APERC issues regulation on short term purchase of power

Visakhapatnam/Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has notified the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (terms and conditions for short term procurement/sale of power) Regulation, 2022 by issuing an extraordinary gazette after a public consultation process.

The regulation is being described as the first of its kind in the country by the APERC. The notification dated February 10 is expected to ensure transparency, regulate mandates for publication of the monthly/weekly/day-ahead power requirement communicated by State Level Dispatch Centre (SLDC) to the DISCOMs and details of the power procurement by the DISCOMs on their websites and that of SLDC within 48 hours with ease of access to the current as well as archived data.

The regulation enforces full despatch of cheaper power from the approved thermal power plants which reduces power purchase costs. It also stipulates the procedures for reserve shutdowns, demand estimation based on

the latest artificial intelligence tools, and when to resort to purchase/sale of energy from the market by the DISCOMs. It also provides for the constitution of a common round-the-clock dedicated cell by the DISCOMs with powers to monitor the energy prices in the power exchanges continuously and purchase/sell energy at the right time to save overall power purchase costs.

In a press release, APERC stated that the regulation is part of a series of transparent steps taken by it to reduce the overall power purchase costs of the DISCOMs and to improve their efficiency in the larger interests of the consumer public. It can be accessed on the website of the commission. Further, the commission recently

directed the licensees to place all regulatory information including the standard of performance data on their websites for ensuring transparency & accountability of the DISCOMs.