Haryana revises open-access rules to spur green energy uptake

Haryana revises open-access rules to spur green energy uptake

March 5, 2025

HERC has now issued amendments to its 2023 Open Access regulations with the intent of widening the eligibility criteria and further incentivizing green energy access within the state.

Under the revised rules, any electricity consumer with contracted demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW or more whether through a single connection or aggregated across multiple connections under the same electricity-operation division of a distribution licensee will now be allowed to opt for green-energy open access. Earlier, this benefit was limited strictly to individual connections meeting the 100 kW threshold. Another key change brought about by the amendments is that they lift the capacity restrictions for captive consumers; there will no longer be a cap on how much green energy they draw under open access, provided the consumption does not exceed their sanctioned load.

To further encourage renewables, especially offshore wind, the revised regulations extend the waiver on additional surcharges for electricity from offshore-wind projects commissioned until December 2032. This extends an earlier deadline of December 2025. The order also makes it clear that even consumers who are not connected through independent feeders can have access to open energy markets though they have to accept system constraints and restrictions on power cuts as decided by their distribution licensee. In such cases, under drawls on account of restrictions will not be compensated for. These amendments, in line with “Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (Green Energy Open Access) Regulations, 2023, 1st Amendment Regulations, 2025”, further simplify the open access framework and facilitate wider participation by corporations and captive consumers, thereby accelerating clean energy growth among the industrial and commercial sectors.