The energy sector in India is impacted by certain key market trends, including unprecedented growth of renewable energy sources and advent of new technologies like electric vehicles and rooftop photovoltaic. These trends create uncertainty in the sector and require regulatory and policy changes to accommodate the increasing penetration of renewables into the grid. In this regard, CSTEP has identified two main challenges: smooth transition of state utilities to renewable energy and development of robust operational processes for long-term sustainability of distribution companies. Our work aims to explore the potential of states to meet renewable energy targets and strategise with government bodies for policy implementation at both state and national levels.
Distribution Companies Should Turn the Tide by Going SMART
State-owned electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) continue to be plagued with financial problems. This is so despite efforts by both central and state governments to bail out the beleaguered DISCOMs with rescue packages. In a last-ditch effort, the Central Government announced INR 3.05 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2021–22 to redeem the utilities.
How India Can Accelerate Pumped Hydro Storage for a Clean Energy Future
India’s clean energy transition is largely driven by the ambitious target of installing 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy (RE) by 2030. While such huge RE deployment can pose several operational and technical challenges for the grid, energy storage can mitigate them.
Power Markets in India
Electricity, like any manufactured product, can be bought and sold in a market — in this case, a power market. The buying and selling transactions of electricity occurs in the units of either power (in megawatts, MW) or energy (in million-units, MU). Like all transactions, power transactions involve a buyer and a seller, which can be a distribution company (DISCOM), a generation company (GENCO), a power exchange, or a bulk consumer.
Seamless DBT for Consumers Below Poverty Line
The proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, for the Electricity Act, 2003, intends to bring major reforms in the Indian power sector. One of the proposed amendments is in Section 65 of the principal Act.
According to Section 65 of the Act, state governments should pay subsidy to electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) in advance for electricity consumption by domestic consumers who are below poverty line (BPL).
Seamless DBT for Agricultural Consumers
The proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, for the Electricity Act, 2003, intends to bring major reforms in the Indian power sector. One of the proposed amendments is in Section 65 of the principal Act.
The proposed amendment is intended to replace this provision with a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. Under this scheme, state governments transfer the subsidy directly to consumers, and DISCOMs then charge the consumers based on the tariff determined by the SERCs.
Assessment of IP set Consumption in Agricultural Feeders
Farmers in India receive electricity either free of charge or at extremely low rates for operating irrigation pump (IP) sets. The distribution utilities are compensated for the free (or nearly free) supply through subsidies by state governments. To claim higher subsidy amounts, utilities often show inflated figures of agricultural consumption. The higher consumption (by IP sets) estimates also help utilities portray lower loss in their network.
Financial Journey After Consumers Pay Their Electricity Bills
CSTEP launched the Empower series of blog articles to simplify the power sector for non-technical readers. Through the series, we hope to explain how every step of the journey of electricity affects the consumer. In the first article, we introduced you to the many actors involved in the journey of electricity. The second article of the series explains the costs involved in electricity generation.
Understanding the Consumer Electricity Bill
This is the third article in the Empower blog series that CSTEP initiated to breakdown the power sector for a non-technical audience. In the first article, we began decoding the journey of electricity and in the second article we explained the costs incurred in generating electricity — the first step of the journey.