The interests of the consumers will be protected when finalising a decision on the plea made by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to change the metering method for grid-interactive renewable energy systems, Preman Dinaraj, Chairman, Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC), said on Friday.
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The commission also plans to call a public hearing in the near future on changes planned in its regulations governing renewable energy, said Mr. Dinaraj. The changes proposed will be published as a draft ahead of the hearing.
At an online hearing on Friday, the commission noted that the KSEB plea, which drew sharp criticism from solar prosumers, has been filed at a time when the Central government is actively promoting rooftop solar projects with subsidies.
On the KSEB argument that its request for adoption of gross metering for prosumers was in line with the rules notified by the Ministry of Power, Mr. Dinaraj observed that the commission was ''not obliged to verbatim introduce or reproduce'' those rules. While the commission would adopt useful recommendations from them, the interests of the consumers, as required by the Electricity Act, will be protected.
The commission also noted that the KSEB petition lacked clarity on critical points. It countered the KSEB argument that several States had adopted gross metering, pointing out that only eight or nine had done so.