DERC asks Centre to reallocate Delhi’s power from NTPC Dadri

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has written to the Centre requesting it to “permanently reallocate” Delhi’s share of power from the NTPC’s Dadri plant to other states, with the city’s largest discom, BSES, complaining that is pays Rs 35 crore per month as fixed charges despite not drawing any power from the facility since November last year.

In its letter to the Union Power Ministry on July 7, the DERC

In its letter to the Union Power Ministry on July 7, the DERC stressed that deallocation from Dadri will “ultimately benefit the consumers of Delhi”. The BSES has approximately 45 lakh consumers in the national capital.

“You are once again requested to permanently reallocate on urgent basis entire Delhi’s share of Dadri-I generating station of NTPC Ltd to other needy states with effect from December 1, 2020, to avoid the burden of fixed cost without any power scheduled to end consumers of Delhi,” DERC Secretary Mukesh Wadhwa wrote.

The DERC letter is significant in light of a July 1 order of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in which the BSES has been allowed to exit the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the NTPC with respect to the Dadri-I plant as it had completed 25 years from the date of commissioning.

The BSES had then hailed the order as a “landmark that will help in lowering the power tariff, thus benefiting the 45 lakh consumers of the company in Delhi”. The CERC had asked the BSES to approach the Ministry of Power, seeking deallocation of its share from Dadri-I plant.

After the July 1 order, the Power Ministry had informed states and central power generation companies that power distribution companies (discoms) are permitted to exit PPAs after completion of the term of the agreements.