VIJAYAWADA
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the power distribution companies (DISCOMs) to make payment of all pending and future bills to independent power producers in the renewable sector at the rates mentioned in the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) within six weeks, and set aside an order passed by a single judge earlier wherein the interim tariffs have been fixed at ₹2.44 per unit of solar power and ₹2.43 for wind power.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N. Jayasurya observed that the reason for the poor financial condition of the DISCOMs might be different than the tariffs fixed in the PPAs.
The Bench ruled that since the merit order despatch did not apply to renewable energy, which runs on a must-run basis, the single judge had not committed any illegality in directing that the respondents should not take coercive steps of any nature, including curtailing production and stopping evacuation without due notice to the generators.
The writ appeals preferred by the State Load Despatch Centre against this part of the order passed by the single Judge had no merit and were accordingly dismissed.
With the latest judgment, the proposed tariff renegotiation had been ruled out and the sanctity of PPAs had been restored.
