DERC tweaks regulation for EV charging infra expansion in city

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has cleared a major regulatory hurdle, paving the way for faster expansion of EV charging infrastructure in the national capital under the PM E-DRIVE scheme, and ensuring that new charging facilities are funded through the subsidy rather than being recovered from consumers.

Under the existing Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, demand notes for low-tension electricity connections of up to 200 kW included only service line and development charges, security deposit and road restoration charges, according to officials.

The cost of upstream infrastructure, such as distribution transformers, high- and low-tension cables, circuit breakers, alternating current boxes, distribution boxes and protection equipment, was borne by discoms as part of their Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR), with the expenditure ultimately recovered through electricity tariffs paid by consumers, officials said.

These components are part of the EV public charging stations, battery charging stations and battery swapping stations.

However, the PM E-DRIVE scheme specifically provides a subsidy for upstream infrastructure and mandates that charge point operators submit proof of payment of demand notes issued by discoms before 70 per cent of the eligible subsidy is released.  According to DERC, the existing regulatory framework meant that demand notes of discoms did not capture the complete infrastructure cost eligible for subsidy, resulting in a mismatch between the central scheme and the existing regulations.

Delhi Transco Limited (DTL), which is the nodal agency for the implementation of the PM E-DRIVE scheme in the capital, flagged the issue before the Commission in May.

It pointed out that unless the regulations were relaxed, a substantial portion of the network strengthening cost for commercial EV charging infrastructure would continue to be borne by discoms and eventually passed on to consumers through tariffs, despite the availability of central government funding.

The DERC, in its order on July 1, said that the upstream infra cost in the demand notes will include all the components specified under the PM E-DRIVE scheme, besides the standard heads of service line and development charges, security deposit, and road restoration charges.