The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has notified the CERC (Terms and Conditions for Exchange of Energy Savings Certificates) Regulations, 2016 (the ESC Regulations) in exercise of its powers under the Electricity Act, 2003 and in keeping with the objectives of the National Electricity Policy and the Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme of the Ministry of Power of the Government of India. The ESC Regulations have been framed for the purpose of regulation of the Energy Savings Certificates (ESCs) and in order to provide a framework of exchange of ESCs on several power exchanges.

The PAT Scheme was introduced to provide a market based mechanism for promotion of energy efficiency in a cost – effective manner. Under the ESC Regulations, the Power System Operation Corporation Limited has to perform the role of registry of the ESCs while the Bureau of Energy Efficiency shall perform the role of administrator for exchange of ESCs. The CERC shall exercise overall supervision and oversight over the power markets for exchange of ESCs. The market price of ESCs shall be determined through the process of bidding at the power exchanges.

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