Kerala govt opts to invoke Rule 108 of the Electricity Act, writes to the Electricity Regulatory Commission

17 Oct 2023

Six days after the state cabinet decided to invoke Rule 108 of the Electricity Act 2003, asking the State Regulatory Commission to re-validate long-term power purchase agreements that were earlier canceled by the commission, the top bureaucracy finally decided to convey the government's decision. As per the report, the Commission, through a letter, has been approved by Chief Secretary V. Venu on the last day. After several rounds of deliberations, a committee headed by the Chief Secretary recommended invoking Rule 108 to convey to the State Cabinet the opinion of the government that the Commission should consider the power purchase agreements in question, keeping in mind the public welfare. Consideration should be given to giving it validity. The commission had refused to approve 465 MW of agreements signed during the previous UDF government's rule, citing procedural violations.