The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, in its judgment dated July 15, 2025, dismissed an appeal filed by TANGEDCO challenging the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (CERC) order dated June 30, 2016, related to transmission tariff sharing. The appeal was regarding assets developed by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) for evacuating power from the NP Kunta Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh.

TANGEDCO argued that the transmission system built was dedicated for intra-state usage, as 90% of the power was being consumed within Andhra Pradesh. It contested that such assets should not be treated as part of the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) and that the transmission tariff should not be pooled and shared under the Point of Connection (PoC) mechanism as per the CERC Sharing Regulations, 2010.

PGCIL, however, defended the classification, stating that the assets were built, owned, and operated by it while functioning as the Central Transmission Utility (CTU), and hence qualified as ISTS under Section 2(36)(iii) of the Electricity Act, 2003. It also clarified that partial grants from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) were received and adjusted, and the remaining capital costs were true-up in a subsequent petition.

The Tribunal noted that regulatory approval for the transmission system was already granted by CERC in a prior order dated August 3, 2015, in Petition, which TANGEDCO had not appealed. As such, the Tribunal held that the issue was settled and could not be reopened due to the principle of res judicata.

Further, the Tribunal found that the transmission system fell within the statutory definition of ISTS, even though the power flow was confined within a single state. It clarified that assets developed by CTU within a state are still considered ISTS under Section 2(36)(iii).

On the matter of the Transmission Service Agreement (TSA), the Tribunal ruled that the absence of such an agreement did not bar tariff recovery for an approved ISTS asset.

The appeal was thus dismissed, confirming that the cost of the transmission line would be shared among all Designated ISTS Customers under the PoC mechanism. This ruling reinforces the legal framework allowing CTU-developed intra-state assets to be considered part of the national ISTS for tariff purposes, as long as regulatory approval has been granted.

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