Taking another step forward towards propelling the growth of intelligent transportation in the state, the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) has approved a tariff of ₹6.00 (~$ 0.083)/kWh for electric vehicle charging or battery swapping stations.

The average cost of service (CoS) for the entire state has been fixed at ₹6.04 (~$0.084)/kWh, according to a notification issued by the TSERC.

The DISCOMs had proposed a tariff of ₹6.10 (~$0.085)/kWh.

The commission, while setting the tariff, considered that the central government in its draft amendments to the Tariff Policy had stated that the applicable tariff for charging stations will be less than or equal to the average cost of supply determined by the AT and C (Aggregate Technical & Commercial) loss level of 25 percent or actual, whichever is lower.

The commission did not concede to the same rate of fixed tariff applicable in other states arguing that there are several factors which determine the tariff such as financial viability of the distribution licensee, and therefore one rate cannot fit the bill for all the states in India.

It also rejected the use of open access through renewable energy sources for charging stations as rules and regulations are in vogue at present to release power supply to charging stations.

The commission allowed for the promotional tariff, given that the lost revenue will be recovered from other sources by the licensees, either in the form of subsidy or otherwise through higher realization of the tariff from other categories of the consumers. The TSERC also believes that Time of Day (ToD) tariff will help DISCOMs to sell more power and help in better load management and system maintenance.

The commission made these observations after a public hearing based on a petition filed by the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL) and Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited. The two entities had filed pleas before the commission seeking determination of tariff for electric vehicle charging stations (battery swap) under section 64 of Electricity Act, 2003.

Both had proposed the rate under commercial category in low tension (LT) and high tension (HT) to provide some clarity on the applicable tariff for electric vehicles charging stations.

The commission felt that now, there is an increasing need to gear up to meet the charging demand by the electricity supply industry. Therefore, the petition filed by the applicants were taken up for consideration in July 2018.

Back in 2017, the commission in its order had observed, “The commission is of the view that the concept of electric vehicle charging stations is at a very nascent stage without any concrete developments and hence, the commission does not find it prudent to decide on the categorisation of the same at this stage.”

In this petition, the applicants argued that the categorization of electric vehicles is present in various states for promoting the electric vehicles charging infrastructure. It also said that Telangana has issued a draft Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy that envisages the creation of a separate category for power tariff for electric vehicles charging for both public and private.

The stakeholders also requested the commission for time-bound waiver of demand charges and full waiver for state owned transport organization as the utilization of the charging stations is not expected to be at its optimum level initially, for nearly 4 to 5 years.

To speed up India’s electric vehicle (EV) revolution, the government of India announced a few months ago that it is planning to subsidize EV charging infrastructure in the country.

Moreover, the Ministry of Power recently issued a clarification stating that no license is required to operate EV charging stations in India. This is expected to boost the participation of more private players in the creation of a nationwide EV charging station infrastructure.

To propel the growth of EVs in India, the government recently slashed applicable rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries.

Many states have also geared up for the uptake of EVs as a means of mainstream mobility. Recently, in a report published by Mercom, various EV hotspots of the country were analyzed.