A letter written by MGP president, Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd) to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission
Subject: Draft Amendment to Karnataka Electricity Regulatory (Fees) Regulations, 2004
Sirs,
1. If the work at KERC involved in processing Power Purchase Agreements is not commensurate with the fee charged, then the fee has to be increased. We have no objection to raising the fee from Rs.1,000/MW to Rs.5,000/MW for conventional fuel-based plants as proposed in the draft amendment.
2. However, we strongly urge that the fee for Power Purchase Agreements in respect of nonconventional and renewable sources of energy including cogeneration should not be raised from Rs. 500/MW to Rs. 5,000/MW as proposed in the draft amendment to the KER (Fees) Regulations. In the context of global warming and consequent climate change, it is accepted that carbon emissions are to be reduced. Since the electric power sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of all global carbon emissions, nonconventional and renewable sources of energy which do not contribute heavily to carbon emissions require to be encouraged very vigorously to reduce carbon emissions and hence reduce global warming. So we strongly recommend that the fee applicable to Power Purchase Agreements of nonconventional or renewable sources of energy including cogeneration be retained at Rs.500/MW to encourage investors in such generation stations.