In a major relief to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) ordered status quo on regulations allowing open access to consumers connected with less than 1 MW load under the HT category.
The concept of open access allows large users of power to buy power directly from private generators rather than depending on the State utility. The intra-State open access regulations are governed by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The previous AIADMK regime on the request of Tangedco issued a government order on April 17, 2018 to amend the regulations to allow open access to consumers availing maximum load of 1 MW and above and draft amendments were put out for public consultation.
In the meantime, a slew of consumers moved the Madras High Court on the issue. Following the directive from the High Court, TNERC has decided on the issue now.
In response to the draft amendments, all the stakeholders from the HT consumer side had stated that restricting the limit of open access to 1 MW and above would greatly affect the industries, particularly the MSME sector, TNERC noted. It was pointed out that most of the MSME consumers are having power requirements of up to 1 MW and they will be affected.
As per the comments from stakeholders, out of 2,500 spinning mills functioning in Tamil Nadu, more than 1,500 mills are having contracted load of less than 1 MW and the second largest input cost to these mills is the electricity next to raw material.
It was pointed out that most of these mills are sourcing power under open access even when their contract demand is less than 1 MW. Any attempt to amend the regulation to restrict the open access for less than 1 MW will greatly affect the industries, leading to an impact on the Tamil Nadu economy. Therefore, all these HT consumers wanted retention of the existing regulations, TNERC said.
The TNERC clarified that the decision to maintain the status quo is only a temporary measure so as not to disturb the equilibrium which has been existing for more than a decade.
Any change to the open access regulation at this point of time would have cascading effect on the generation and distribution of electricity in Tamil Nadu and hence at this juncture, it is not appropriate to reverse the amendment, TNERC said and noted that the amendments will be taken up in future if and when exigency arise.
