Uttar Pradesh releases Draft Regulation for Net Metering

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has announced that it has issued a new set of guidelines governing the net metering of surplus power generated by rooftop solar projects in Uttar Pradesh.

The draft regulation is known as Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Gross / Net Metering Regulations, 2019, or RSPV Regulations, 2019. The notification hasn’t been published in the official gazette hence has not come into force yet.

The current set of regulations supersede the UPERC (Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Gross / Net Metering) Regulations, 2015. As per the draft, the regulations shall apply to the distribution licensees (DISCOMs), the entitled consumers of the distribution licensees and third party owners of gross metering arrangement of rooftop solar PV system in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

The draft has also consent that the capacity of the grid connected rooftop system will not surpass 2 MWh and shall not be less than 1 KWh. If the customer/user of the rooftop opts for the gross metering option, the entire power generated from the solar setup will be fed into the grid at the interconnected points. If the customer opts for net metering then only the surplus electricity will be fed into the system, the draft mentions.

Taking a progressive view and to provide flexibility to rooftop solar power manufacturer and consumer, the draft has a provision of mutual sale and purchase of electricity through peer-to-peer transaction in a protected and steadfast way with proper accounting and billing mechanism implemented with the help Block chain technology.