O.P. No. 02 of 2016. Case: Sugar Mills Association Madhya Pradesh Vs Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission. APTEL (Appellate Tribunal for Electricity)
| Case Number | O.P. No. 02 of 2016 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: M.G. Ramachandran and Swapna Seshadri, Advs. and For Respondents: Venkatesh, Varun Singh, Pratyush Singh, Shashank Khurana and Natabrata Bhattacharya, Adv. |
| Judges | Ranjana P. Desai, J. (Chairperson) and I.J. Kapoor, Member (T) |
| Issue | Electricity Act, 2003 - Sections 111, 121, 64(3) |
| Judgement Date | March 01, 2017 |
| Court | APTEL (Appellate Tribunal for Electricity) |
Order:
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The Petitioner is an association of Sugar Mills in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Respondent No. 1 is the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission ("the State Commission"). In this petition filed under Section 121 read with sub-section (6) of Section 111 of the Electricity Act 2003 ("the said Act") the Petitioner has prayed inter alia that the State Commission be directed to pass the tariff order and decide the tariff for bagasse based co-generation projects for the period from 01/04/2016.
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The grievance of the Petitioner could be shortly stated. Admittedly, the State Commission has passed tariff order dated 01/04/2013 determining tariff for co-generation units to be commissioned in the State of Madhya Pradesh for supply to distribution licensees. The said order was applicable to all new bagasse based co-generation plants in the State of Madhya Pradesh commissioned on or after 01/04/2013 till 31/03/2016. The tariff order, inter alia provides as under:
4.1 This tariff Order will be applicable to all new bagasee based cogeneration plants in Madhya Pradesh commissioned on or after 01.04.2013 for the sale of electricity to the distribution licensees within the state. This order also specifies the terms & conditions (other than tariff) for captive user or for sale to third party.
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5.1 The control period to which this order shall apply shall start from 01.04.2013 and will end on 31.03.2016 (i.e. end of FY 2015-16). The tariff decided in this order shall apply to all projects which come up during the above mentioned control period and tariff determined shall remain valid for the project life of 20 years.
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According to the Petitioner since the control period of order dated 01/04/2013 was ending on 31/03/2016, the State Commission was required to undertake the process of fresh determination of tariff for the period from 01/04/2016. However, the State Commission, only after the expiry of the control period, in April, 2016 initiated the process for fresh tariff determination.
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Since the State Commission was in the process of determination of fresh tariff and there cannot be any vacuum in the interregnum, the State Commission issued an order on 18/04/2016. It reads as under:
The Commission had passed tariff order on 01.04.2013 for procurement of power from Bagasse based cogeneration plants in Madhya Pradesh for the control period upto 31.03.2016. Since then there has not been much investment in this sector in the...
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