VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) is set to hold public hearings on the petitions filed by a few private renewable energy companies on December 31. The petitioners seek that directions be issued to the State power utilities to implement the ‘must run’ status accorded to the petitioners’ solar power plants, refrain from ‘illegally’ curtailing the solar energy generated there and compensate the petitioners for ‘unlawful and arbitrary’ curtailment of generation.
Firms, including Axis Wind Farms (Anantapur) Pvt. Ltd., Axis Wind Farms (Rayalaseema) Pvt. Ltd, Axis Energy Ventures India Pvt. Ltd and Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd, moved the commission asking it to issue directions to state discoms and energy department.
While the commission had scheduled the public hearing for December 21, the matter has been rescheduled for next week as counsel for the petitioners filed interim applications on behalf of several other generators before the division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, complaining about the non-compliance to the single judge order in respect of curtailment.
The High Court is scheduled to take up this matter on January 7, 2020. In case of the ‘must run’ petition, the counsel for the petitioner requested more time for filing evidence of proof of service of the notices. At the request of both the parties, the commission scheduled the hearing for December 31.
It may be recalled that ever since the State government decided to review the renewable power purchase agreements, the renewable generators have been alleging ‘illegal’ curtailment of power by the State power utilities despite the ‘must run’ status accorded to them.
Even though the High Court directed the State not to arbitrarily cut down on the procurement, the generators alleged that the curtailment continued.