The relief given by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission to solar rooftop consumers was not long lasting. MSEDCL has come up with a new proposal of astronomical Grid Support Charges. The solar power will cost more now. The consumers of solar power could not celebrate the relief for long with this new announcement.
The petition by Discom for mandatory net billing has been rejected by MERC. A consumer with load of more than 10 KW will be levied with Grid Support Charges by MSEDCL. The Grid Support Charges proposed are Rs 4.46 each unit to Rs 8.66 each unit for the domestic consumers while that for commercial consumers are in the range of Rs 5.06 each unit and Rs 8.76 each unit. The industrial consumers would pay the lowest Grid Support Charges between Rs 3.60 each unit and Rs 4.08 each unit. Further, if MERC allows these Grid Support Charges to levied on consumers then the solar rooftop power would be more costly than the discom tariff; as reported.
MSEDCL submitted a petition to MERC. It asked for mandatory net billing rather than net metering. It stated that a loss of Rs 224 crore has been suffered by them till now. Also, the solar rooftop load has also increased over the years. While it was 20.44 MW in the year 2016-17; it increased to 288.80 MW in the year 2018-19. Also, the consumers produced 330 Million Units in 2018-19, as reported. However, MSEDCL cannot reach its target of solar Renewable Purchase Obligation.
