HC asks CERC to hear, decide NTPC's plea against tariff norms

The Delhi High Court today asked power regulator CERC to consider and decide the representation of PSU NTPC against its new five-year tariff regulations which would come into effect from April 1.
A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul, however, did not allow the interim plea of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) that the regulations of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) be stayed.
Issuing the notice to CERC on the plea of NTPC, the bench asked the regulator to consider the representation of the power generator PSU against the tariff regulations and fixed the matter for further hearing on May 19.

During the hearing, the counsel for NTPC said that the regulations were "unconstitutional" and violative of the Electricity Act.
"I am challenging the validity of the regulations as they are ultra vires of the Electricity Act. The CERC has acted in an arbitrary manner while fixing tariff norms for the next five years. These regulations will benefit discoms," he said.
NTPC will suffer loss of Rs 350 per tonne of coal consumed by it for power generation, he said, adding the loss may touch Rs 7,000 crore if regulations come into effect.

One of the changes, which will come into effect, is in respect of the payment of generation incentives to developers -- from plant availability factor (PAF) to plant load factor (PLF).

While PAF means declared capacity availability for generation, PLF stands for actual electricity generation by a plant. While NTPC has control over PAF, PLF could vary, depending on factors like fuel availability and offtake of electricity by distribution companies, the plea said.
At a time when coal shortage for power generation remains a serious issue, linking incentive payment to PLF could make things difficult and lead to losses for NTPC, it said.
NTPC has sought that the measure of gross calorific value of coal should be on the "as received" basis and not on the "as fired" basis.
It also demands that auxiliary energy consumption should be capped at 5.25 per cent.