POWER
Power ministry sets up regulatory compliance division for monitoring The Union Power Ministry has said that it has set up a regulatory compliance division to monitor the adherence of regulatory parameters by the state-run electricity distribution companies (discoms) and state electricity regulators. In a meeting with Union power minister R K Singh held the Forum of Regulators (FoR) said that it will prepare norms on various regulatory parameters and issues, which would be adopted by the state commissions. To lower the cost of electricity, the power min-
10 | CCAI Monthly Newsletter August 2021
istry is also working on ‘resource adequacy guidelines’ and ‘guidelines for procurement of power’, keeping in mind factors such as load fluctuation requirement, contract term and energy mix. A recent report by FoR to measure the impact of power purchase cost on retail electricity tariffs had pointed out that discoms in 12 states are cumulatively paying a hefty Rs 17,500 crore a year for the power they don’t use as fixed costs. Under contractual requirements, discoms have to continue paying fixed cost to thermal power plants to recover the projects’ capital expenditure and cover debt obligations even when they do not procure electricity during periods of low demand.
