The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has reiterated the regulatory requirement that rooftop solar generation under simultaneous open access must be credited under net metering as per the amended 2023 regulations.

It made this averment while disposing of a petition filed by KSB, a pumps and valves manufacturing company, after the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) agreed to provide retrospective credit adjustments under the net metering arrangement for KSB’s rooftop solar energy generation across four of its facilities.

The case hinged on the application of the amended Distribution Open Access Regulations, 2023, which allow the simultaneous use of open access and net metering.

Background

KSB filed a petition seeking the implementation of net metering arrangements for rooftop solar projects installed at four of its manufacturing facilities.

It submitted that despite regulatory provisions allowing net metering alongside open access under the MERC (Distribution Open Access) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2023, MSEDCL continued billing KSB under the gross metering methodology.

KSB requested that its rooftop solar systems installed at the towns of Vambori, Kesurdi, Sinnar, and Pimpri be treated under the net metering arrangement rather than the gross metering methodology. It also requested retrospective billing adjustments from the commencement of open access at these sites.

The petitioner argued that despite fulfilling all procedural requirements under the amended regulations and repeated requests to MSEDCL, the utility failed to implement net metering and continued billing under the gross metering model. This billing was contrary to the second amendment of the MERC Distribution Open Access Regulations, 2023.

MSEDCL claimed that KSB had not registered its Green Energy Open Access application on the central nodal agency’s portal and that MSEDCL merely acted as a facilitator.

During the hearing, the Commission directed both parties to resolve procedural discrepancies. A subsequent hearing confirmed that KSB had complied with all procedural requirements, but MSEDCL continued to reject net metering under the pretext of procedural ambiguity.

MSEDCL requested the Maharashtra State Load Dispatch Centre (MSLDC) for short-term open access approvals. On March 13, 2025, MSLDC confirmed that approvals had been granted.

Subsequently, MSEDCL agreed to revise KSB’s bills from September 2024 to January 2025, incorporating the rooftop solar generation credit, with adjustments to be reflected in the May 2025 electricity bills (issued in June 2025). However, in the next hearing on June 10, 2025, KSB pointed out that no such adjustments had been reflected in the June bills. MSEDCL then assured the Commission that supplementary bills were being prepared to include the credit adjustments.

Commission’s Analysis

MERC observed that MSEDCL had, in written submissions and during oral arguments, unambiguously agreed to process the net metering-based credit adjustments. Given that the utility had now committed to implementing the adjustments in accordance with the regulations, the Commission found no further adjudication necessary.

However, the Commission noted that the credits would remain subject to the final decision in a clarificatory petition filed by MSEDCL. Until that matter is resolved, the provisional billing adjustments will stand. The Commission directed MSEDCL to file a compliance report detailing the credit adjustments made by it.

In June this year, MERC directed the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company to refund ₹6.8 million (~$78,351) in wheeling and transmission charges for the September 2021- May 2023 period for a wind power generator, with applicable interest.

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