PANAJI
In what could further burn a hole in the pocket of power consumers, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has proposed an incremental green energy charge (IGEC) of Rs 1.21 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on the consumers over and above the normal power tariff.
For arriving at the IGEC, the commission has considered the difference between green energy tariff and average billing rate (ABR).
The discussion paper released by JERC states, “To determine the green energy tariff, the commission will consider various components, including average pooled power purchase cost of RE, cross subsidy charges, if any and service charge covering the prudent cost of distribution licensee for providing green energy.”
The average billing rate (ABR) approved in the Retail Supply Tariff Order for the FY 2023-24 has been taken into account in the computation of the green energy tariff which is Rs 5.04/kWh.
The green energy applicable tariff has been calculated to be Rs 6.25/kWh which includes the landed cost of renewable energy for utility, distribution service charge and down cost.
“The green energy applicable tariff has been calculated to be Rs 6.25 and the ABR is Rs 5.04. Consequently, the IGEC has been calculated to be Rs 1.21/kWh,” the commission stated adding, ‘The Incremental Green Energy Charges shall be applicable to consumers over and above the normal tariff of the respective category’.
The Commission said that the revenue earned by the distribution licensee from sale of power to consumers under tariff for green energy shall be considered as revenue from sale of power. The distribution licensee is required to separately maintain tariff category and sub-category wise accounting of number of consumers, connected load, sale and revenue from sale under tariff for green energy for consumers and same shall be shown separately by the Distribution Licensee at the time of truing-up.
The Commission pointed out that in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2070, the Government of India has set short-term targets which includes increasing the renewables energy (RE) capacity to 500 GW by 2030, meeting 50% of energy requirements from renewables, reducing cumulative emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030, and reducing emissions intensity of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 45% by 2030.
