The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has proposed introducing virtual net metering, allowing groups of consumers, such as housing societies and residential complexes, to export solar power to the grid through a gross meter.

The exported energy will be allocated among members in proportion to their ownership share. Net imports from the grid will be billed at the applicable retail tariff, while surplus exports will be compensated at the feed-in tariff fixed by the Commission. Consumers on time-of-day tariffs will have their exported energy adjusted against their respective time slots.

Transmission and distribution losses, along with wheeling charges, will be applied. However, charges will be waived where injection and withdrawal occur at the same voltage level.

The amendment also proposes group net metering, which enables an individual consumer with multiple electricity connections to offset consumption across those connections using rooftop solar generation. Billing will be based on the retail tariff; surplus energy will be paid at the Commission-determined feed-in tariff. The time-of-day adjustments will apply in the same manner as under virtual net metering.

Transmission losses and wheeling charges will be deducted during adjustments, with exemptions similar to those provided under virtual net metering. Both virtual and group net metering applications and agreements must follow the standard operating procedure issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on February 23, 2023, and its subsequent amendments.

Stakeholders can submit their comments and suggestions until September 3, 2025.

The amendment also includes the formal recognition of distributed energy resource aggregators. These entities will be empanelled by distribution companies (DISCOMs) to support the management and integration of distributed generation. Their responsibilities will include overseeing rooftop solar and storage systems, managing demand response, disbursing rooftop subsidies, empanelling vendors, and handling project construction and installation. Aggregators will operate under commercial agreements with DISCOMs and will be compensated with an aggregator fee.

The application process for solar rooftop has also been streamlined. Consumers can now apply through DISCOM websites, Mee Seva centers, or the national solar rooftop portal. Application fees have been revised, with no fee applicable for capacities up to 5 kW. Projects between 5 kW and 100 kW will attract a fee of ₹1,000 (~$11), while those between 100 kW and 1,000 kW will require a fee of ₹10,000 (~$115). For projects above 1 MW, the application fee will be ₹25,000 (~$287)/MW.

Agreements for installations must be submitted to DISCOMs within four months of receiving technical feasibility approval. If an agreement is not submitted within this period, the application will be deemed cancelled. Agreements will be considered effective if DISCOMs do not raise objections within two weeks of submission, and they will be signed by officers designated for the release of new service connections under DISCOM orders.

The draft further introduces provisions for behind-the-meter rooftop installations. Prosumers may set up systems that do not export to the grid, subject to prior intimation to DISCOMs. These installations will not be subject to capacity limits, but consumers must furnish a written undertaking to pay applicable charges as determined by the Commission. Installations set up without intimation or in violation of standards will be disconnected after notice.

Prosumers with existing behind-the-meter systems are required to comply with the Central Electricity Authority’s Technical Standards for Connectivity of Distributed Generation Resources, 2013, within sixty days of the regulation coming into force.

The amendment has been brought forward to align the state’s rooftop solar framework with its Integrated Clean Energy Policy 2024, released in October last year, which aims to achieve 50% of the state’s power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2047. The policy targets investment inflows of around ₹10 trillion (~$114,85 billion). It also emphasizes building renewable manufacturing capacity, promoting green hydrogen, and establishing renewable economic zones.

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