Thursday, February 13, 2014: The power crunch doesn’t seem to end for the southern state of Tamil Nadu as an appellate now sets aside an SPO order by the TNERC. The state tried to stabilise the power flow, since it already accounts in the most radiation rich states in the country. The tribunal conflict came with a the Solar Purchase Obligation (SPO) order issued by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), with the consent of the TN government. The SPO order mandated HV power consumers to buy 3-6 per cent of solar power from the Commission.
The mandate did not out carry independent analysis and was in breach of its duties. The SPO opposed RPO regulations, as it imposed both RPO and SPO at the same time. The TNERC was expected to amend the RPO regulations, first. TNERC issued the SPO without any regard towards the state solar capacity or any consequential impact on issues such as banking of power, cross-subsidy surcharges, and transmission and wheeling charges.
This SPO order is temporarily set aside on the grounds of technicalities by the state’s appellate tribunal. It is a temporary win for the consumer bodies, TNECA and TNSMA. However, the judgement has come due to poor coordination between the various state and regulatory bodies, the state government, the state utility (TANGEDCO) and TNERC.
The SPO order was discriminated as it applied only to HT and LT consumers, and has excused the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation TANGEDCO, violating of RPO regulations. The Tribunal reportedly noted that the TNERC did not consider detailed implications of the SPO order making it difficult to implement and open to disputes. However, it is evident that all of the grounds of set aside are intractable.
