India to implement open access system to power

India's Ministry of Law has approved the immediate implementation of the open access system in the power sector.

“All 1 megawatt and above consumers are deemed to be open access consumers and that the regulator has no jurisdiction over fixing the energy charges for them,” the Ministry of Law said in a note to the Ministry of Power.

According to the Act, a consumers’ bill will have three parts – wheeling charge, cross subsidy charge and energy purchase charge. While the first two will be fixed, the last one is where the consumers will get to choose in case he is dissatisfied with the supply.

The move is expected to bring much needed relief to large consumers in case they are not satisfied with their supplier. Once implemented it is expected to bring down power tariffs across the country.

“Open access was the main plank of the Electricity Act 2003 but has seen the slowest implementation rate out of all major moves of proposed in the Act,” said Ashok Khurana, director general, Association of Power Producers. He said the association lauds the move and would now like to see the implementation of the proposal in spirit.

Khurana, who has been a proponent of open access since the time the new Electricity Act was mooted, said tariffs will come down and consumers will get to choose their supplier as competition will now increase.

“This will not only bring in more accountability from the supplier, but will also ensure improved service and better demand management,” he said.