The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has notified the third amendment to its Grid-Interactive Distributed Renewable Energy Generating Systems Regulations, opening up virtual and group net metering across consumer categories, codifying charge waivers, and adding battery storage incentives.

The amendment follows a petition filed by Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam seeking virtual and group net metering in the state.

According to the amendment regulations, under virtual or group net metering, an eligible consumer may install a distributed renewable energy project of more than 1 kW and up to 1 MW.

Projects above 1 MW must instead proceed under the Commission’s tariff regulations for renewable energy and the Green Energy Open Access framework.

Consumers having a contract demand of 100 kW or more and up to 1 MW are given a choice between virtual or group net metering and green energy open access.

In addition to this project-level cap, the amendment limits total installed capacity to 100% of the cumulative sanctioned load or contract demand of the participating consumers, and permits each individual participating connection to go up to its own contract demand.

The Commission has introduced further checks to protect local network limits and to keep metering practical for high tension users. Where group net metering is used, the maximum capacity at a premises is also subject to the available headroom on the distribution transformer.

High-tension consumers at 11 kV and above may connect to a group net metering project at their low-tension bus, but in those cases, the net meter must be installed on the high-tension side of the consumer’s transformer.

The amendment also allows a group net metering consumer to enhance or upgrade capacity, so long as the total at the premises stays within the prescribed limits.

Group and virtual net metering will apply to all categories of consumers. The overall scope of the regulations is to explicitly include net metering, net billing, group net metering, virtual net metering, peer-to-peer trading, and plug-and-play solar.

It also clarifies that a consumer already on net metering may move to virtual or group net metering only after terminating the existing agreement, and that a prosumer on net billing is not entitled to adopt virtual or group net metering.

Timelines and Processing

The amendment introduces time-bound processing and an express deemed feasibility for small residential projects, aiming to improve adoption. For domestic category consumers, applications up to 10 kW under net, virtual, or group net metering require no technical feasibility study, and the distribution licensee must carry out any related enhancement of sanctioned load.

For other categories or projects exceeding 10 kW, the feasibility study is mandatory. It must be completed within 15 days for existing consumers and generators already connected to the project, and within 30 days for new consumers or generators seeking fresh connectivity.

In all cases of virtual or group net metering, once a proposal is declared technically feasible or deemed feasible, connectivity must be granted within 30 days.

Energy Accounting and Settlement

The accounting and settlement framework is similar for both group and virtual net metering. In group net metering, if monthly exports at the service where the project is located exceed imports, the excess is adjusted to other service connections of the same consumer in the sequence listed by the consumer, starting with the connection hosting the project.

The priority list may be revised once at the beginning of each financial year, with two months’ notice. If, after such adjustment, an excess remains, the distribution licensee purchases the balance. For time-of-day consumers, injection in a given time block is first netted against imports in the same block at the host connection, and any residual credit is then carried to other connections as if it arose in the off-peak block, settled from the lowest to the highest tariff block.

If the host service is disconnected during the year, unadjusted credits are paid at the year’s end, subject to settlement of any dues; if a consumer’s imports exceed allocated or exported energy in a billing period, net consumption is treated according to Regulation 12.6.1(b).

In virtual net metering, generation is credited in the monthly bills of participating consumers in the agreed sharing ratio set out in an agreement or memorandum submitted to the distribution licensee. The participants may change the sharing ratio once at the start of each financial year, with two months’ notice.

Commercial arrangements between the participants are outside the licensee’s role. If an individual participant’s adjusted excess exceeds imports in a billing period, the distribution licensee purchases the excess.

For time-of-day consumers, generation in a time block is first netted against consumption in the same block, and any remaining surplus is treated as if created in the off-peak block, settled from the lowest to highest tariff block. Where a participating consumer’s service is disconnected, year-end payment of unadjusted credits is made subject to settlement of dues.

Open Access

Open access is allowed for virtual and group net metering only to wheel energy to the beneficiary connections of the same consumer, and third-party sale is not permitted under net, group, virtual, or net billing arrangements except where a RESCO model is expressly allowed. The amendment specifies that charges and losses, where applicable, are to be levied on the beneficiary consumers.

Waivers

The order sets out a charge framework that favors households and gives structured relief to other categories while protecting the network.

No transmission charges or losses are leviable on any category of consumer using virtual or group net metering. For domestic consumers, whether projects are self-owned or under a RESCO model, no wheeling charges, wheeling losses, transmission charges, transmission losses, banking charges, cross-subsidy surcharge, or additional surcharge apply.

For non-domestic categories using self-owned projects on the consumer’s premises, the generated energy is exempt from banking, wheeling charges and losses, cross-subsidy surcharge, and additional surcharge. If the project is located elsewhere, banking and both surcharge components remain exempt, but wheeling charges and losses apply at the relevant voltage level, and until the Commission separately determines a low tension rate, the 11 kV level applies by default.

For RESCO-owned projects other than domestic consumers, when installed on the consumer premises, the energy is exempt from banking, wheeling charges, and losses. If installed elsewhere, banking is exempt, but wheeling charges and losses apply at the relevant voltage level with the same 11 kV default.

For RESCO projects in non-domestic categories, a cross-subsidy surcharge and an additional surcharge are levied at 50% of the open access rates, or a composite surcharge of ₹1.25 (~$0.014)/kWh, where category-specific rates are not yet determined.

The regulations also state that for government connections using virtual or group net metering, whether self-owned or RESCO-owned, no cross-subsidy surcharge or additional surcharge will be applicable.

To encourage pairing with storage, the amendment introduces a wheeling charge incentive linked to battery energy storage systems (BESS) installed with the renewable energy project. A 75% waiver of wheeling charges applies where the project includes battery storage with a capacity of 5% of the renewable project capacity.

For BESS, exceeding 5% of solar capacity will be eligible for an additional 1% exemption on wheeling charges for each 1% capacity increase of the storage project, up to 30% capacity. BESS with a capacity exceeding 30% of solar capacity will be exempt from 100% wheeling charges.

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