A Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) plea to replace the ‘net metering’ method with the ‘gross metering scheme’ and 'net billing' for grid-interactive renewable energy systems has been rejected by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC).
The Commission, in a July 16 order, took the view that allowing the KSEB proposal at this stage will be counter-productive, discouraging people who intend to invest in renewable energy systems. The KSEB proposal had attracted heavy flak from consumer groups including the State-run Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (ANERT) which is implementing rooftop solar schemes.
Under the existing net metering system, a prosumer needs to pay only for the difference between the volume sold to the KSEB grid and the power drawn from it. But under gross metering, the two activities will be treated separately. Electricity drawn from the grid will be metered and billed separately, consumers fear, at a higher tariff rate.
In its order, the Commission noted that the KSEB is yet to achieve even the reduced targets set for its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO). RPO requires distribution licencees to purchase or produce a minimum specified quantity of their requirement from renewable energy sources.
The Commission noted that the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendments Rules, 2021, of the Union Ministry of Power (MoP), based on which the KSEB prepared its request, is applicable only in States where regulations notified by the respective State Commission do not provide for net metering, net billing or net-feed-in.
As per the MoP, in States where regulations do not provide for net metering, net billing, or net feed-in-tariff, ''the State Commission can allow net metering to prosumers up to 500 kilowatts or their connected load whichever is lower. From this, it is very clear that the MoP has included this provision as an incentive to prosumers in those States where at present there is no provision for net billing. ,'' the order said.
The Regulatory Commission has also rejected the KSEB plea to revise the rate for settling the excess energy banked for the settlement period starting from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, from ₹ 3.22 to ₹ 2.44 per unit.
