MAHARASHTRA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION 13th floor, Centre No.1, World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai-400 005 Tel. No. 022-22163964/65/69 E-mail: mercindia@merc.gov.in Website: www.merc.gov.in

Timelines to be followed under the applicable provisions of the MERC (Framework for Resource Adequacy) Regulations, 2024 for FY 2024-25

NOTIFICATION

Date: 3 July 2024

1. Ministry of Power (MoP) has notified amendment of Electricity Rules on 29 December 2022. Rule 16 of these Rules provide that the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions shall frame Regulations on Resource Adequacy, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government and the model Regulations framed by the Forum of Regulators.
2. Accordingly, the Commission has issued MERC (Framework for Resource Adequacy) Regulations, 2024 (RA Regulations) which have been notified official gazette on 20 June 2024. Regulation 21 of these Regulations specify the timelines as well as the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders such as distribution licensees (DLs), State Transmission Utility (STU) and Maharashtra State Load Despatch Centre (MSLDC) to undertake various activities including submission of Long term/Medium term Resource Adequacy Plans (MT-DRAP), Short term Resource Adequacy Plan (ST-DRAP) and Annual Rolling Plans, in line with the provisions outlined under said Regulations.
3. These RA Regulations have come into effect from date of its notification in official gazette i.e. with effect from 20 June 2024. As per these Regulations, the LT/MT-DRAP and ST-DRAP plans for the first control period coinciding with fifth control period FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30 are to be submitted during Current Year (i.e., First Year of FY 2024-25) for Ensuing Years (FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30) and subsequently, Annual Rolling Plans are to be submitted in each year for the Ensuing Years for any revisions/modifications due to market developments or otherwise.
4. Considering the time required for preparedness of various steps outlined under these RA Regulations, as also, in view of the fact that Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has not yet notified/approved National level RA plan with specification of reliability indices for Planning Reserve Margin (PRM), Loss of Load Probability (LOLP), Normalised Energy Not Served (NENS) for National/State level, it is envisaged that there could be some delays in development of RA Plans by the Utilities/stakeholders at state level. Recognizing this fact, the Commission has incorporated enabling provision that timelines for first year for submission of RA Plans under these Regulations (i.e. submission during FY 2024-25) shall be separately notified. The Relevant extract of Regulation 1.3 of the RA Regulations is as under:

1.3. These Regulations shall come into force from the date of their notification in the Official Gazette.

Provided that the timelines specified in Regulation 21 of these Regulations shall be applicable from FY 2025-26.

Provided further that, for FY 2024-25 i.e., 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, timelines shall be separately notified by the Commission.

1. In view of above, the Commission hereby notifies the following timelines for submission of MT-DRAP/ST-DRAP along with associated activities for implementation of the Resource Adequacy Framework in the State of Maharashtra as under:

Sd/-
(Surendra J. Biyani)
Member

Sd/-
(Anand M. Limaye)
Member

Sd/-
(Sanjay Kumar)
Chairperson