Price ceiling on power bourses to stay till December

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has extended Rs 12 per unit price ceiling in all market segments of power exchanges by three more months till December 31. The earlier order lowering the price cap from Rs 20 was in force till Friday.

CERC said as per the emerging demand-supply situation in the power sector, it is expected that despite the fall in temperature, high demand for electricity particularly from household and industrial consumers is likely to continue over the next few months mainly due to festive season, and pressure emanating from lighting and heating load. 'Moreover, agricultural load will persist over the next few months on account of harvesting of kharif crops and sowing of winter crops" the order said.

Power and renewable energy minister R K Singh had in an interview to ET earlier this month said the government will direct the power regulator to retain the Rs 12 per unit ceiling on power exchanges and will in three months launch a high-price market specifically for gas-fired and battery storage plants.


“.....the Commission, with a view to protect consumer interests, has decided to extend the applicability of the directions in its Order dated 06.05.2022 in Petition No. 05/SM/2022 (Suo Motu) till 31st December, 2022," an order issued on Thursday said.

The peak demand has been fluctuating and touched 199 GW on 07.09.2022. 'Based on the past trend, it is expected that the peak demand (morning & evening peaks) would remain significant due to lighting and heating load in the winter months," the order said.

During the last 3 months, Market Clearing Price (MCP) of Rs 12/kWh in DAM has generally been discovered during the evening hours from 18:30 hrs onwards, it said.

Domestic coal stock seems to be well positioned as compared to last year’s period from Oct’21 to Dec’21. However, as per the past trend, it is expected that generation from hydro and wind would start decreasing from October onwards, which is likely to exert pressure on coal stock, the order said.