BEFORE THE GUJARAT ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION AT GANDHINAGAR PETITION NO. 1586, 1587 OF 2016

Transcription

1 BEFORE THE GUJARAT ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION AT GANDHINAGAR In the matter of: PETITION NO. 1586, 1587 OF 2016 Petition for approval of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission for implementation of Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (DELP) for LED bulbs in the area of Torrent Power Limited- Ahmedabad (for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar areas) and Torrent Power Limited-Surat (for Surat area) under Demand Side Management activities. Petitioner : Torrent Power Limited-Ahmedabad (TPL-D(A)) Torrent Power Limited-Surat (TPL-D(S)) Represented by : Shri Chetan Bundela on behalf of TPL-D (A) and TPL-D (S) CORAM: Shri P. J. Thakkar, Member Shri K. M. Shringarpure, Member Shri Anand Kumar, Chairman Date: 18/05/2016 ORDER 1. The present petitions are filed separately and individually by the petitioners for approval of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission for implementation of Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (DELP) for LED Page 1

2 bulbs in the Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat area of Torrent Power Limited. 2. The contentions of the petitioners in their respective petitions are identical and similar in nature. The prayer of the petitioners is also identical. Hence, the Commission has decided to club both the petitions for issuance of a common order. 3. The Petitioners (TPL-D (A), and TPL-D (S)) have submitted that: i. The Commission has approved DSM Projects with estimated cost of Rs Crore and Rs Crore for Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar and Surat license areas respectively for DSM Programmes under the Regulations. ii. The Petitioners are already in process of execution of the approved DSM Projects i.e. replacement of Conventional Tube lights and Fans with LED and energy efficient Fans respectively. iii. The Petitioners received letter from the Energy and Petrochemical Department, Government of Gujarat regarding implementation of Domestic Efficient Light Porgramme (DELP) in its license areas through M/s Energy Efficiency Services Limited, New Delhi, Nodal Agency for the Country. Accordingly, the Petitioners propose to implement the DELP for LED bulbs in its license areas in consultation with M/s Energy Efficiency Services Limited, New Delhi. iv. M/s. Energy Efficiency Services Limited, New Delhi, have submitted the programme details for implementation of DELP for LED bulbs to General Lighting Purpose (GLP), Manufacturing and Service Industries (MSI) and Residential Category consumers in the state of Gujarat. As per the proposal, the capital investment required for implementation of the program will be made by M/s. Energy Efficiency Services Limited, New Delhi. Page 2

3 v. Under the program, the Petitioners along with the technical and financial support of M/s. Energy Efficiency Services Limited has envisaged to undertake the following tasks. a. M/s EESL will undertake distribution of 9 W LED bulbs to all General Lighting Purpose (GLP), Manufacturing and Service Industries (MSI) and Residential Category Consumers in the Petitioners license area. b. Under the program, the Residential Consumers will have option to buy the LED bulbs either (i) On Bill Financing (OBF) option or (ii) Upfront Payment option whereas other consumers can buy LED bulbs on Upfront Payment. c. Under both the options, in case of Residential Consumers, TPL-D shall bear and make upfront payment of Rs. 10/-per LED bulb to Energy Efficiency Services Limited for maximum 10 LED bulbs per consumer purchased by them under/either both options, as a financial support. The support of Rs. 10 per LED bulb will not be available to other categories of consumers. d. The above amount of Rs. 10/- per LED bulb borne by the Petitioners towards financial support to Residential Consumers maximum upto 10 LED bulbs per consumer purchased under both the options shall be met through the DSM fund approved/ to be approved by the Hon ble Commission under DSM Regulations. e. Upfront Payment Option: Under the Upfront payment option, consumer can buy LED Bulbs as per their requirement. The Petitioners shall bear and make payment of Rs. 10/- per LED bulb for maximum upto 10 bulbs in case of Residential Consumers towards financial support and the consumer shall make upfront payment of the balance cost per LED bulb as determined in para 3 Page 3

4 (x). In case Residential Consumer purchases LED bulbs in excess of 10 LED bulbs, the financial support from the Petitioners (Rs. 10/- per LED Bulb) shall be limited to only 10 LED bulbs per consumer and for purchase in excess of 10 LED bulbs, the consumer shall make upfront payment of entire cost per LED bulb without any financial support from the Petitioners. For the consumers other than Residential, the entire cost for supply of LED bulb shall be paid by the consumers upfront. f. Under OBF Option: Under the OBF option, the Petitioners shall bear and make upfront payment of Rs. 10/- per LED bulb on behalf of the Residential Consumer and thereafter the balance cost per LED bulb, as determined in para 3 (x) shall be recovered from Residential Consumers through monthly electricity bill over 5 bimonthly/ 9 monthly instalments. Under the OBF option, Consumer can avail up to 10 LED bulbs. Only those consumers who are not in arrears in last three consecutive billing cycles will be eligible for availing the OBF option. g. Energy Savings: TPL has envisaged savings in terms of energy and capacity addition as a result of LED lamp distribution programme as under; Particulars Unit TPL-A TPL-S Total Energy Demand Saved per year Millin kwhr Avoided Capacity Addition MW Page 4

5 vi. Cost benefit Analysis: TPL-D has submitted that the implementation of DELP in their entire area of operation would result into energy saving of Million kwh per annum to consumers which shall result into reduction in energy bill of consumer to the tune of Rs Crore/annum as tabulated below; Sl. Particulars TPL-D (A) TPL-D (S) Total No. 1 Total payment to M/s EESL bi-monthly installments out of which 4 installment will be of Rs. 20/and fifth installment will be Rs. 05/-recovered from consumers. 3 Net Payout from TPL's DSM Fund (Rs. in Crore) 4 Reduction in energy bills of consumer per annum for a period of three Rs per unit (i.e. Average Realization Rate of Residential Category for FY ) vii. Procurement of LED bulbs: M/s EESL shall follow an open competitive bidding process to procure the LED bulbs. The process shall enable competition in procurement of LED bulbs with 3-year technical warranty at least cost. M/s EESL s process has been very successful in the past and the prices of LED lamps have reduced by 70% in the last 24 months as a result thereof. Any benefit of cost reduction will be passed on to the Consumers. viii. Payments to EESL: 1. Towards financial support to Residential Consumers, TPL-D shall make payment to EESL of Rs. 10/-per LED bulb maximum up to 10 LED bulbs per consumer, on behalf of Residential Consumers who avail the scheme. Page 5

6 2. TPL-D shall include the amount payable by the Residential Consumers choosing the OBF option in their bills and collect the same and pay the received amount to EESL. TPL-D shall make payment to Energy Efficiency Services Limited to recover the investment made as per the schedule agreed between them upon recovery of the amount from the consumers. The amount payable by TPL-D to EESL will be based on the actual numbers of LED bulbs distributed by EESL and shall be paid to EESL upon recovery of the amount by TPL-D from the consumers. Further, TPL-D shall not make payment to EESL towards installment for consumers who have lodged the complaint, till the complaint is resolved. 3. List of Consumers opting for On-bill financing and upfront option will be submitted to TPL-D by EESL on fortnightly basis. ix. Safety Aspects: 1. M/s. Energy Efficiency Services Limited will ensure that the LED bulbs used under this project comply with the technical specifications. 2. The sample testing procedure may also be carried out in any laboratory accredited by NABL jointly by M/s. Energy Efficiency Services Limited and TPL-D as part of this programme, in order to ensure safety compliance. 3. All safety related complaints or claims will be part of EESL responsibility. x. Project Financial at a Glance: The programme cost (inclusive of cost of the LED bulb, Distribution Cost, Awareness Cost, Annual Maintenance Cost, Debt Interest Cost, Return on Equity, Taxes or any other cost on account of implementation of this scheme) to be recovered from the consumer under Upfront and Page 6

7 On-Bill Financing Option shall be determined as per formulae given below: Tentative Programme Cost per LED bulb Sl. No. Particulars Formulae for assessing Programme Cost per LED Bulb Price (Rs.) 1 Cost of the LED Bulb As determined through competitive bidding (inclusive of CST) Upfront OBF Cost of the Distribution & Awareness As determined through competitive bidding Annual maintenance charges 2.00% of the Cost of the LED Bulb as determined under Sl No Debt Interest Cost 10% per annum Return on Equity (i.e % plus Tax 34.61%) 23.70% per annum Taxes As applicable Programme cost per LED bulb xi. Prayer 1. Allow Petitioners (TPL-D) to implement the Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (DELP) with programme cost in the entire license area of Petitioners (TPL-D) as tabulated below; (Rs. Crore) DISCOM TPL-D (A) TPL-D (S) Total Project Cost Allow the Petitioners (TPL-D) to recover through DSM fund, the payment to EESL of Rs. 10/- per LED bulb limited to 10 LED bulbs per Residential Consumer, on behalf of all consumers who avail the scheme. Page 7

8 3. Allow the Petitioners (TPL-D) to recover through electricity bill of over 5 bi-monthly/ 9 monthly installments who opt for OBF. 4. In order to recover the cost for providing LEDs under OBF option from the consumers through their electricity bill, allow Petitioners (TPL-D) to make necessary modifications/additions in electricity bill of consumers by adding one line item. 5. Authorize Petitioners (TPL-D) to treat default in payment of installments by consumers as "default of payment" under Section 56 of the Electricity Act, 2003 read with Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (Electricity Supply Code and Related Matters) Regulations, 2015 (i.e. disconnection of supply in default of payment) or as amended from time to time and recover such charges by suit, cut-off the supply of electricity. 6. Allow Petitioners (TPL-D) To make monthly payout to M/s. Energy Efficiency Services as per payment schedule stated in the petition subject to recovery from consumer and based on actual quantity of LED bulbs distributed. To provide irrevocable and revolving Letter of Credit (LC) in favour M/s EESL. To sign the Energy Service Agreement 7. Pass necessary orders as deemed fit by the Hon'ble Commission. 4. A hearing in this regard was held on During the course of hearing TPL D clarified that the expenses of the entire DEL programme shall be met under DSM fund that needs to be approved by the Commission at the time of truing up of FY It is further stated by the Petitioners that Government of Gujarat has not committed any funds towards DEL programme to be implemented in the area of TPL-D. Page 8

9 5. The Commission is of the view that the Scheme would reduce energy consumption of the consumers and thereby there will be reduction in their electricity bills. 6. The Commission, therefore, decides to grant in principle approval for providing the LED bulbs under Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme, subject to the following conditions; a. The Petitioners shall procure the LED bulbs through competitive bidding. b. The cost per bulb to be charged from the consumers shall be Rs in case of Upfront payment option and Rs in case of OBF payment option as indicated in para 3 (x) or the actual price of the LED bulb as may be discovered under the competitive bidding process, whichever is lower. TPL-D shall share the details of cost discovery of LED bulbs under competitive bidding with the consumers as part of awareness programme. c. Entire scheme shall be optional at the discretion of the consumers and that there shall be no compulsion on the consumers to opt for LED bulbs under the scheme. d. Consumers desirous of availing the scheme shall register themselves at the designated offices of the Petitioners and Residential Consumers opting for OBF option shall authorise the Petitioners to recover the balance cost of LED bulbs through electricity bills in 5 bi-monthly/9 monthly instalments. e. TPL-D shall meet the expenditure incurred under this programme through the DSM funds approved by the Commission for FY and lying unused with them. Page 9

10 f. TPL-D shall explore the possibility of availing budgetary support from the State Government to part finance the implementation of the scheme. g. TPL-D shall submit the details of expenditure incurred along with utilization of DSM funds and the budgetary allocation, if any, of the State Government at quarterly intervals along with the number of bulbs provided under both the options to Residential Consumers. h. The OBF Option shall be available to only those Residential Consumers who are not in arrears in last three consecutive billing cycles. i. The Petitioners (TPL-D) shall bear Rs. 10/- per bulb for maximum 10 LED bulbs per Residential Consumer. The Consumers who intend to buy more than 10 LED bulbs shall pay the entire cost upfront for additional (i.e. in excess of 10) LED bulbs. j. The recovery on account of these bulbs shall be shown as a separate line item in the bills by the Petitioners (TPL-D) and the same shall not constitute a part of the collection efficiency and AT & C loss computations. k. LED bulbs shall conform to the latest technical specifications stipulated by the Indian/International Standards. The sample testing procedure of the LED bulbs shall be carried out in any laboratory accredited by NABL jointly by EESL and the Petitioners (TPL-D). l. The Petitioner shall ensure that the consumers are provided high quality bulbs with three years technical warranty which shall commence from the date of disbursement to the consumers. The Petitioners (TPL-D) shall put in place an efficient mechanism for immediate replacement of defective LED bulbs during the warrantee period. Page 10

11 6. We order accordingly. 7. With this order, the present petitions are disposed of. Sd/- Sd/- Sd/- P. J. THAKKAR Member K. M. SHRINGARPURE Member ANAND KUMAR Chairman Place: Gandhinagar Date: 18/05/2016 Page 11