The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has declined requests for deemed approval of multiple Green Energy Long-Term Open Access (GEOA-LTOA) applications that the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited earlier rejected. Instead, the Commission has directed applicants to submit fresh applications through the newly operational Green Open Access Registry (GOAR) portal.
The ruling follows petitions filed by several industrial consumers, renewable energy developers, and the National Solar Energy Federation of India, challenging MSEDCL’s rejection of their long-term green open access applications and alleging significant delays in the approval process.
The petitioners included companies such as CIE Automotive, UltraTech Cement, Saarloha Advanced Materials, Sunflag Iron & Steel, Jindal Saw, along with several entities from the Sunsure Group. According to the petitions, many applications remained pending for more than six months before being rejected by MSEDCL on the grounds of “Existing Open Access.”
The petitioners argued that the rejections violated the Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022, issued by the Ministry of Power, as well as MERC’s amended regulations. They contended that the rules require applications to be processed within 15 days and provide for deemed approval if the designated authority fails to act within the prescribed timeline.
After reviewing the applicable regulations, MERC observed that the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, as the State Transmission Utility, is the designated nodal agency responsible for processing medium- and long-term green open access applications. Distribution utilities such as MSEDCL are required only to provide necessary inputs within the stipulated timelines.
The Commission further noted that the National Load Despatch Centre operationalised the revamped GOAR portal on December 15, 2025, making it the mandatory platform for submitting all new Green Medium-Term Open Access (MTOA) and Long-Term Open Access (LTOA) applications.
In its order, MERC directed that fresh applications submitted through the GOAR portal should be processed by MSETCL in a transparent, time-bound, fair, and non-discriminatory manner. The Commission instructed MSETCL to independently evaluate network availability, technical feasibility, and system constraints while seeking inputs from MSEDCL only where required under the regulatory framework.
However, MERC rejected the petitioners’ request for deemed approval of the previously rejected applications and declined to order reimbursement of Short-Term Open Access (STOA) charges. The Commission held that STOA is a separate regulatory mechanism under the applicable open access regulations and that consumers had voluntarily opted for it while awaiting decisions on their long-term applications.
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