Optimizing energy use during solar hours

The amendment of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, through the introduction of the Time of Day (ToD) Tariff and the simplification of Smart Metering Rules is projected to reduce consumers electricity bills. For consumers to benefit under the new rules, it will require them to optimise their heavy-duty electricity usage, like washing machines, dishwashers, electric irons, geysers, etc., during solar hours. For households with nucleus families in which both husband and wife being full-time office-goers or day-time office-goers, there will be no benefit. Instead, they would end up paying more for their electricity bills as the peak hour tariff is proposed to be raised under the new rules. Under the ToD Tariff System, the tariff during solar hours (duration of eight hours in a day as specified by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission) of the day shall be 10%–20% less than the normal tariff, while the tariff during peak hours will be 10–20 percent higher. The ToD tariff would be applicable for commercial and industrial consumers having a maximum demand of 10 KW and above, starting April 1, 2024, and for all other consumers except agricultural consumers, starting April 1, 2025. The Time of Day tariff shall be made effective immediately after the installation of smart metres for consumers with smart metres, according to a statement issued by the Power Ministry. The rationale behind the new tariff rules is that as solar power is cheaper, the tariff during the solar hours will be lower, and so will the consumer benefits. On the other hand, during non-solar hours, thermal and hydropower, as well as gas-based capacity, are used; their costs are higher than those of solar power. And, therefore, the tariff will be 10% to 20% higher during peak hours. Even for those consumers who are able to plan consumption during solar hours, those among them using air conditioners will have to pay higher charges for using ACs during the night. Whether the overall energy bill goes up or is reduced will be known only after the tariff is made applicable to household consumers in 2025. In industrial sectors like hotels and malls, energy loads are higher during peak hours, and guests, particularly tourists and businessmen, expect the best services in hotels while retiring to their rooms after a day’s travel and office work. Likewise, with footfalls in malls peaking during the night, energy demand goes up during peak hours, and it will depend on these industrial consumers how best they can improve energy efficiency and draw optimal benefits from the ToD tariff to avoid passing on the burden of higher costs due to a higher tariff during peak hours under the new rules to the consumers. The Power Ministry insists that the TOD tariff is recognised globally across electricity industries as an important demand-side management measure that is used as a means of incentivizing consumers to shift a portion of their loads from peak times to off-peak times, thereby improving the system load factor by reducing the demand on the system during peak periods. Under the simplified rules for smart metering, the government has reduced the existing penalties for increases in consumers’ demand beyond the maximum sanctioned load or demand to avoid inconvenience or harassment of the consumers. The new rules say that the load revision procedure has also been rationalised in such a way that maximum demand shall be revised upwards only if sanctioned load has been exceeded at least three times in a financial year. Moreover, smart metres shall be read remotely at least once a day, and the data shall be shared with consumers in order to enable them to make informed decisions about their electricity consumption. For many consumers in Assam, energy bills inflating after the introduction of prepaid smart metering systems has become a huge problem as it has upset their monthly budget. The lack of transparency in the metering system has triggered doubts over the standardisation of digital metres under the prepaid metering system. Electricity being a public utility service, addressing the grievances raised by consumers is crucial to bringing more transparency and confidence. The consumers, as well as ensuring judicious use of power and avoiding waste, are critical to reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels in the energy mix, which is again vital to achieving the climate goals. Space cooling solutions are not sustainable as they only increase peak hour demand and the burning of more fossil fuels. Adopting climate-resilient solutions like planting more trees and adopting alternative roof cooling solutions suggested by the National Disaster Management Authority during the long spell of summer can reduce overdependence on space cooling solutions and reduce household Adopting climate-resilient solutions like planting more trees and adopting alternative roof cooling solutions suggested by the National Disaster Management Authority during the long spell of summer can reduce overdependence on space cooling solutions and reduce household consumers' worries. Public buildings such as hospitals, government offices, shopping malls, and hotels also need to adopt alternative space cooling solutions through structural changes to cut down on energy demand and contribute to the country’s climate goals.