Uttar Pradesh power firm&nbsp;reprimanded for late wind approvals

The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) has been ordered to identify who was responsible for the two-year delay in approving the tariff, power sale agreement and power procurement for 439.9 MW of wind schemes. The state regulator also learned power was being procured from the projects without its approval, and the Power Trading Corporation had not been paid by UPPCL.

The Uttar Pradesh Energy Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has directed the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) to explain the delay in obtaining approvals for buying and scheduling of power from 439.9 MW of wind projects.

The issue relates to a petition that was filed by the UPPCL for accepting the delay in the adoption of a tariff, approval of power sale agreement, and power procurement for these projects. The PSA for the projects were signed in 2017, and the power projects were commissioned in 2018.

According to the petition, UPPCL had delayed the filing of a petition for the approval of the PSA of these projects by almost two years. Further, the state load dispatch center (SLDC) was scheduling power from these projects without the approval of the commission. Upon investigation by the UPERC, it was also found that UPPCL had not made the payments for the power that it had procured by the intermediary – Power Trading Corporation of India (PTC).

Expressing its displeasure at both UPPCL and PTC for not abiding by the Electricity Act, the commission has directed UPPCL to provide an affidavit within a week to assign the responsibility and taking actions against those responsible for the delay in filing the petition. The petition will be heard again on October 10, 2019.