The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has issued regulations for connectivity and net metering of rooftop and small solar grid interactive systems in the state. These regulations will come into force from the date of their notification in the Official Gazette.

The commission has issued draft regulations to promote rooftop solar systems under net-metering arrangement in the state. Through the amended regulations, the RERC has provided an “Energy Accounting and Settlement” mechanism.

Key Amendments to Energy Accounting and Settlement

• If electricity injected into the grid exceeds the electricity consumed during the billing period, excess injected electricity above 50 units will be paid by the distribution company (DISCOM) at its average power purchase cost (APPC) of the previous year.
• Net energy credits less than 50 units under net metering achieved in a billing period will be adjusted in the next billing period until a credit of 50 units is achieved

While amending the regulations, the state body was of the view that the tariff determined through auctions for mega solar power projects cannot be made applicable for rooftop solar projects because these come in lower kilowatt capacities with higher capital costs for such projects.

Recently, the RERC also amended its regulations for the determination of tariff for solar PV, solar thermal, wind power projects, biomass gasifier-based projects, biogas-based projects and other projects based on non-conventional sources of energy.

In October 2018, the commission had released a staff paper on projects registered under renewable energy certificate (REC) mechanism in the state. It had proposed that DISCOMs should purchase the renewable power generated from such projects at the lowest pooled cost notified by the RERC since 2010, that is ₹2.67 (~$0.035)/kWh.