Open access regulations in power become effective

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), the apex power sector regulator in the country, has announced that the regulations enabling power developers to obtain transmission corridors for open access in the medium-term will come into effect from today.

“The main rationale behind these regulations is to introduce transmission corridor for even those transactions which fall under the category of 3 months to 25 years. These norms will come into effect from today,” said CERC secretary Alok Kumar. Currently, generating companies have the option of booking power transmission corridors for up to three months (short-term open access) or for more than three years (long-term open access).

The regulator had published these regulations in the final form earlier this year after year long consultations over the draft with stakeholders. Another objective behind the new norms is to enable power plants to get transmission facilities just by indicating the region in which the power is to be supplied.