The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has issued the draft Framework for Resource Adequacy Regulations, 2026, proposing a structured mechanism for resource adequacy planning to support future power security in the state.

Stakeholders have been invited to submit comments and suggestions on the draft regulations by March 19, 2026.

Applicability and Scope

The proposed regulations will apply to generating companies, distribution licensees (DISCOMs), the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC), the state transmission utility, and other grid-connected entities and stakeholders in Rajasthan. The framework covers demand forecasting, generation resource planning, procurement planning, and monitoring and compliance mechanisms.

Rolling Planning Framework

Under the draft, DISCOMs must prepare rolling demand and resource adequacy plans across three time horizons. The long-term plan would cover 10 years, the medium-term plan 5 years, and the short-term plan 1 year.

Demand forecasting must follow guidelines issued by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and be based on scientific and data-driven methodologies. The draft refers to techniques such as ARIMA, econometric modelling, and artificial intelligence or machine learning approaches.

DISCOMs would have develop multiple demand scenarios, undertake sensitivity and probability analysis, and determine the most probable demand trajectory.

In preparing their resource adequacy plans, DISCOMs must consult state and central generating companies, transmission utilities, National Load Despatch Centre, Regional Load Despatch Centre, SLDC and the CEA. They must consult with traders and energy-surplus states to assess likely power availability and prices.

In addition, the SLDC would prepare a one-year look-ahead short-term resource adequacy plan for operational planning at the state level, with periodic reviews on a daily, monthly and quarterly basis.

Planning Reserve Margin and Reliability Criteria

A central feature of the framework is the planning reserve margin. The draft defines this margin as the additional capacity beyond the state’s coincident share of national peak demand. The margin is to be determined based on reliability indices such as loss-of-load probability and normalized energy not served, as may be prescribed by the CEA.

DISCOMs must identify resource gaps after accounting for existing and upcoming generation capacity, the capacity credit of renewable and conventional resources, and the prescribed reserve margin. The draft also allows a DISCOM to consider a higher reserve margin, subject to prior Commission approval.

Defined Procurement Mix

To meet the resource adequacy requirement, the draft prescribes a defined procurement mix. Long-term contracts, defined as those exceeding seven years, must account for 75 to 80% of the requirement. Medium-term contracts, which run for more than 1 year and up to 7 years, must account for 10-20% of the total. The balance may be met through short-term contracts of up to one year.

Power procured through the day-ahead or the real-time market would not be considered toward meeting the resource adequacy requirement. DISCOMs must demonstrate full tie-up of capacity for the first year toward meeting their share of the national peak obligation and at least 90% tie-up for the second year.

Approval Requirements and Reporting

The draft requires prior Commission approval for any new capacity arrangement or tie-up, as well as for new long-term or medium-term power purchase agreements and amendments to existing long-term or medium-term agreements. DISCOMs must also seek Commission approval for their proposed generation resource mix and procurement strategy.

At the same time, the draft provides that in emergency situations or where directed by the SLDC or Regional Load Despatch Centre to prevent grid failure, short-term arrangements may be entered into without prior approval. Each DISCOM must submit, along with its resource adequacy plan, a complete list of all existing power purchase agreements, including renewable energy and energy storage contracts.

The draft also specifies a number of filing timelines, including annual demand forecast submissions by DISCOMs to the SLDC, onward submission by the SLDC to national agencies, and submission of the long-term resource adequacy plan to the CEA.

Focus on Renewable Energy and Storage

The regulations require that procurement of wind, solar, hybrid and round-the-clock renewable power be undertaken in accordance with central government tariff-based competitive bidding guidelines. Similarly, procurement of energy storage systems, including battery energy storage systems and pumped storage projects, must follow applicable central guidelines.

Monitoring and Transparency

Monitoring and transparency provisions are integral to the draft framework. DISCOMs must establish a dedicated resource adequacy planning cell within three months of the regulations coming into force. They are also required to create a round-the-clock power purchase and sale cell for exchange-based transactions and frame internal procurement guidelines, which must be apprised to the Commission within 45 days.

The draft mandates publication of monthly, weekly, day-ahead and intra-day procurement and sale details, along with generator-wise schedules, on official websites.

The SLDC must publish the monthly merit order dispatch stack, including per-unit variable costs.

The Commission may determine non-compliance charges in cases where requirements under the regulations are not met.

In April last year, the Ministry of Power launched an indigenously developed resource adequacy model STELLAR, enabling DISCOMs to manage their power resources effectively.

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