HERC Directs Refund Of Banked Solar Units Under Open Access Regulations In Haryana

The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued its order in a case filed by M/s Merino Industries Ltd., which sought a refund for 5,83,308 banked solar energy units as of April 30, 2023, along with banking charges and interest. The company operates a 5 MW captive solar power plant in Hisar under the Haryana Solar Power Policy 2016 and has been carrying forward unused banked units under the 2021 Renewable Energy Regulations, which allowed month-to-month adjustments until the end of the financial year.

The dispute arose after the Green Energy Open Access Regulations, 2023, came into effect on May 2, 2023, ending the carry-forward facility by requiring unused banked energy to be consumed within the same billing cycle. Merino argued that these changes could not be applied retrospectively to units banked before May 2, 2023, and that the delay in adjusting its energy account by Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited caused it to lose the value of the accumulated units.

UHBVNL countered that the new rules applied to all open access consumers, old and new, and that the petitioner bypassed the dispute resolution process under its Long-Term Open Access Agreement. It maintained that the lapse of units was consistent with the 2023 regulations and that the petitioner had not objected when the draft regulations were published.

After reviewing the 2021 and 2023 regulations, the Commission held that the rules applicable on April 30, 2023, should govern the treatment of units banked by that date. This meant that the 2021 rules allowing carry-forward until March 31, 2024, applied to those units. The Commission directed UHBVNL to adjust the 5,83,308 units in subsequent months of FY 2023–24 and refund any excess billing caused by not accounting for them. Interest at 9.58% per annum, the working capital rate allowed to UHBVNL in its tariff order, will apply from when the refund was due until payment.

The petition was disposed of with this direction, and UHBVNL must complete the adjustments and payment within 30 days of the order dated August 5, 2025.