The amount collected from solar prosumers as ‘self-generation duty’ will be reduced in their future electricity bills, Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty said on Sunday.
Although solar prosumers (consumers who generate and consume energy from solar power) were exempted from the duty, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) was levying 15 paise per unit from them, sparking protests from solar prosumers in the State.
Mr. Krishnankutty said directions have been issued to the KSEB to make the changes necessary in its billing software to ensure that the money is returned and no more duty is collected from prosumers.
Through the 2024-25 State Budget, the State government had increased the electricity duty for “consumers who generate and consume energy for their own consumption” from 1.2 paise to 15 paise per unit. But the government had announced that solar prosumers were exempted from the duty, a decision which was reflected in the Kerala Finance Bill, 2024, subsequently passed by the State Assembly.
Mr. Krishnankutty said on Sunday that the gazette notification on the Kerala Finance Act had come out on July 28. But the KSEB had collected the duty from prosumers in this month’s electricity bills as well.
The Kerala Domestic Solar Prosumers Community (KDSPC), a collective representing a large section of solar prosumers, welcomed the announcement that the excess money collected from them would be returned.
KDSPC also drew the attention of the Minister to the need to develop pumped storage systems and peer-to-peer solar energy trading mechanisms to fully tap the potential of solar power. Further, the KDSPC also pointed out that the KSEB is also factoring in the electricity generated and directly used by the prosumer for calculating fixed charge, security deposit and Time of Day (ToD) billing. But this does not have the permission of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the KDSPC pointed out.
