GUIDE LINES AND PROCEDURES

OF
OPEN ACCESS
FOR
LONG TERM OPEN ACCESS
CUSTOMERS

M.P. POWER TRANSMISSION COMPANY LTD.

JABALPUR

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 MADHYA PRADESH POWER TRANSMISSION COMPANY
LIMITED JABALPUR.

GUIDE LINES AND PROCEDURES OF OPEN ACCESS

FORLONG TERM OPEN ACCESS CUSTOMERS

1. OUT LINE

The Electricity Act 2003 stipulates for providing Open Access through the
Transmission and Distribution system. Accordingly, the Hon’ble State Commission has
notified the Regulations for Intra-State Open Access in Madhya Pradesh vide their
order No. 1431- MPERC-2005 dtd. 16th June 2005 .

The Intra-State Open Access has been made applicable in the State in phases from
the date of coming into effect of the Regulations. The Regulations have come into
force from the date of their publication in official Gazette i.e. 24 th June2005.

Regulation 8.1 of the Regulations provides that the “Nodal Agency” for arranging all
types of Long Term Open Access shall be the State Transmission Utility (STU), who
shall nominate an officer to process the Open Access applications.

The schedule of providing Open Access is prescribed in the regulation (refer Regulation
clause 3.3).

Subject to operational constraints and other relevant factors, Open Access shall be
allowed in the following phases;
i. For Non-Conventional Energy Sources:
The Non-conventional energy generators and users shall be provided with
Open Access with immediate effect and they shall be governed by the existing
policy of State Government.
ii. For Captive Generating Plants of Conventional Energy:
Open Access for the Captive Power Plants shall be provided with immediate
effect.
iii. For all other Open Access customers:
Open Access to users other than at S. No. 1.4(i) and 1.4(ii) shall be provided
as per the time table below;

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 Sl. Phases Customer with contracted power Date from which
No. under Open Access for Open Access is to
Transmission and Wheeling and at be granted
Voltage
1. I Users requiring 10 MW or above at From the date of
Voltage 132 KV or above situated coming into effect of
anywhere in the State Regulations
for Intra-State
Open Access.
2. II Users requiring 5 MW or above at 33 From the date of
KV or above and situated in industrial coming into effect of
growth centers notified by the State Regulations for Intra-
Government or State Open Access.
having independent 33 KV feeders
from EHV Sub-station.
3. III Users requiring 2 MW or above at 33KV October 1, 2005.
or above and situated in industrial
growth centers notified by the State
Government.
4. IV Users requiring 5 MW or above and April 1, 2006.
situated anywhere in the State
5. V Users requiring 1 MW or above and October 1, 2006.
situated in industrial growth centers
notified by the State Government.
6 VI Users requiring 2 MW or above and April 1, 2007.
situated anywhere in the State
7 VII Users requiring 1 MW or above and October 1, 2007.
situated anywhere in the State

These guidelines and procedures are being issued in compliance of the provisions of
the MP Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions for Intra - State
Open Access in Madhya Pradesh) Regulations, 2005 dtd. 16.6.2005, notified on 24th
June 2005.

In terms of provisions under Para 8.6 of the MPERC's Regulation 2005 on open
access, all long term open access transactions shall comply with these
guidelines/procedures.

These guide lines/procedures have been prepared pragmatically considering the

avenues available and the intricacies involved. However, some teething problems may
still be experienced. In order to resolve the same these procedures would be reviewed,
if necessary in due course, and modified with the approval of the Hon’ble State
Commission.

2. CRITERIA FOR BECOMING LONG TERM OPEN ACCESSCUSTOMER

An Open Access customer availing open Access for a period of Ten (10) years or
more shall be a Long Term Open Access customer (refer Regulation 5.1).

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Provided that the existing beneficiaries of State Transmission System owned or
operated by the State Transmission Utility (STU) shall be deemed to be the Long Term
customers of the system owned or operated by STU for the purpose of these
guidelines/procedures.

3. APPLICATION AND ITS ENCLOSURES

The request for availing "Long Term Open Access" shall be made to the Nodal Agency
of M.P. Power Transmission Co. Ltd., (State Transmission Utility- STU) in the
prescribed application format (Appendix-I) alongwith confirmation of acceptance of
terms and conditions enclosed with application format as Annexure - I. The application
may be submitted in triplicate.

The application should be addressed to the following Nodal Officer;

Executive Director (CRA)
M P Power Transmission Co. Ltd.,
Block No. 3, 3rd Floor, Shakti Bhawan,Rampur,
Jabalpur– 482 008(MP).
Phone No. – : (0761) 2661234
Fax No. – (0761) 2664141
Email: [email protected]
A copy of the application should also be submitted to the concerned Distribution
Licensee(s) in whose area point of injection or drawal is situated.

The following shall be enclosed with the application:

i. Non-Refundable application fees amounting to Rs. 50,000/- (Fifty Thousand

only) in the form of Demand Draft payable at Jabalpur and Drawn in favour of
“M.P. Power Transmission Co.Ltd.”
ii. A copy of MOU/Agreement entered between buyer/seller/trader,clearly stating the
details of allocation of power from each generator/beneficiary.
iii. In case open access is desired for power generated from new generation project,
then the technical details as indicated in the application format should be
furnished.
iv. Scheme of injection and drawal of electricity algorithm a schematic diagram.
v. Confirmation of acceptance of terms and conditions (As per Annexure-I).

The application should be complete in all respect. The Nodal Agency shall
acknowledge the receipt of completed application alongwith requisite fee payable,
within one working day of receipt. Incomplete application shall not be processed and
shall be returned. The resubmission of such applications shall be treated afresh.

The Nodal Agency shall also forward a copy of application to the distribution licensee
who is supplying electricity or in whose area of supply the point of drawal lies.

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The following time schedule shall be adhered to by the Nodal Agency for processing of
the application for grant of long term Open Access (refer Regulation 9.1).

i. Intimation regarding feasibility of - Processing time30 days from date

access without system of receipt of application
strengthening

ii. Intimation of result of studies for - Processing time 45 days from the
system strengthening with cost date of request by OA customer to
estimates and completion conduct studies
schedule.

4. ALLOTMENT PRIORITY
The priority for allowing open access shall be decided on the following criteria (refer
Regulation 6.1):

i. Distribution licensee for long term

ii. Other open access customers for long term.
iii. Distribution licensee for short term.
iv. Other open access customers for short term.
Subject to above, the decision for allowing long term open access shall be based on
the basis of first come first serve.

In case more than one long term open access customer applies for capacity allocation
on the same date and if the capacity sought to be allocated to the customers is more
than the available capacity at that point of time, the Nodal Agency may offer to allocate
the capacity in the ratio of capacity sought by the customers till the time the capacity is
augmented.

The allotment of transmission capacity to a long term customer shall not be

relinquished or transferred to any other customer without the prior approval of the
Hon’ble Commission. The long term customer relinquishing or transferring the capacity
shall be liable to pay such charges as may be determined by the Hon’ble Commission
for the purpose. The Open Access customer will make an application for
relinquishment to the Nodal officer giving justification. The Nodal officer will examine
the application and send it to the Hon’ble Commission with recommendations

5. PROCEDURE FOR LONG TERM OPENACCESS:

The Nodal Officer after ascertaining that the application is complete in all respect will
forward a copy of the application to the System Study Cell of the Transmission as well
as Distribution licensee, within 3 days of the receipt of application. The System Study
Cell of the Transmission and Distribution licensee will examine the technical feasibility
of Open Access transaction along with the requirement of the System strengthening.
They will send their recommendations to the Nodal Officer within 15 days of the receipt
of the application’s copy by them. The Distribution Licensee will also intimate feasibility
of wheeling where distribution system is also involved from time to time.

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Based on system studies conducted and in consultation with other agencies involved
including other Transmission and Distribution Licensee, the Nodal Agency i.e. STU
shall within 30 days of receipt of the application, intimate to the applicant whether or
not the long term access can be allowed without further system strengthening.

Where system strengthening is not required, the Long Term Open Access shall be
allowed on execution of applicable Bulk Power Transmission Agreement (BPTA) by
the applicant for sharing of transmission charges and other charges, as may be
determined by the Hon’ble MPERC from time to time.

If further system strengthening is essential before providing the Long Term Open
Access, the applicant may request the STU to carry out the system studies and
preliminary investigation for the purpose of cost estimate and completion schedule for
system strengthening.

The STU in consultation with other agencies involved including other transmission and
distribution licensee shall carryout the studies immediately on receipt of request from
the applicant and intimate results of the studies to the applicant within 45 days of
receipt of request. The applicant may request the STU for appropriate action based on
the result of the study and execute BPTA along with deposit of necessary charges as
per demand note issued by Licensee(s) within 30 days, otherwise, the studies shall be
treated as null and void and fresh application shall be required to be made for the
system studies which inter-alia would take into consideration the development that
would take place in the intervening period. The applicant will be requir ed to pay
expenditure on system strengthening as per estimate given by the Nodal Agency.

The applicant shall reimburse the actual expenditure incurred by the STU for system
strengthening studies. The expenses on system studies will be payable along with the
request from the applicant. A sample estimate for such charges is enclosed for
reference (Annexure- II)

Provided the Non-refundable fee of Rupees 50,000/- paid by the applicant shall be
adjusted against the actual expenditure to be reimbursed by the applicant.

Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Nodal Agency and may upon the discovery
of new and important material or evidence or otherwise which, after the exercise of
due diligence, was not within his knowledge or could not be produced by him at the
time when the decision was passed or on account of some mistake or error apparent
from the face of the record, or for any other sufficient reason may apply for a review of
such decision within 45 (forty five) days of the date of decision, to the Open Access
Monitoring, Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Committee formed by the
Hon’ble MPERC.

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The applications in this regard may be addressed to;

The Coordinator,
Open Access Monitoring,
Dispute Resolution & Decision Review Committee,
C/o MP Electricity Regulatory Commission,
Urja Bhawan, Shivaji Nagar,
Bhopal (MP)

The customer may file a petition with the Hon’ble Commission for seeking the order if
he is not satisfied with the decision of Open Access Monitoring, Dispute Resolution
and Decision Review Committee.

Once the Open Access is sanctioned to a person, he will submit an application to the
Transmission Licensee for connectivity to state transmission system as per connection
conditions mentioned in section- 5 of the MP electricity Grid Code.

6. OPEN ACCESSAGREEMENTS

Long term open access customer using transmission system shall enter into Bulk
Power Transmission Agreement (BPTA) with the transmission licensee for use of Intra
- State Transmission System. The draft of BPTA is enclosed as Appendix – II.

The Agreement should be executed on non-judicial stamp paper worth Rs. 100/- (Rs.
Hundred only) with affixing a Revenue Stamp worth Re. 1/-.

The open access customer shall enter into separate Agreement with the concerned
distribution licensee(s) on terms and conditions of settlement of energy overdrawal/
underdrawal as per balancing and settlement code, payment of surcharge/ additional
surcharge, wheeling charges( if distribution system is involved),sub transmission/
distribution losses and allied matters. Draft of this agreement and terms and conditions
will be intimated to the open access customer separately by the concerned distribution
licensee.

Within three days of furnishing the executed agreements, - STU shall inform the date
of commencement to the open access customer, subject to completion of
infrastructure, metering, protection and operating system.

7. CURTAILMENT ORDER
When because of constraints, or otherwise, it becomes necessary to curtail the
capacity allocated to the Open Access customers (refer Regulation 12.1), the
following order shall be adhered to:-
i. Short term Open Access customers (excluding distribution licensees)
ii. Short term Open Access capacity allotted to distribution licensees.
iii. Long term Open Access customers (excluding distribution licensees)
iv. Long term Open Access capacity allotted to distribution licensees.
Within a category, power curtailment shall be carried out on a pro-rata basis.

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8. SUPPLY ARRANGEMENT AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF
SUPPLYSYSTEM

The power shall be fed into Intra – State Transmission System at the injection point
technically feasible and the same shall be transmitted to the drawal point through
licensee’s transmission system. Dedicated feeders shall be constructed at the cost of
open access customer to connect injection as well as drawal points to the nearest
feasible EHV substation.

The Open Access customer shall obtain all statutory and non-statutory permissions
required under the Electricity Act 2003 or any other enactment in force, for the time
being, from the appropriate Electricity Regulatory Commission or any other statutory
body, for the purpose of availing Open Access, or matters related thereto.

The Open Access customer shall make foolproof arrangement to ensure automatic
isolation of its system from the system of licensee, in the event of any fault on any of
the two systems.

The licensee shall provide adequate protection at its end at the cost of Open Access
customer to ensure that no damage is done to its system by fault in the the system of
open access customer. The repair/ replacement/maintenance of such protection
equipment shall be at the cost of Open Access Customer. The licensee shall not be
responsible for any damage, whatsoever, that may be caused to any equipment
installed in the area of drawal by Open Access customer on account of any fault in the
system and shall not be responsible to pay any compensation for any such damage.

9. CHARGES FOR OPENACCESS

[A] PAYABLE TO TRANSMISSION LICENSEE

Transmission Charges- The annual Transmission Service Charges

(TSC) as determined by the Hon’ble Commission from time to time
shall be shared by the long term Open Access customers, as per the
allotted transmission capacity.

Reactive Energy Charges:- The Open Access customer shall adopt all
possible measures to provide compensation for reactive energy at their
end. The reactive energy charges as approved by the commission from
time to time shall be payable by the long term Open Access customer,
to TRANSCO.

Connectivity Charges:- The actual interconnection expenses incurred

by licensee at the time of interconnection of generator and load with
the grid or as may be prescribed by Hon’ble Commission shall be
payable by the long term Open Access customer.

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 [B] PAYABLE TO SLDC

Operating Charges:- The long term Open Access customer shall pay to
the State Load Despatch Centre the scheduling and system operation
charges as determined by the Hon’ble Commission in accordance with
MPERC (Levy and collection of fee and charges of State Load Despatch
Centre) Regulation2004.

[C] PAYABLE TO DISTRIBUTION LICENSEE

Imbalance Charges:- The mismatch between the scheduled and actual

drawal at drawal point(s) and scheduled and the actual injection at
injection point(s) shall be governed by Balancing and Settlement Code
applicable to intra – state transaction, for which separate bill shall be
issued to the Open Access customers, by the concerned distribution
licensee .

Cross Subsidy Surcharge:- Payable by open access customer to the

distribution licensee under section 38(2-d), 39(2-d) & 42(2) of the
Electricity Act 2003, as determined by the Hon’ble state Commission.

Additional Surcharges:- Additional surcharge shall be payable by the

Open Access customer to the distribution licensee as per section 42(4) of
the Electricity Act 2003 as may be determined by the Hon’ble state
Commission.

Wheeling Charges- As approved by Hon’ble MPERC for use of Sub-

transmission/Distribution system.

[D] ANY OTHERCHARGES

Any other charges in cash or kind as may be specified by the Hon’ble

Commission shall be payable by the Open Access customer.
The charges payable as per Hon’ble Commission’s order dtd. 30.6.05 is shown in
Appendix-III. These are however subject to change from time to time with the approval
of Hon’ble Commission.

10. ENERGYACCOUNTING

The energy accounting shall be done in accordance with the Balancing and settlement
Mechanism as approved by the Commission from time to time. These shall be as
approved by the Commission from time to time. The accounts of energy will also be
settled monthly.

The transmission charges shall be on the capacity allocation, as may be approved by

the Hon’ble Commission from time to time. In case the capacity is over utilized by the
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Open Access customer in any period during a month, the capacity utilized in excess of
allotted capacity shall be billed at 1.5 times, the normal rate, for the full month.

11. ENERGYLOSSES

The Open Access customer shall bear energy losses of Transmission System and
Distribution System as approved by the Commission in accordance with the
Regulation framed by the Commission under Section 61 of Electricity Act, 2003 i.e.
MPERC (Terms & Conditions for determination of tariff) Regulations, 2005. The energy
losses in the Transmission and Distribution System shall be deducted from injection to
compute drawal schedule.

The information regarding average energy losses for the previous twelve months shall
be available on the website of the State Load Despatch Centre and the MPPTCL.

12. BILLING AND PAYMENT OFCHARGES

Upon receipt of energy account, the Director(Finance) MPPTCL, Jabalpur will issue a
bill of transmission charges and allied charges every month as per the tariff approved
by the Hon’ble MPERC. The bill shall be issued by 7 th of each month for the
transmission charges and allied charges for the preceding month. The bill shall be
payable within 15 days from the date of invoicing i.e. by 22 nd day of each month. The
bill of charges payable to the distribution licensee, as per para 9 above, shall be
issued separately by the concerned distribution licensee.

In case of payment of monthly invoice is made beyond due date specified in the said
invoice, a surcharge at the rate of 1.5% per month or part thereof shall be charged on
the amount remained unpaid after the said date.

If for certain reason any of the charges could not be included in the monthly tariff
invoice, such charges shall be billed in subsequent invoices as soon as possible or by
a supplementary bill.

If for any reason monthly energy account is not available timely, the SLDC shall
prepare the provisional energy account and accordingly, the Director (Finance)
MPPTCL, Jabalpur shall issue a provisional bill. The adjustment of the same shall be
given in subsequent bill on receipt of actual energy account.

The long term Open Access customer shall make the payment of Transmission
Charges and other allied charges through Cheque/Demand Draft drawn in favour of
“MP Power Transmission Co. Ltd., Jabalpur” payable at Jabalpur or through electronic
transfer within 15 days of issue of bill to the Director (Finance), MPPTCL, Jabalpur.

In case payment is not made on the specified dates during the month, the licensee
shall on the next day obtain payment due, through invocation of letter of credit for the
equivalent amount.

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In the event of non-payment of the dues, the licensees shall have the right of
discontinuance of Open Access in accordance with Section 56 of Electricity Act 2003.

13. PAYMENT SECURITY

The long term Open Access customer shall have to maintain security in the form of
irrevocable unconditional monthly revolving Letter of Credit (L/C) having minimum
validity of one year, to be extended each year well before expiry till the entire duration
of transaction, in favour of the licensee for transmission and other charges. The L/C
shall be equal to 1/12 th of the last year’s bill amount (excluding the cost of power) on
the basis of agreed schedule with the licensee. The value of initial L/C shall be based
on the determination of expected monthly tariff payment for the allocated capacity.

The L/C should be opened in a bank mutually agreed between the Open Access
customer and licensee.

The L/C shall be opened within 10 days of the date of acceptance of Open Access.

The L/C shall be reinstated within three banking days of their devolvement. Inability to
reinstate the L/C following its devolvement, as aforesaid as also failure to extend its
validity before expiry shall constitute a default. The L/C shall be without any limitation
or restriction with regard to the manner and dates on which the bills can be presented
to the concern bank by the licensee.

All types of L/C charges shall be born by the Open Access Customer.

There shall be no restrictions on the number of time the L/C will be utilized so long as
sum utilized is not in excess of the sum payable to the licensee including any delayed
payment surcharge.

14. RIGHT TO REFUSE TRANSMISSION FACILITY ONDEFAULT

If an open access customer does not pay the monthly bill for transmission or allied
charges by the due date, and does not reinstate the L/C within three banking days of
its devolvement or fails to extend the validity of L/C before expiry of the same, the
open access shall be discontinued, after giving fifteen clear days notice in writing to
the open access customer.
The action as mentioned under 14.1 shall be without prejudice to the right of the
transmission licensee to recover such charges or other sum by suit or other remedies
available under law.

The discontinuance of open access shall exist until, such charges or other sum
together with any expenses incurred by transmission licensee in discontinuing open
access and its resumption, are paid by the open access customer.

The open access customer shall be liable to pay the transmission charges even for the
period transmission facility is kept suspended under payment default. These deemed
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transmission charges shall be equal to transmission charges billed to open access
customer on the basis of allotted transmission capacity.

The distribution licensee shall provide for action in case of default under the
agreement mentioned in Para 6.3 above. However, as the charges mentioned in Para
9.5 to 9.8 above are the charges for the combined activity of Open Access, the default
in case of the agreement executed by the Open Access customer with distribution
licensee (Para 6.3) shall result into discontinuance of Open Access as a whole.

15. METERING

The long term Open Access customer shall provide ABT compatible special energy
meters as main meter as specified by the Hon’ble Commission in metering code for
such consumers based on voltage, point and period of supply and tariff category.
The licensee shall certify the meters, metering equipments and the installation of the
meter.

The main meter at injection as well as at drawal point shall be installed at interface
point in the EHV substation of the transmission licensee.

The licensee shall provide check meters of the same specification as main meters at
the cost of Open Access customer.

The main and check meters shall be sealed by both parties. Defective meter shall be
replaced immediately.

The reading of main and check meters shall be taken periodically at appointed day
and time by authorized officer of licensee, the generator and the customer or his
representative as the case may be. The meter reading shall be communicated to
SLDC, for the Open Access customer and the generating company or trader, as the
case may be by the Transmission and Distribution licensee in whose system Inter-
face point is situated, within 24 hours of meter reading.

The readings of check meters shall be considered for billing when main meters are
found to be defective or stopped.

If an Open Access customer requires the licensee to provide main meters, he shall
provide security deposit to the licensee and shall pay its rent. The meter shall be
maintained by the licensee.

If both the main meter and check meter fails to record or if any of the potential
transformer fuses are blown out, then the energy will be computed on a mutually
agreeable basis for that period of defect. In case of dispute and its continuance beyond
billing date, provisional billing will be done by the licensee, which shall be payable by
the Open Access customer.

For the purpose of calibration of meter error, the meter shall be tested as per
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applicable standard. For the purpose of test and calibration the s ub-standard (SS)
meter calibrated and sealed by Government Authorized Meter Testing House/
Laboratory shall be utilized. This SS meter shall be calibrated once every two years at
the above mentioned Meter Testing House/Laboratory.

16. FLEXIBILITY TO CHANGE POINTS OF INJECTION ANDDRAWAL

The long term users shall have the flexibility to change point of injection and/or point of
drawal once a year subject to the results of system impact studies to be carried out by
the concerned licensees at the behest of such users, provided that the rights of
existing users shall not be adversely affected. All expenses incurred by the licensee to
carryout such studies shall be reimbursed in full by such users. The open access
customer will submit the changed details in the format given in Appendix –I again for
studies.

17. COMMUNICATIONFACILITY

The Open Access customer shall have to provide communication facility as may be
specified by State Load Despatch Centre on a case to case basis.

For proper and prompt co-ordination and efficient operation, licensee shall provide
and maintain two-way power line carrier communication (PLCC) link between the
open access customer’s premises (control room) and licensee’s EHV sub-station, at
the cost of Open Access customer

The Open Access customer shall have the facilities of Telephone, Fax and E-mail.
The details of their communication systems shall be provided to the SLDC and
Nodal Agency.

A Co-ordination committee consisting of following members shall be constituted to co-

ordinate in respect of various matters regarding transmission of power-

a. One representative from transmission licensee.

b. One representative from SLDC.
c. One representative from distribution licensee
d. One representative from open access customer

The committee, among other matters shall,

i. Check and ensure parameters of the equipments, meters, relay setting etc.
ii. Monitor grid discipline to be abided by the Open Access customer.
iii. Monitor monthly schedule of quantum of electricity to be transmitted.

18. REDRESSAL MECHANISM

Any dispute (other than that referred in para 5.7) shall be first referred to the
Coordination Committee, referred in the above Clause 17.4. The Committee shall give
a settlement within 30 days, to be agreed by parties under dispute. In case dispute is
not settled by this process or the parties do not accept above Committee’s settlement,
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then the dispute would be referred to the Hon’ble Commission, by the parties not
satisfied by the settlement.

19. GRIDDISCIPLINE

The Open Access customer shall abide by the Indian Electricity Grid Code, the M.P.
Electricity Grid Code and the instructions given from time to time by the STU and SLDC

20. GENERAL:-

The Open Access customer shall keep the STU/SLDC indemnified at all times and
shall undertake to indemnify, defend and save the STU/SLDC harmless from any all
damages, losses, claims and actions including those relating to injury to or death of
any person or damage to property, demands, suits, recoveries, costs and expenses,
court costs, attorney fees and all other obligations by or to third parties, arising out of
or resulting from the transactions.

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