The Rajya Sabha passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, on Monday clearing the decks for “mandate use of non-fossil sources”, including green hydrogen, green ammonia, biomass and ethanol for energy and feedstock and establish carbon markets in the country.
The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill in August. Replying to a debate on the Bill, Power Minister R.K. Singh termed the Bill as futuristic and said it would give an impetus to India’s efforts to got for greener sources of energy.
Mr. Singh said the Bill aimed to bring large residential buildings, with a minimum connected load of 100 kilowatt (kW) or contract demand of 120 Kilovolt Ampere (kVA), within the fold of Energy Conservation regime. He said the States, if they wished, could bring down the connected load and contract demand.
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The Bill, according to him, will also enhance the scope of Energy Conservation Building Code, will amend penalty provisions, increase members in the Governing Council of Bureau of Energy Efficiency and empower the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to make regulations for smooth discharge of its functions.
Mr. Singh said the Bill was for the future as it was essential for the planet. “We don’t have any alternative. This is the only planet which we have and we have to do our best to save it. We are doing our best but if you ask me whether the other developed countries are doing their best, I will say I have questions, I have doubts. We hear a lot of talk but do not see any concrete action,” he said in the Rajya Sabha.
Opposition sees flaws
The Opposition, however, found flaws in the Bill. DMK MP P. Wilson said the Bill had a lot of legal infirmities which went to the root of the matter and it required re-consideration and re-introduction. He added that the Bill was ultra vires of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
“While the Energy Conservation Act, of 2001 deals with saving energy, the present Bill deals with saving the environment and conserving climate change due to the usage of fossil and non-fossil fuels while generating electricity. The scope and objective of the principal Act do not take in the purpose and object of the present Bill. The Bill relates to monitoring and controlling of carbon emission and climate change which is an aspect of the environmental laws,” he said.
MP from Andhra Pradesh S. Niranjan Reddy said the Bill seemed to work in a clear binary. “There is the Central Government discharging one set of roles, there are the State Governments which have been authorised under the Act to discharge a different set of roles. What is missing is a coordinated approach between the Central Government and the State Government because now each of the State Governments will act in its own manner, there is no coordinated approach,” he said.
CPI(M) MP V. Sivadasan said the Bill was yet another example of the Centre’s tendency to centralise powers by snatching the rights of States. “The Bill proposes only five representatives of the States and it means that a majority of the States would not be able to register their opinion in the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The Central Government is curtailing the rights of the States. Each and every State has the right to register its opinion. So, that should be protected,” he said.
