking long term open access are also
processed on first-come-first-served basis treating them to have arrived at the same time
during a given month. The processing of the application starts from the last day of the month
during which application had arrived.
3.4.4 PROCESSING OF THE LONG TERM OPEN ACCESS APPLICATION:
The procedure of processing a long term open access application is as follows:
a) The application for the grant of long term access shall contain details as laid by the CTU in
the detailed procedure meeting the following conditions:
1.In case of a system requiring the augmentation of transmission system and the power to be
quantum of the power has not been firmed up, the applicant has to indicate the quantum of
power to be along with the name of regions in which the electricity is proposed to be
interchanged. Also an applicant has to bear the transmission charges, if augmentation is
required even if the source of supply has not been identified.
2. If a system requires augmentation, an applicant must notify the nodal agency 3 years prior
to the intended date of availing long-term access or such time period estimated by CTU,
whichever is less so as to facilitate such augmentation.
3.An applicant needs to apply for a fresh application to avail long term access in case there
has been any material change in location of the applicant or a change by more than 100 MW
in quantum of power to be interchanged using the inter-state transmission system or change
in the region of procurement or supply of electricity.
b)The application will be accompanied with a bank guarantee of Rs. 10,000/- per MW in
favour of nodal agency as per the detailed procedure and will be valid for the time till the
execution of the long term access agreement in the case when augmentation of transmission
system is required and till operationalization of long term access when augmentation is not
required.
The bank guarantee can be encashed by the nodal agency if the application has been
withdrawn by the applicant or the long-term access rights are relinquished prior to the
operationalization of such rights when augmentation of transmission system is not required.
35

c) Upon receiving the application the nodal agency in consultation and through coordination
with agencies involved in inter-state transmission system including STU (if required) process
the application and carry out the necessary transmission studies to its best so as to grant the
access to the applicant within the timeframe as laid in the regulation. The agency might
approach the commission for appropriate directions in case of any difficulty.
d) After the study has been done, the agency specifies the inter-state transmission system
required for the long term access and also informs the applicant if the system requires
augmentation.
e) In case the system requires augmentation, a Committee formed based on Tariff based
Competitive-bidding Guidelines for Transmission Service identifies element(s) needed for
augmentation.
f) While granting long-term access, the nodal agency communicates information pertaining to
estimated transmission charges likely to be payable and the date from which the long-term
access will be granted.
The applicant in turn has to sign an agreement for long term open access with the Central
Transmission Utility agreeing to the terms of detail procedures. The agreement should
mention details such as the date of commencement and end of long term open access, point of
injection into the grid and point of drawal from the grid and the details of transmission line.
In case of augmentation, the time line of same shall be mentioned in the agreement.
g) Immediately after the grant of Long term open access, the nodal agency shall inform the
RLDCs and the SLDCs so that they can consider the same while processing request for short
term open access.
h) Towards the end of the period of Long term open access, a written request can be made at
least 6 months in advance for extension, which otherwise will be deemed to have expired.

36

CHAPTER 4: OPEN ACCESS CHARGES & LOSSES

4.1 OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:
There are major charges to be paid by open access consumers to distribution licensee,
transmission licensees and other related entities, other than the power purchase cost paid to
the generator or supplying entity.
Some of the applicable Open Access Charges are as follows:

TRANSMISSION
CHARGES

OPEN
ACCESS
CHARGES
CROSS SUBSIDY
SURCHARGE

WHEELING
CHARGES

Figure 8: TYPES OF OPEN ACCESS

37

4.1.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGES OR STU CHARGES:

Transmission charges are those charges which are paid to transmission licensee for the use of
transmission system and associated facilities by another person for the conveyance of
electricity.
Applicability: These charges are applicable to generating stations, captive generating plants
and consumers who are connected to state transmission network i.e, at 66 or 132 kV and
discom network i.e, at 11 and 33 Kv
4.1.2 WHEELING CHARGES OR DISTRIBUTION CHARGES:
Distribution charges are those charges which are paid to distribution licensee for the use of
distribution system and associated facilities by another person for the conveyance of
electricity.
The licensees, generating stations, captive generating plants and consumers shall be eligible
for open access to distribution system of a distribution licensee on payment of the wheeling
charges as may be determined by the Commission
Applicability: These charges are applicable to generating stations, captive generating plants
and consumers who are connected to discom network i.e, at 11 and 33 kV.
4.1.3 CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE:
If open access facility is availed of by a subsidising consumer of a distribution licensee of the
State, then such consumer, in addition to transmission and/or wheeling charges, shall pay
cross subsidy surcharge determined by the Commission. Cross subsidy surcharge determined
on Per Unit basis shall be payable, on monthly basis, by the open access customers based on
the actual energy drawn during the month through open access. The amount of surcharge
shall be paid to the distribution licensee of the area of supply from whom the consumer was
availing supply before seeking open access.
Applicability: This charge is paid by open access consumers irrespective of voltage or
connectivity level.

38

4.2 OPEN ACCESS LOSSES:

WHEELING
LOSSES

TRANSMISSION
LOSSES

OPEN
ACCESS
LOSSES
Figure 9: OPEN ACCESS LOSSES

4.2.1 WHEELING LOSS OR DISTRIBUTION LOSS:

Distribution losses are the technical losses for the distribution system. It is determined by the
Commission for various voltage levels for the applicable year, based on prudence check of
the submissions of the Distribution Licensee during their Tariff determination process and
shall be apportioned in proportion to the actual energy drawal by the Open Access consumers
and shall be payable in kind at relevant voltage level.
Applicability: This loss is applicable to generating stations, captive generating plants and
consumers who are connected to discom network i.e, at 11 and 33 kV.

4.2.2 TRANSMISSION LOSS OR STU LOSS:

Transmission losses are those losses which are there in the transmission system. The buyers
and sellers shall absorb apportioned energy losses in the transmission system in accordance
with the provisions specified by the Central Commission.

39

Applicability: This loss is applicable to generating stations, captive generating plants and
consumers who are connected to state transmission network i.e, at 66 or 132 kV and discom
network i.e, at 11 and 33 Kv.
These are the general Charges & Losses pertaining to Open Access. However in the report for
the State-wise comparative analysis of Open Access and the Viability assessment, only
Transmission charges & Losses, Wheeling Charges & Losses, Cross Subsidy Surcharge have
been considered.

40

CHAPTER 5: STATE WISE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OPEN

ACCESS CHARGES

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Grant of Connectivity, Long-term

Access and Medium-term Open Access in inter-State Transmission and related matters)
Regulations, 2009 is the umbrella regulation followed by the States considered for the report
i.e the procedure for the grant of Open Access is same for the intra-state Open Access.
Differences if any, are largely confined to the duration of term of Open Access or the type.
For Eg. In Bihar, the provision is for the grant of LTOA and STOA.LTOA consumers in the
state are deemed to be those consumers who seek the access for more than 5 years while
STOA are consumers seeking access for less than 5 years.
The state wise Open access comparison has been done taking into consideration the
Transmission Charges, Wheeling Charges, Cross Subsidy surcharge & Additional surcharge
if any. As will be seen that the charges approved by these State Commissions vary from state
to state and the impact of these variations reflected in the Landed Cost for each state making
them viable or non-viable for the Open Access.

5.1 MAHARASHTRA:

5.1.1 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE ON CHARGES OF WHEELING:

The Distribution Licensee is entitled to recover an additional surcharge on charges of

wheeling from a consumer of such Distribution Licensee who is granted open access
in accordance with these Regulations.
Provided that the Distribution Licensee is entitled to raise the bill on and recover the
charges from the Supplier.

The Distribution Licensee shall, upon receiving application for open access by a
consumer shall intimate to such consumer the additional surcharge payable by such
consumer, along with the details of such calculation, if open access is to be provided.

41

The additional surcharge to meet the fixed cost of the Distribution Licensee arising
out of its obligation to supply shall be calculated by the Distribution Licensee, based
on the following principles
(i)

The cost must have been incurred by the Distribution Licensee or is expected
with reasonable certainty, to be incurred on account of such consumer; and

(ii)

The cost has not been or cannot be recovered from the consumer, or from
other consumers who have been given supply from the same assets or
facilities, or from other Connectors, either through wheeling charges, standby
charges or such other charges as may be approved by the Commission in
exercise of powers under Section 64 of the Act.

The amount of additional surcharge on the charges of wheeling shall be paid by the
Supplier to the Distribution Licensee in accordance with the terms and conditions of
the Connection and Use of Distribution System Agreement.

5.1.2 CROSS -SUBSIDY SURCHARGE

Every consumer and person requiring supply of electricity who has been granted open
access in accordance with these Regulations shall be liable to pay a cross-subsidy
surcharge, as may be stipulated, as a condition for availing of open access:

Provided that such cross-subsidy surcharge shall be based on the current level of
cross-subsidy of the tariff category / tariff slab and/ or voltage level to which such
consumer or person belong or are connected to, as the case may be, and shall not be
leviable if such tariff category / tariff slab or voltage level of connection does not bear
any current level of cross-subsidy.

Provided that the Distribution Licensee is entitled to raise the bill on and recover the
charges from the Supplier in accordance with Clause 8.2

42

Cross Subsidy Surcharge (CSS) Computation:In line with the National Tariff Policy, the Commission vide order dated 09th September
2011 has adopted the following formula for determination of the CSS. The same formula has
been used for determination of the revised circular vide order dated 21st February 2013:
CSS=T-[C{1+L/100)+D]
T is tariff payable by the relevant category of consumers
C is Weighted average cost of power purchase of top 5% at margin excluding liquid fuel
based generation and renewable power.
D is the wheeling charge & L is the system loss for the applicable voltage level.
TABLES OF VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:
VOLTAGE LEVEL

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

WHEELING LOSS (%)

33 Kv

4.19%

6%

22 or 11 Kv

4.19%

9%

Table 1: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING LOSSES FOR MAHARASHTRA

VOLTAGE LEVEL

TRANSMISSION CHARGE

WHEELING

(Rs./unit)

(Rs./unit)

33kv

0.44

0.11

22 or 11kv

0.43

0.60

CHARGE

Table 2: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES FOR MAHARASHTRA

43

66 kV & ABOVE

33kV

22/11kV

(Rs./unit)

(Rs./unit)

(Rs./unit)

EXPRESS FEEDER

1.63

1.18

0.53

NON-EXPRESS

1.2

0.76

0.10

2.84

2.39

1.74

EXPRESS FEEDER

5.53

5.09

4.43

NON-EXPRESS

4.91

4.47

3.81

1.76

1.32

0.66

CONSUMER
CATEGORY
INDUSTRY

FEEDER
SEASONAL
INDUSTRY
COMMERCIAL

FEEDER
RAILWAYS

Table 3: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR MAHARASHTRA

5.2 GUJARAT:

5.2.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGES:

(i) By Long-Term and Medium-Term Open Access Customers:
The Total Transmission Cost (TTC) as determined by the Commission in the Annual
Transmission Tariff Order of the STU shall be shared by all long-term and medium-term
open access customers on monthly basis (including existing Distribution Licensees) in the
ratio of their allotted capacities, in accordance with the following formula:
Monthly Transmission Tariff (MTT) = TTC/(ACs x 12) (in Rs./MW/month)
Where;
TTC = Total Transmission Cost determined by the Commission for the transmission system
for the concerned year (in Rs), and
44

ACs = Sum of capacities allocated to all long-term and medium-term open access customers
in MW.
Provided that Monthly Transmission Tariff shall also be shared by a Generating Company if
power from such Generating Company is sold to a consumer outside the State of Gujarat, to
the extent of capacity contracted outside the State:
Provided further that the transmission tariff payable by any long-term or medium-term open
access customer utilizing the transmission system for part of a month shall be determined as
under:
Transmission Tariff = TTC/(ACs x 8760) (in Rs./MWh);
Where;
TTC = Total Transmission Cost determined by the Commission for the transmission system
for the relevant year (in Rs), and
ACs = sum of capacities allocated to all long-term and medium-term open access customers
in MW.
Provided that where a dedicated transmission system used for open access has been
constructed for exclusive use of an open access customer, the transmission charges for such
dedicated system shall be worked out by transmission licensees for their respective systems
and got approved by the Commission and shall be borne entirely by such open access
customer till such time the surplus capacity is allotted and used by other persons or purposes.
(ii)By Short-Term Open Access Customers:
Transmission Charges payable by a Short-Term Open Access customer shall be at a rate onefourth of the transmission charges applicable to the Long-Term / Medium-Term customer, as
described above.
Transmission charge payable by Short-term open access customers
= Rate of transmission charge payable by long-term / medium-term open access
customers

45

5.2.2 WHEELING CHARGES:

Wheeling charges are payable to distribution licensee, by an open access customer for
usage of its system shall be as determined by the Commission in the tariff order from
time to time:

The Commission shall specify the wheeling charge of Distribution Wires Business of
the Distribution Licensee in its Order passed under sub-section (3) of Section 64 of
the Act:
Provided that the charges payable by a Distribution System User under this Chapter
may comprise any combination of fixed/demand charges, and variable charges, as
may be stipulated by the Commission in such Order.

Provided that Wheeling charges shall be payable on the basis of scheduled energy.

Provided also that an open access customer connected to the STU system shall be
liable to pay the wheeling charges determined under this regulation, if such customer
was paying wheeling charges directly or indirectly before availing open access.

5.2.3 CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE:

If open access facility is availed of by a subsidising consumer of a distribution

licensee of the State, then such consumer, in addition to transmission and/or wheeling
charges, shall pay cross subsidy surcharge determined by the Commission. Cross
subsidy surcharge determined on Per Unit basis shall be payable, on monthly basis, by
the open access customers based on the actual energy drawn during the month
through open access. The amount of surcharge shall be paid to the distribution
licensee of the area of supply from whom the consumer was availing supply before
seeking open access.

The Cross subsidy surcharge shall be determined by the Commission in accordance

with the principles and formula stipulated in the Tariff Policy.

46

Provided also that such cross subsidy surcharge shall not be levied in case distribution
access is provided to a person who has established a captive generation plant for
carrying the electricity to the destination of his own use.
CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE COMPUTATION:
The cross subsidy surcharge is based on the formula given in the Tariff Policy as below:
S = T-[C(1+L/100)+D]
Where, S is the surcharge
T is the tariff payable by the relevant category of consumers;
C is the weighted average cost of power purchase of top 5% at the margin excluding fuel
3based generation and renewable power.
D is the Wheeling charges.
L is the system losses for the applicable voltage level, expressed as percentage

5.2.4 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

An open access customer, receiving supply of electricity from a person other than the
distribution licensee of his area of supply, shall pay to the distribution licensee an
additional surcharge on the charges of wheeling, in addition to wheeling charges and
cross-subsidy surcharge, to meet out the fixed cost of such distribution licensee
arising out of his obligation to supply as provided under sub-section (4) of section 42
of the Act.

This additional surcharge shall become applicable only if the obligation of the
licensee in terms of power purchase commitments has been and continues to be
stranded or there is an unavoidable obligation and incidence to bear fixed costs
consequent to such a contract. However, the fixed costs related to network assets
would be recovered through wheeling charges.

47

 The distribution licensee shall submit to the Commission on six monthly basis, a
detailed calculation statement of fixed cost which the licensee is incurring towards his
obligation to supply.

The Commission shall scrutinize the statement of calculation of fixed cost submitted
by the distribution licensee and obtain objections, if any, and determine the amount of
additional surcharge:
Provided that any additional surcharge so determined by the Commission shall be
applicable only to the new open access customers.

Additional surcharge determined on Per Unit basis shall be payable, on monthly basis,
by the open access customers based on the actual energy drawn during the month
through open access:
Provided that such additional surcharges shall not be levied in case distribution access
is provided to a person who has established a captive generation plant for carrying the
electricity to the destination of his own use.

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

VOLTAGE

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

WHEELING LOSS (%)

11Kv

4.10%

10%

Table 4: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING LOSS FOR GUJARAT

VOLTAGE

11kv

TRANSMISSION CHARGE WHEELING CHARGE

(Rs./kWh)

(Rs./kWh)

.12

.12

Table 5: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES FOR GUJARAT

48

CONSUMER CATEGORY

CROSS

SUBSIDY

SURCHARGE

(Rs./kWh)
ALL CATEGORY

0.45

Table 6: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR GUJARAT

5.3 RAJASTHAN:

5.3.1 TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES:

The Transmission charges or wheeling charges for use of the Transmission System of
the Transmission Licensee or the distribution system of a distribution licensee shall be
regulated as under:

Transmission charges and wheeling charges payable by an open access customer

shall be determined by the Commission in terms of the regulations framed by the
Commission for determination of tariff.
Provided the transmission charges will be determined on the basis of open access
capacity contracted or open access capacity utilized, whichever is higher.
However, excess open access capacity utilized, up to 5% of open access capacity
allocation, occurring for two time blocks of 15 minutes each during a month will
be ignored.

Where a dedicated transmission system or a distribution system used for open

access has been constructed for exclusive use of an open access customer, the
transmission charges or wheeling charges for such dedicated system shall be
worked out in terms of the regulations for determination of tariff and shall be
borne entirely by such open access customer till such time the surplus capacity is
used for other persons or purposes.

In case intra state transmission system or distribution system is used by an open

access customer in addition to inter-state transmission system, transmission charges
and wheeling charges shall be payable for use of intra-state system in addition to
payment of transmission charges for inter-state transmission.
49

5.3.2 SURCHARGE :

In addition to transmission charges and wheeling charges, a consumer availing open

access to the transmission system/distribution system shall pay a surcharge worked
out in the manner laid down here under

The cost of supply to the category of consumers for the purpose of tariff to which the
open access consumer belongs, the voltage at which he is connected and the
realisation from that category of consumers shall be the basis of calculating the extent
of cross subsidy provided by such consumer.The methodology of computing cost of
supply and realisation in respect of a category of consumers shall be laid down by the
Commission by a separate order

The amount of surcharge shall be so calculated as to meet the current level of cross
subsidy from that category of consumers and shall be paid to the distribution licensee
of area of supply where the consumer is located.

The surcharge shall be reduced and eliminated in the same manner as the Commission
may lay down for reduction and elimination of cross subsidies in its regulations
relating to terms and conditions of tariff of distribution licensees.

The consumers availing exclusively interstate transmission system shall pay the same
amount of surcharge as determined under these regulations.
5.3.3 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

A consumer availing open access and receiving supply of electricity from a person
other than the distribution licensee of his area of supply shall pay to the distribution
licensee an additional surcharge, in addition to wheeling charges and surcharge, to
meet the fixed cost of such distribution licensee arising out of his obligation to supply
as provided under sub-section (4) of section 42 of the Act;

The distribution licensee whose consumer intends to avail open access shall submit to
the Commission within fifteen days of receipt of application under regulation 10 or 11

50

an account of fixed cost which the licensee is incurring towards his obligation to
supply;

The Commission shall scrutinize the statement of account submitted by the licensee
and obtain objections, if any, of the open access consumer and determine the amount
of additional surcharge payable by the consumer to the licensee,

The additional surcharge shall be leviable for such period as the Commission may
determine but not normally exceeding one year.

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

VOLTAGE LEVEL

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

WHEELING LOSS (%)

132 Kv

4.20%

N.A

33Kv

4.20%

3.80%

11Kv

4.20%

12.60%

Table 7: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING LOSSES FOR RAJASTHAN

VOLTAGE LEVEL

TRANSMISSION

WHEELING

CHARGES (Rs./unit)

(Rs./unit)

132Kv

N.A

0.01

33Kv

0.22

0.11

11Kv

0.22

0.32

CHARGES

Table 8: TRANSMISSION & WHEELING CHARGES FOR RAJASTHAN

51

CONSUMER TYPE

CROSS

SUBSIDY

SURCHARGE

(Rs./kWh)
LIP-EHV

0.18

LIP- 33Kv

0.13

LIP-11Kv

0.05

ML-EHV

0.15

ML- 33Kv

0.09

ML- 11Kv

0.02

NDS- EHV

0.49

NDS- 33Kv

0.43

NDS- 11Kv

0.36

Table 9: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR RAJASTHAN

5.4 TAMIL NADU

5.4.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGE OR WHEELING CHARGE:

Transmission charges payable to State Transmission Utility / Transmission Licensee

and wheeling charges payable to Distribution Licensee, by an open access customer
shall be determined by the Commission. Wheeling charges shall be determined on the
basis of same principles as laid down for intra state transmission charges.

Where a dedicated transmission system or a distribution system used for open access
has been constructed for exclusive use of an open access customer, the transmission
charges or wheeling charges for such dedicated system shall be worked out by the
Licensee and got approved by the Commission and shall be borne entirely by such
open access customer till such time the surplus capacity is allotted and used for by
other persons or purposes.

In case intra state transmission system or distribution system is used by an open

access customer in addition to inter-state transmission system, transmission charges
and wheeling charges as fixed and approved by the Commission shall be payable for
52

use of intra-state system in addition to payment of transmission charges for inter-state

transmission.
5.4.2 SURCHARGE:
If open access facility is availed of by a subsidizing consumer of a distribution Licensee of
the State or by a direct / embedded customer to supply electricity to subsidizing HT consumer
of the distribution Licensee in the State, then such customer, in addition to transmission and /
or wheeling charges, shall pay a surcharge worked out in the following manner:

The surcharge would be determined by the Commission, taking into account the tariff
applicable to the relevant category of consumers and the cost of the distribution
Licensee to supply electricity to the consumers of the applicable class.

The amount of surcharge shall be so calculated as to meet the current level of cross
subsidy from that category of consumers and shall be paid to the distribution Licensee
of the area of supply from whom the consumer is availing supply.

The surcharge will be reduced and eliminated in the same manner as the Commission
may lay down for reduction and elimination of cross subsidies in its roadmap for such
reduction and elimination of cross subsidy.
Provided that such surcharge shall not be levied in case transmission access is
provided to a person who has established a captive generation plant for carrying the
electricity to the destination of his own use.

COMPUTATION OF CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE

S = T - [C (1+L/100) + D]

Where:
S is the surcharge

T is the Tariff payable by the relevant category of consumers;

C is the Weighted average cost of power purchase of top 5% at the margin excluded liquid
fuel based generation and renewable power

D is the Wheeling charge

53

L is the system Losses for the applicable voltage level, expressed as a Percentage

5.4.3 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

An open access customer, receiving supply of electricity from a person other than the
distribution Licensee of his area of supply, shall pay to the distribution Licensee an
additional surcharge on the charges of wheeling, in addition to wheeling charges and
surcharge, to meet out the fixed cost of such distribution Licensee arising out of his
obligation to supply as provided under sub-section (4) of section 42 of the Act; This
additional surcharge shall become applicable only if the obligation of the Licensee in
terms of power purchase commitments has been and continues to be stranded.

The distribution Licensee whose consumer intends to avail open access shall submit
to the Commission within fifteen days of receipt of application, a detailed calculation
statement of fixed cost which the Licensee is incurring towards his obligation to
supply;

The Commission shall scrutinize the statement of calculation of fixed cost submitted
by the distribution Licensee and obtain objections, if any, from the open access
customer and determine the amount of additional surcharge.

The additional surcharge shall be levied for such period as the Commission may
determine.
Provided that such additional surcharges shall not be levied in case transmission
access is provided to a person who has established a captive generation plant for
carrying the electricity to the destination of his own use.

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

VOLTAGE

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

230 Kv

0.80%

110 Kv

1.90%

54

Table 10 : TRANSMISSION LOSS FOR TAMIL NADU

VOLTAGE

WHEELING LOSS (%)

33 Kv

0.66%

22 Kv

2.76%

11 Kv

2.87%

Table 11: WHEELING LOSS FOR TAMIL NADU

CONSUMER TYPE

TRANSMISSION CHARGES

LTOA

Rs.1973/MW/day

STOA

Rs.82.21/MW/hr

Table 12: TRANSMISSION CHARGES FOR TAMIL NADU

VOLTAGE LEVEL

WHEELING CHARGES (Rs./unit)

230 / 110 / 33 / 22 / 11 kV

.1735

Table 13: WHEELING CHARGES FOR TAMIL NADU

VOLTAGE LEVEL

INDUSTRY (Rs./unit)

COMMERCIAL (Rs./unit)

33kV

0.35638

0.47654

22kV

0.35114

0.47130

11Kv

0.35093

0.47101

Table 14: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR TAMIL NADU

5.5 ANDHRA PRADESH

5.5.1 OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

The charges for the use of the transmission and / or distribution system by an open access
user shall be regulated as under:
55

Open Access users connected to the transmission/distribution system shall pay the
transmission charges and / or wheeling charges and any other applicable charges as
determined by the Commission from time to time, and notified in the relevant Tariff
Order or otherwise, and as per the conditions stipulated therein
Provided that the wheeling charges so payable shall be subject to a minimum level as
fixed by the Commission in the relevant Tariff Order or otherwise.

In case of utilization of inter-state transmission system in addition to the intra-state

transmission system and/or distribution system by an open access user , the
transmission charges and / or wheeling charges shall be payable for the use of intrastate system in addition to the charges for utilization of the inter-state transmission
system

The Open access users of the Transmission and / or Distribution System where such
open access is for delivery of electricity to the consumers premises in the area of
supply of a distribution licensee, shall pay to the distribution licensee the (crosssubsidy) surcharge as determined by the Commission from time to time under Section
42 (2) of the Act
Provided that no (cross-subsidy) surcharge shall be payable if the open access is
provided to a person who has established a captive generating plant for carrying the
electricity to the destination of his own use.

The Open Access user shall also be liable to pay additional surcharge on charges of
wheeling as may be specified by the Commission from time to time under section
42(4) of the Act, in case open access is sought for receiving supply from a person
other than the distribution licensee of such consumers area of supply, to meet the
fixed cost of the distribution licensee arising out of his obligation to supply.

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

TRANSMISSION CHARGES (Rs./unit)

4.02%

0.08

Table 15: TRANSMISSION LOSS & CHARGES FOR ANDHRA PRADESH

56

DRAWAL

SUPPLY

CPDCL (%)

EPDCL (%)

NPDCL (%)

SPDCL (%)

POINT

POINT

33kV

33Kv

3.96%

3.39%

3.90%

3.40%

33kV

11Kv

7.80%

7.47%

8.08%

7.51%

11kV

33Kv

7.80%

7.47%

8.08%

7.51%

11kV

11Kv

4.00%

4.22%

4.35%

4.25%

Table 16: WHEELING LOSS FOR ANDHRA PRADESH

VOLTAGE

CPDCL

EPDCL

NPDCL

SPDCL

LEVEL

(Rs./kWh)

(Rs./kWh)

(Rs./kWh)

(Rs./kWh)

33Kv

0.05

0.03

0.019

0.04

11Kv

0.32

0.31

0.22

0.28

Table 17: WHEELING CHARGES FOR ANDHRA PRADESH

5.6 MADHYA PRADESH

5.6.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGES:

The transmission Service Charges for use of the Transmission system of the transmission
licensee for intra-state transmission shall be regulated as under, namely:

The annual Transmission Service Charges (TSC) payable by a long-term customer for
use of the State Transmission System shall be determined in accordance with the
terms & conditions of tariff notified under section 61 of the Electricity Act, 2003 by
the Commission from time to time. These charges shall be shared by the long-term
open access customers.

The transmission Charges payable by a short-term customer for the use of intra-state
transmission system shall be calculated in accordance with the following
methodology,
57

ST_RATE= .24* [TSC/Av_CAP]/365

Where:
ST_RATE= rate for short-term customer in Rs. Per MW per day
TSC= Annual transmission charges on account of the transmission system for the previous
financial year as determined by the commission.
Av_CAP= The average capacity in MW served by the intra-state transmission system of the
transmission licensee in the previous financial year and shall be the sum of the generating
capacities connected to the transmission system and contracted capacities of other long-term
transactions handled by the system of the transmission licensee.
5.6.2 WHEELING CHARGES:
The wheeling charges for use of the distribution system of a licensee shall be regulated as
under, namely:

The Wheeling Charges (WC) payable by a long-term customer for use of the
Distribution System shall be determined in accordance with the terms & conditions of
tariff notified under section 61 of the Electricity Act, 2003 by the Commission from
time to time. These charges shall be shared by the long-term open access customers.

The wheeling charges payable by a short-term customer for the use of distribution
system shall be calculated on daily basis, and shall be equal to wheeling charges
payable by the long-term open access customer.

5.6.3 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

The Commission shall determine the additional surcharge on a yearly basis.
5.6.4 SURCHARGE:
The Commission shall specify the cross subsidy surcharge for individual categories of
consumers separately.

58

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

DISCOMS

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

DISTRIBUTION LOSS (%)

EAST

3.16%

23%

WEST

3.16%

20%

CENTRAL

3.16%

23%

Table 18: TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION LOSS FOR MADHYA PRADESH

TYPE OF OPEN ACCESS CUSTOMER

TRANSMISSION CHARGE

LONG TERM CUSTOMER

Rs. 15.6 Lacs/MW/annum

SHORT TERM CUSTOMER

Rs. 4273.48 /MW/day

Table 19: TRANSMISSION CHARGES FOR MADHYA PRADE

VOLTAGE LEVEL

WHEELING CHARGE (Rs./unit)

33Kv

0.18

ABOVE 33 Kv

N.A

Table 20: WHEELING CHARGES FOR MADHYA PRADESH

INJECTION VOLTAGE

DRAWAL VOLTAGE

CSS (Rs./unit)

EHT

33Kv

0.91

33kV

132Kv & ABOVE

1.92

132 Kv & ABOVE

132Kv & ABOVE

1.22

33kV

33Kv

1.21

Table 21: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR MADHYA PRADESH

59

5.7 HARYANA
5.7.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGES AND WHEELING CHARGES:

Open access consumer using inter-State transmission system shall pay the
transmission charges as specified by the CERC from time to time.

Open access consumer using intra-State transmission system shall pay transmission
charges to the STU or the transmission licensee other than STU for usage of their
system as determined by the Commission for the relevant financial year.
Provided that transmission charges shall be payable on the basis of contracted
capacity in case of long term and medium term open access consumers and on the
basis of scheduled load in case of short term open access consumers. For open access
for a part of a day, the transmission charges shall be payable on pro-rata basis.
Provided further that where a dedicated transmission system has been constructed for
exclusive use of or being used exclusively by an open access consumer, the
transmission charges for such dedicated system shall be worked out by transmission
licensee and got approved by the Commission and shall be borne entirely by such
open access consumer till such time the surplus capacity is allotted and used for by
other open access consumers or purposes, after which these transmission charges for
such dedicated system shall be shared in the ratio of loads allotted to the various
users.

Open access consumer using intra-State distribution system shall pay wheeling
charges to the distribution licensee (s) for usage of the distribution system as
determined by the Commission for the relevant financial year.
Provided that wheeling charges shall be payable on the basis of scheduled load /
energy. For open access for a part of a day, the wheeling charges shall be payable on
pro-rata basis.
Provided further that where a dedicated distribution system has been constructed for
exclusive use of an open access consumer, the wheeling charges for such dedicated
system shall be worked out by distribution licensee and got approved from the
Commission and shall be borne entirely by such open access consumer till such time
60

the surplus capacity is allotted and used for by other persons or purposes after which
these charges shall be shared in the ratio of the allotted capacities.

5.7.2 CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE:

If open access is availed by a consumer of a distribution licensee of the State, then

such consumer, in addition to payment of transmission and / or wheeling charges,
shall pay cross subsidy surcharge. Cross subsidy surcharge on per unit basis shall be
payable, on monthly basis, by the open access consumer for the actual energy drawn
through open access during the month. The amount of surcharge shall be paid to the
distribution licensee of the area of supply in which such consumer is located.

Provided that such surcharge shall not be levied on a person who has established a
captive generation plant and carries the electricity to the destination of his own use.

Cross subsidy surcharge shall also be payable by such open access consumer who
receives supply of electricity from a person other than the distribution licensee in
whose area of supply he is located, irrespective of whether he avails such supply
through transmission / distribution network of the licensee or not.

The consumers located in the area of supply of a distribution licensee but availing
open access exclusively on inter-State transmission system shall also pay the cross
subsidy surcharge.

The cross subsidy surcharge shall be leviable at the rates as determined by the
Commission from time to time.

5.7.3 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

An open access consumer, receiving supply of electricity from a person other than the
distribution licensee of his area of supply, shall pay to the distribution licensee an
additional surcharge in addition to wheeling charges and cross-subsidy surcharge, to
meet out the fixed cost of such distribution licensee arising out of his obligation to
supply as provided under sub-section (4) of Section 42 of the Act.

61

Provided that such additional surcharge shall not be levied in case open access is
provided to a person who has established a captive generation plant for carrying the
electricity to the destination of his own use.

This additional surcharge shall become applicable only if the obligation of the
licensee in terms of power purchase commitments has been and continues to be
stranded or there is an unavoidable obligation and incidence to bear fixed costs
consequent to such a contract. However, the fixed costs related to network assets
would be recovered through wheeling charges.

The distribution licensee shall submit to the Commission, on six monthly basis the
details regarding the quantum of such stranded costs and the period over which these
remained stranded and would be stranded. The Commission shall scrutinize the
statement of calculation of such stranded fixed costs submitted by the distribution
licensee and determine the amount of additional surcharge.

Provided that any additional surcharge so determined shall be applicable to all the
consumers availing open access from the date of determination of same by the
Commission.

The consumers located in the area of supply of a distribution licensee but availing
open access exclusively on inter-State transmission system shall also pay the
additional surcharge.

Additional surcharge determined on per unit basis shall be payable, on monthly basis,
by the open access customers based on the actual energy drawn during the month
through open access

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

TRANSMISSION CHARGES (Rs./kWh)

2.50%

0.17

Table 22: TRANSMISSION LOSSES & CHARGES FOR HARYANA

62

DISCOM

WHEELING LOSS (%)

WHEELING

CHARGES

(Rs./kWh)
UHBVNL

27.50%

.70

DHBVNL

20.30%

.70

Table 23: WHEELING LOSSES & CHARGES FOR HARYANA

CONSUMER CATEGORY

CSS (Rs./unit)

HT INDUSTRY

0.53

NDS HT

0.46

BULK

SUPPLIER

OTHER

THAN 0.79

DOMESTIC
RAILWAYS

0.38

Table 24: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR HARYANA

5.8 PUNJAB

5.8.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGES:

Open Access customer using transmission system shall pay the charges as stated hereunder:

For use of inter-State transmission system As specified by the Central Commission

from time to time.

For use of intra-State transmission system:

Transmission charges payable to State Transmission Utility/ transmission licensee

by an open access customer for usage of their system shall be determined as
specified in the Regulations for determination of generation, transmission,
wheeling and retail supply tariffs;

63

Long term, Medium term and Short term Open Access customers availing supply
at 132/220kv shall be liable to pay full transmission charges;

Where a dedicated transmission system has been constructed for exclusive use of
an Open Access customer, the transmission charges for such dedicated system
shall be recovered entirely from such Open Access customer for such period till
the surplus capacity is used for other persons or purposes;

The transmission charges for a short-term Open Access customer will be levied on
hourly basis in rupees/MWh and will be levied on the quantum in MWh cleared
by the concerned Load Despatch Centre for bilateral transactions and the National
Load Despatch Centre in case of collective transactions;

When capacity has been reserved consequent to bidding, the Open Access charges
will be taken as determined through bidding:
Provided further that the charges so determined under this Regulation will be the
floor price for the purpose of Regulation 18

5.8.2 WHEELING CHARGES:

Wheeling Charges shall be payable by an Open Access customer who utilises the
distribution network for wheeling of electricity.

The distribution licensee shall segregate the accounts for the consumer service (retail
supply) business and its wire business and submit the same to the Commission.

The Annual Wheeling Charges (AWC) will represent the cost of the wires business of
the distribution licensee. The Commission shall determine the prudent level of Annual
Wheeling Charges. While doing so, it shall use its own assumptions for apportioning
the expenses of a licensee for the purpose of computing expenses pertaining to wires
business till such time segregated accounts of the licensee are available.

The wheeling charges payable shall be calculated in accordance with the following
formula:

64

Wheeling charges = (AWC) / (DIS_CAP*365)

Where:
DIS_CAP means the capacity in MW which can be served by the distribution
system of the Distribution licensee and shall be the sum of import of power at
each interface point of exchange of power at electrical boundary of distribution
licensee and generation from captive power plants and co-generation plants (to the
extent fed into the grid) and plants generating electricity from renewable sources
of energy located in the area of such licensee.

Long term Medium term and Short term Open Access customers availing supply at
33/66 KV, in addition to transmission charges, shall be liable to pay 15% of the
wheeling charges determined by the Commission as per the Tariff Order applicable
for the year; whereas customers availing supply at 11 KV shall be liable to bear 30%
of wheeling charges in addition to transmission charges.

Where a dedicated distribution system used for open access has been constructed for
exclusive use of an open access customer, the wheeling charges for such dedicated
system shall be worked out by distribution licensee and shall be borne entirely by
such open access customer till such time the surplus capacity is allotted and used for
by other persons or purposes.

The wheeling charges for short term open access will be levied on the quantum in
MWh cleared by the concerned Load Despatch Centre for bilateral transactions and
the National Load Despatch Centre in case of collective transactions.

When capacity has been reserved consequent to bidding, the Open Access charges
will be taken as determined through bidding:

Provided further that the charges so determined under this Regulation will be the floor
price for the purpose of Regulation 18.

5.8.3 CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE:

65

 If open access facility is availed of by a subsidising consumer of a distribution

licensee of the State, then such consumer, in addition to transmission and/or wheeling
charges, shall pay cross subsidy surcharge determined by the Commission. Cross
subsidy surcharge determined on Per Unit basis shall be payable, on monthly basis,
by the open access consumers based on the actual energy drawn during the month
through open access.
Provided that such surcharge shall not be leviable to a person who has established a
captive generating plant for carrying the electricity to the destination of his own use.

The cross subsidy surcharge shall be determined in accordance with the following
formula:
Surcharge formula S = T - C
where,
S is the cross subsidy surcharge
T is the average per unit realization from the relevant category of consumers
C is the combined average cost of supply of distribution licensee

The surcharge shall be paid to the distribution licensee of area where the premises of
the consumer availing Open Access are located. In case of more than one licensees
supplying in the same area, the licensee from whom the consumer was availing
supply shall be paid the amount of surcharge.

The consumers availing Open Access exclusively on interstate transmission system

shall also pay the same surcharge as determined under this Regulation.

The consumers availing Open Access through dedicated lines even without involving
licensees Transmission and/or Distribution System shall be liable to pay same
surcharge as determined under this Regulation

5.8.4 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

66

 An open access consumer, receiving supply of electricity from a person other than the
distribution licensee of his area of supply, shall pay to the distribution licensee an
additional surcharge on the charges of wheeling, in addition to wheeling charges and
cross-subsidy surcharge, to meet out the fixed cost of such distribution licensee
arising out of his obligation to supply as provided under sub-section (4) of section 42
of the Act.

This additional surcharge shall become applicable only if the obligation of the
licensee in terms of power purchase commitments has been and continues to be
stranded or there is an unavoidable obligation and incidence to bear fixed costs
consequent to such a contract. The distribution licensee shall indicate the quantum of
such stranded costs and the period over which they would be stranded. The
Commission shall scrutinize the statement of calculation of fixed cost submitted by
the distribution licensee and obtain objections, if any, and determine the amount of
additional surcharge:
TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:
TRANSMISSION LOSSES (%)

TRANSMISSION

CHARGES

(Rs./MW/month)
2.50%

92451

Table 25: TRANSMISSION LOSSES & CHARGES FOR PUNJAB

VOLTAGE LEVEL

WHEELING LOSSES (%)

66Kv & BELOW

15.08%

Table 26: WHEELING LOSSES FOR PUNJAB

SUPPLY VOLTAGE

LTOA

MTOA

Rs. 383596/MW/month

Rs.0.53/unit

220Kv
132Kv
66Kv
33kv

67

11kv

Table 27: WHEELING CHARGES FOR PUNJAB

5.9 BIHAR

5.9.1 TRANSMISSION CHARGES AND WHEELING CHARGES:

The transmission charges and/or wheeling charges for use of the transmission and /or the
distribution system of the transmission licensee and / or the distribution licensee shall be
regulated as under:

Transmission charges and wheeling charges payable by an Open Access customer

shall be determined by the Commission as per the appropriate Regulations framed by
the Commission.

Where a dedicated transmission system and/or a distribution system has been

constructed for exclusive use of an Open Access customer, the transmission charges
and/or wheeling charges for such dedicated system shall be borne entirely by such
Open Access customer till such time the surplus capacity is allotted and used for other
persons or purposes.

In case intra-state transmission system and /or distribution system is used by an Open
Access customer in addition to inter-State transmission system, transmission charges
and / or wheeling charges for use of intra-state transmission system and/or distribution
system shall be payable in addition to payment of transmission charges for inter-State
transmission.
5.9.2 SURCHARGE:

In addition to transmission charges and wheeling charges, a customer availing Open

Access to the transmission system and/or distribution system shall pay a surcharge.

Provided that such surcharge shall not be leviable in case Open Access is provided to
a person who has established a captive generating plant for carrying the electricity to
the destination of his own use.
68

Surcharge shall be determined by the Commission separately in the tariff order

applicable for the relevant year. In absence of such determination, the surcharge shall
be specified by the Commission on a case to case basis for a specified period based on
an application moved before it in this behalf.

Provided that the applicant shall pay surcharge as determined as per these Regulations
post the expiry of the period specified above.

The amount of surcharge shall be so calculated as to meet the current level of cross
subsidy from that category of consumers and shall be paid to the distribution licensee
of area of supply where the consumer availing Open Access is located.

The surcharge shall be reduced and eliminated in the manner as determined by the
Commission in respect to reduction and elimination of cross subsidies in terms and
conditions of tariff of transmission/distribution licensees.

The consumers availing Open Access through dedicated lines even without involving
licensee's transmission and / or distribution system shall be liable to pay same
surcharge as determined under these Regulations.

5.9.3 ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE:

A consumer availing Open Access and receiving supply of electricity from a person
other than the distribution licensee of his area of supply shall pay to the distribution
licensee an additional surcharge, in addition to wheeling charges and surcharge, to
meet the fixed cost of such distribution licensee arising out of his obligation to supply
of electricity as provided under sub-section (4) of Section 42 of the Act;

The additional surcharge shall become applicable only if it is conclusively

demonstrated by the distribution licensee that his obligations on fixed cost
commitments have been and continue to be stranded or that there is an unavoidable
obligation and incidence to bear fixed costs consequent to such a contract. The
distribution licensee shall indicate the quantum of such stranded costs and the period
over which they would be stranded.
69

The distributors licensee whose consumer intends to avail Open Access shall submit
to the Commission within 15 days of receipt of application, a detailed calculation
statement of fixed cost which the licensee is incurring towards his obligation of
supply.

The Commission thereafter, shall scrutinize the statement of calculation of fixed cost
and obtain objection, if any, from the Open Access customer and determine the
amount of additional surcharge. The additional surcharge shall be determined by the
Commission on a case-to-case basis

The consumers availing Open Access through dedicated lines even without involving
licensee's transmission and / or distribution system shall be liable to pay same
additional surcharge as determined under these Regulations.

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

TRANSMISSION CHARGES
LONG TERM OA SHORT TERM OA

4.0%

CONSUMERS

CONSUMERS

(Rs./MW/month)

(Rs./MW/day)

64827

533

Table 28: TRANSMISSION LOSS & CHARGES FOR BIHAR

VOLTAGE LEVEL

LOSSES (%)

CHARGES (Rs./kWh)

11Kv

6%

0.4096

33Kv

5%

0.3559

Table 29: WHEELING LOSS & CHARGES FOR BIHAR

70

TYPE OF CONSUMER

CSS (Rs./kWh)

132 Kv

0.22

33Kv

(OTHER

THAN

HTSS

CONSUMERS)
11Kv

(OTHER

0.53
THAN

HTSS

CONSUMERS)

0.44

HTSS CONSUMERS (33 Kv & 11Kv)

Table 30: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR BIHAR

5.10 KARNATAKA

5.10.1 CHARGES LEVIED UNDER OPEN ACCESS:

The charges for the use of the transmission/distribution system by an open access customer
shall be regulated as under:
Where open access is availed from a transmission licensee (including STU) under
section 39(2)(d)(ii) and section 40(c)(ii) of the Act, transmission charges as
determined by the Commission under section 62(1)(b) of the Act shall be applicable
from time to time. The Commission would follow the postage stamp method for
determination of transmission tariff for the present.
Where open access is availed from a distribution licensee under section 42(2) of the
Act, wheeling charges as determined by the Commission under section 62(1)(c) of the
Act shall be applicable from time to time, in addition to transmission charges payable
under sub-clause (i) above. The wheeling charges as determined by the Commission
in its Tariff Order 2003 shall be applicable till such time wheeling charges are
determined by the Commission afresh.
In case intra-state transmission system or distribution system is used by an open
access customer in addition to inter-state transmission system, transmission charges

71

and wheeling charges shall be payable for use of intra state system in addition to
payment of inter-state transmission charges.
According to section 42(2) proviso 1 of the Act, surcharge to meet the current level of
cross subsidy is payable if open access is availed. The open access customer shall be
liable to pay the surcharge so determined by the Commission from time to time. The
Commission would determine the surcharge based on cost of supply of electricity to
various categories of consumers.
Where a dedicated transmission system or distribution system used for open access
has been constructed for exclusive use of an open access customer, the transmission
charges or wheeling charges for such dedicated system shall be borne entirely by such
open access customer till such time the surplus capacity is allotted and used for by
other persons or purposes.
The charges incurred for strengthening the system in order to provide open access for
the exclusive use of an open access customer shall be borne by that open access
customer.
According to section 42(4) of the Act, additional surcharge as may be specified by the
Commission on charges of wheeling are payable by the consumer seeking open access
for receiving supply from a source other than the distribution licensee of his area of
supply to meet the fixed cost of the distribution licensee arising out of his obligation
to supply. The open access customer shall be liable to pay such additional surcharge
as may be determined by the Commission from time to time. However, in the case of
a new open access customer (i.e. if the open access customer was not a consumer of
the licensee), no such additional surcharge is payable. The additional surcharge would
be determined on a case-to-case basis.

TABLES FOR VARIOUS OPEN ACCESS CHARGES:

72

DISCOM

WHEELING LOSS (%)

BESCOM

13.80%

CESC

15.50%

GESCOM

20%

HESCOM

19.00%

MESCOM

11.75%

TRANSMISSION LOSS (%)

3.94%

Table 31: TRANSMISSION LOSS & WHEELING LOSS FOR KARNATAKA

DISCOM

WHEELING CHARGES (Rs./unit)

BESCOM

0.3285

CESC

0.68

GESCOM

0.7539

HESCOM

0.6899

MESCOM

0.6767

Table 32: WHEELING CHARGES FOR KARNATAKA

VOLTAGE LEVEL INDUSTRIAL (Rs./kWh) COMMERCIAL(Rs./kWh)

66Kv & ABOVE

0.8040

2.5960

HT LEVEL

0.3850

2.177

Table 33: CROSS SUBSIDY SURCHARGE FOR KARNATAKA

73

CHAPTER 6: LANDED COST SHEET ANALYSIS

6.1 BRIEF UNDERSTANDING OF SHEET:

A landed cost sheet has been developed as per the research methodology along with the
assumptions. Cases have been made depending upon all possible injection & drawal points
as per the available on SERCs website for FY 2013-14 have been included in the sheet. The
points of injection and drawal have been taken for the HT consumers of Industrial and
Commercial types. In some states where multiple DISCOMS are operational, analysis of all
such DISCOMS has been done.
In the Landed Cost Analysis, 1 MW plant has been considered. The Plant using Solar
Generation is assumed to have a CUF of 19% and Generation Cost of Rs. 7 where as the
plant using Non-Solar Generation (Conventional source) has been considered to have CUF of
80% & Generation Cost of Rs. 4. Primary data such as Transmission Charges, Transmission
Losses, Distribution Charges, Distribution losses & Cross Subsidy surcharge has been
collected from the latest SERCs Tariff Orders and applicable charges for the Solar has been
collected from the respective states orders/policies on renewable energy. Using these
information, Landed Cost and per unit increase in the cost after considering the Cross
Subsidy Charges have been calculated at the consumer end and thus decide the feasibility or
non-feasibility of Open Access in a particular state.
(Annexure can be referred for the detailed Landed cost analysis of these states provided
at the end)

6.2 STATE-WISE
CONCLUSION:

LANDED

COST

SHEET

ANALYSIS

&

I. MAHARASHTRA:
From the cost sheet it can be seen that in Maharashtra has been approved the transmission
loss of 4.24% for Non-Solar generator & 4.19% for Solar based generator. Wheeling loss
increases from 6% & 9% as the drawal voltage decreases from 33Kv to 22 Kv.
74

As can be seen from the sheet the Landed Tariff for the state ranges between Rs.4.99 /unit to
Rs. 8.99/unit and the Tariff after CSS has been applied, it ranges between Rs. 4.98/unit to Rs.
9.96/unit.
CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
For a developer the maximum per unit increase comes at an Injection voltages of 33
& 22 Kv & Drawal Volatage of 22Kv for Open Access Solar generator with per unit
increase Rs. 2.96/unit where as the least profit is in the case of Group Captive NonSolar which gives a per unit increase of Rs. 0.99/unit.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
For a Consumer the least Landed cost in the state comes for the Group Captive
consumers sourcing energy from Non- Solar at an Injection & Drawal voltage of
33Kv while it is most for Open Access Consumers drawing power at 22Kv from NonSolar generation which is Rs. 9.96/unit on account of high CSS of Rs. 0.97/unit.

II. GUJARAT:
All the drawal points in Gujarat are at 11 Kv while injection points are at 33Kv, 22 Kv &
11Kv. The Transmission loss is 4.10% for non-solar generators at all voltage level and 3.85%
for Solar generators.
Similarly the wheeling loss is 10% for Non-Solar category & 3% for Solar generators.
CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a developers perspective the maximum profit will be at a per unit increase of
Rs. 1.33/unit for developers operating at all voltage levels for Open Access Non-Solar
type generator gain least increase in case they are Group Captive and generating
power from Solar which gives an increase of Rs. 0.75/unit.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:

75

 From a Consumers perspective and in general it is not viable to draw power from
Open Access & Group Captive Solar generators which are expensive which charge as
high and over Rs. 7/unit.
The minimum charge comes from Group Captive Non-Solar which charges Rs.
4.89/unit

III. RAJASTHAN:
Rajasthan has single injection point at 33Kv and drawal points at 33Kv & 11Kv.While
Transmission loss stands at 4.20% for all categories of Generator. Wheeling loss has been
approved for 0.32% for Solar categories at 11Kv otherwise it is 3.80% for 33Kv & 12.60%
for 11kv voltage.Banking losses wherever applicable has been put at 2%.
CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a developers perspective the maximum per unit increase can be gained from
generators using source from Non-Solar in both the kinds of Generator which comes
over Rs. 1.3/unit at 11Kv drawal point whereas the least profitable is at 33Kv in the
same category of generators.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a consumers point of view the landed tariff comes lesser for Non-Solar
categories at 33kV drawal point which comes below Re. 1/unit.

IV. TAMIL NADU:

Tamil Nadu has injection voltage 110 Kv & above and the drawal voltage 33 Kv and below.
Analysis of Tamil Nadu can be said to be more accurate in arriving at Landed Cost as it gives
the wheeling loss % breakup voltage-vise.
Transmission loss & Distribution losses for the State is comparatively higher for Solar
Category at 5% & 7% respectively at 33Kv drawal point. For all other categories the
Transmission loss remains 0.80%.Wheeling loss increases with a decrease in the voltage
level.
76

CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a developers perspective an a Open Access generator can expect a better return
which comes around Rs. 3/unit where as for the Captive the increase is less than a
Re./unit irrespective of the voltage level.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
The minimum tariff for a consumer comes at Rs. 4/unit for Group Captive Non-solar
category where as for the rest of the categories the Landed Tariff is as high as
Rs.7/unit for a consumer.
V. ANDHRA PRADESH:
The Landed Cost Sheet analysis of Andhra Pradesh has been done at 33kV and 11kV by
taking into account all of its DISCOMS viz. CPCDL, EPCDL, NPCD & SPCDL. The
analysis thus involves not only a comparison between the Open Access and Group Captive
but also amongst the four afore mentioned DISCOMS. The State gives the consumer an
exemption from the CSS and keeps the wheeling charges on Solar comparatively lower than
other sources.
CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
In Andhra Pradesh a Developer can have a variety of options to weigh by making a
supply to any DISCOMS that earns it a maximum return.
In case of CPCDL an open access solar generator can gain maximum by gaining a
return over Rs.1/unit.
In general a brief look at per unit increase suggests that a Solar power plant
irrespective of Open Access or Group Captive promises a better returns to the
developer.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
A consumer in the state has been exempted from paying the CSS and so connecting
with Open Access or Group Captive depends on the Landed Tariff.
A view at landed cost sheet shows that a consumers have to pay a charge of around
Rs. 4/unit for connecting with the Solar plant regardless of consumer type.
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VI. MADHYA PRADESH:

In Madhya Pradesh the injection and voltage level is 33Kv and the analysis has been done for
its three DISCOMS viz. East, West & Central DISCOMs.
The transmission loss for all the three DISCOMs are same i.e 3.16% and the wheeling loss
for East & Central DISCOM is 23% while it is 20% for West DISCOM. The transmission
and the wheeling charges remain the same i.e Rs. 0.18/unit for the three companies.
CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a developers perspective the Solar generator gives a better return compared to
Non-Solar in the State. The per unit increase can be as high as Rs. 3 or Rs. 4
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a Consumer perspective the Solar generators in the state is expensive which
give a landed tariff after a CSS in a range of Rs.9/unit to Rs. 11/unit.

VII. PUNJAB:
The analysis of Cost sheet of Punjab is based on assumption that all the Injection and drawal
is taking place at voltage level 66Kv & below. The transmission loss at all these level are
2.50% & wheeling loss of 15.08% for solar and 2.39% for non-solar.

CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a developers point of view the state gives a better return to Open Access
consumers in comparison to Captive consumers. Open Access developers gain Rs.
2/unit in the state.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
From Consumers perspective the a solar plant is expensive for the consumers which
charges them Rs. 8-9/unit while Non-Solar plant the tariff charges is comparatively
lesser which comes around Rs. 5-6/unit.
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VIII. BIHAR:
The Cost sheet analysis of Bihar is based on the assumption that the injection takes place at
all possible voltage while drawal takes place at 11Kv and 33Kv.
Transmission loss for the state remains same i.e 4% at both the voltage level while varies
between 5%-8% for different category of consumers and irrespective of generation type.
CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From Developers perspective the maximum return comes from Open Access
generator sourcing power from Solar which is around Rs. 1.5 at both the voltage
level.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a consumers perspective the minimum tariff after CSS comes from the plants
generating power from Non- Solar which comes around Rs. 4/unit.
The State is expensive for the consumers who are sourcing power from the Solar
generation which comes around Rs.8/unit

IX. HARYANA:
The cost sheet analysis of Haryana is based on the assumption that Injection and drawal
happens on all possible voltages and for each of these voltage levels the losses and Open
Access Charges remain same.The analysis has been done on two of its DISCOMS viz.
UHBVNL & DHBVNL.
Transmission losses for the Haryana has been approved at 2.50% while the wheeling losses
for UHBVNL is 27.50% & DHBVNL is 20.30%
CONCLUSION:

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DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
From a Developers perspective the UHBVNL gives a better increase compared to
DHBVNL.
The maximum increase comes from Open Access Solar at Rs. 4.6/unit while the
minimum increase comes from Group Captive Non-Solar which is Rs. 2.19/unit.
CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
From Consumers point of view the maximum tariff comes for Solar which is over
Rs. 9/unit while it ranges between Rs.6-7/unit

X. KARNATAKA:
As shown in the Cost Sheet, the analysis of Karnataka has been done for all its DISCOMs
viz. BESCOM, CESC, GESCOM, HESCOM & MESCOM and for the voltage levels 33Kv
& below.
The transmission loss structure for all the DISCOMs are same, i.e 3.94% for Non-Solar
category while for Solar category has been exempted from the loss.
Wheeling loss for Open Access Solar for all the DISCOMs are 5% and it for all other
categories it is 13.80%, 15.50%, 20%,19% & 11.75% for BESCOM, CESC, GESCOM,
HESCOM & MESCOM.
There is no transmission charge in state and the wheeling charge has beem exempted for the
solar category and for others it is fairly low.
As can be seen for HESCOM, the landed tariff for Group Captive consumers is Rs.9.25/unit
regardless of source of power and is same for Open Access consumers sourcing power from
Non-solar. The latter sourcing power from Solar arrives at the tariff of around Rs.8.06/unit.
After levying CSS, the tariff for Open Access comes around Rs.8.17/unit for Solar and
Rs.10.53/unit for Non-solar.

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.CONCLUSION:
DEVELOPERS PERSPECTIVE:
As seen in the Landed Cost Sheet, from a developers point of view the per unit
increase can be availed from Open Access Non- Solar category which comes over Rs.
2/unit, highest being Rs. 2.76/unit from GESCOM.
The least profit comes generally from Solar Category regardless of the kind of
developer.

CONSUMERS PERSPECTIVE:
From consumers perspective the landed cost after CSS is most for the solar category
irrespective of the type of consumers which is over Rs. 7/unit while it ranges between
Rs. 5- 6/unit

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CHAPTER 7: IMPEDIMENTS TO IMPLEMENTATION OF OPEN

ACCESS
As per the Electricity Act, 2003, consumers of the category 1MW & above category should
be getting Open Access from January 2009, however the enabling of Open Access has not
been a reality. Although different interpretations are possible, the Act states that the
commission should only restrict to charging cross subsidies and wheeling charges. While
Electricity Act has various supporting provisions and the directive by Ministry of Power
giving deemed open access to all 1 MW and above consumers has paved the way for
operationalizing open access.
The non-viability of full switching has led to a situation of partial open access where a
consumer continues to have agreement with distribution companies and pay for the contract
demand and at the same time opts for alternative supply from third party. Most common
third party in present situation is energy. exchanges. The sourcing of power is being availed
for both situations i.e. contingency power (in case of load shedding or power holidays) and
economic power.
Impediments to implementation of Open Access can be attributed to the reasons as under:
7.1 REGULATORY HURDLE:
i)

Firstly, the high and irrational Open Access charges; the Tariff Policy, 2006 has
provided a formula for the determination of cross subsidy surcharge, however in
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provided formula for the determination of Cross Subsidy Surcharge however some
of the state commissions have used other formula. The Act calls for gradual
reduction of cross subsidy surcharge, but no such reduction trajectory is found in
any of the states. The National Electricity Policy, 2005 clearly highlights that the
amount of surcharge and additional surcharge levied from consumers who are
permitted open acces should not become so onerous that it eliminates competition.

ii)

Secondly, states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu have invoked
Section 11 of the Act to prevent generators to sell their power outside the State.
As per this section the State Government has the right to issue directions to
generator in case of extraordinary circumstances. The states use this ambiguity in
the Act to hamper open access. Clarification of the Section 11 is necessary
through an amendment of the Act.

iii)

Thirdly, in a state like Delhi, sheer lack of willingness on the part of the state
commission is evident from the fact that even after pressing requirements for
availing open access, the procedures for availing OA from SLDC has not been
notified as yet. Also in states like Uttar Pradesh, SLDCs are not geared up to
implement and manage open access and lack of infrastructure hinders open access
to be operationalized. There is an urgent need to look into such issues to ensure
implementation of open access.

7.2 INFRASTRUCTURAL HURDLE:

There is an urgent need to separate the supply and wire business of the distribution
licensees. This becomes essential because the licensees have a natural monopoly on the
infrastructure i.e. wires. In order to avail full open access if the consumer wishes to switch
from the Discom to a third party, he is uncertain about the network availability which is
under the control of the Discom. This seriously deters the ability of the consumer to avail
alternative supply. This can be curbed by separating the accounting of wire and supply
business followed by its financial separation. Also, minimum service conditions of
distribution licensee could be defined by State Commission for open access consumer and
serious penalties can be specified for non-compliance.
7.3 INCONSISTENCIES ACROSS STATES:
83

The provisions in the current inter-state regulations do not encourage open access transitions.
Inter-State open access is granted on monthly basis and maximum up to 3 months. To
guarantee full open access it is required that a user to entitled to avail open access for any
period seamlessly.
7.4 TRANSMISISON CORRIDOR AVAILABILITY:
Transmission congestion is one of the major deterrents in availing open access. The
evacuation systems are planned mainly based on the transmission capacities required to meet
Long-term PPAs but the present transmission system has to meet the firm transmission needs
as well as Open Access requirements arising in the short term. Therefore, transmission
planning should inherently include margins for medium and short-term open access.

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CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

8.1 CONCLUSION:
From the Landed Cost Sheet Analysis, it can be concluded that Landed tariff for Open
Access and Captive Consumer closely follow each other. In some of the sample
states they are even found to be the same (Refer to annexure for the analysis)
However a considerable difference appears between the both because of a high Cross
Subsidy Surcharge. If this surcharge is progressively decreased in accordance with the
NEP, 2005, Open Access is bound to move to a state of fully operational from being
partial operational as it has been currently.

8.2 RECOMMENDATIONS:
To make Open Access a reality, the utmost need of the hour is to allay the fears of
DISCOMs that they will loose their high paying consumers (Industrial &
Commercial) to other competitive suppliers.
This is because that these Utilities sell their energy at a rate lower than their average
cost of generation which in any case is going to remain lower than the competitive
market rates & hence not all consumers who are into the category of 1MW & above
will migrate to other suppliers.
Certain Regulatory Provisions need clarification such as Section 11 of the EA- 2003
which is vested in state governments that they can prevent the interstate selling of
energy citing extra-ordinary circumstances.
Regulation needs to define clearly what these extra-ordinary circumstances are &
under what conditions a State can stop the intra-state sale of power.
A high CSS has hampered the Open Access growth to a large extent. Even though the
NEP, 2005 calls for a subsequent phasing out of such surcharge, there is no
monitoring mechanism to check if the CSS in s particular state is being gradually
decreased or not.
Thus State Commissions should implement a mechanism to control the CSS and
gradually phase them out.

85

 The only belief that Generation, Transmission & Distribution are separate business
cannot help the implementation of Open Access. The belief will be complemented if
Electricity comes to be treated as a product- being made my one utility and the
delivery of this product as a service by another utility and both these being paid
appropriately.
In view of this Generators will be making the electricity and the Transmission &
distribution utilities help delivery of the electricity to the required destination. This
way a consumer has a choice to connect himself to a generator of his choice and at the
same time remain physically connected to DISCOMS.
Further there should be two components of electricity bill

Energy Charges payable to Generators producing electricity (product)

Transmission & Wheeling Charges payable to the utilities (delivery of product)

This is contrary to the conventional thinking of electricity as a product that we use at

the point of delivery and pay for in a single delivered tariff.
Electrical energy as a product has a unique proposition, it cannot be stored and energy
generated by various producers are indistinguishable. There is no provision of brand
of the power generated and supplied by the different firms. However, quality,
reliability and uninterrupted supply are the USPs of individual suppliers. Effective
way forward for ensuring Open Access to really take place is by building confidence,
However, no utility should be scared that they are losing customers by allowing Open
Access. In fact to improve unreliable services due to lack of sufficient energy
available with DISCOM can be taken care of. Access to quality and reliable power
sources from any where in the country would be a blessing in disguise.
For Open Access to succeed, the State / Regional Load Dispatch Centre have to play a
pro-active role to lay down effective rules of the game that are fairly and uniformly
enforced. Infrastructure need to be reinforced so that Open Access can be a reality in
true sense. The policy and procedure once laid down after consultation with various
stakeholders need not frequently altered for individual gains of the supplier or the
customer.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] www.cercind.gov.in
[2] www.aperc.gov.in
[3] www.berc.co.in
[4] www.gerc.in.org
[5] www.herc.nic.in
[6] www.kerc.org
[7] www.mperc.nic.in
[8] www.merc.india.org.in
[9] www.pserc.nic.in
[10] www.rerc.gov.in
[11] www.tnerc.tn.nic.in
[12] www.forumofregulators.gov.in
[13] Open Access System Crucial For Power Reforms- PTC Chronicles January 2012
[14] Open Access (Power To Choose POWER)- PTC Chronicles April 2012
[15] Open Access- Demystified- PTC Chronicles April 2012
[16] Open Access- A Legal Imperative- PTC Chronicles April 2012
[17] SEBs Bail Out- A Moral Hazard PTC Chronicles July 2012
[18] Making Open Access A Reality At Retail Level - PTC Chronicles July 2012
[19] Proposed Amendments To Electricity Act-2003 PTC Chronicles July 2012
[20] Implementation Of Open Access- PTC Chronicles January 2013
[21] Open Access Policies & Concerns PTC Chronicles January 2013
87