The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) has introduced new regulations for renewable energy and related matters, which will take effect from the financial year 2025-26. These regulations replace the 2020 rules, which end in FY 2024-25. The new regulations are based on a discussion paper published on January 13, 2025. This paper was prepared by a committee that included experts from economic, academic, and technical fields, along with representatives from the renewable energy sector. The committee examined the progress of renewable energy in Kerala, the technical problems faced by consumers and licensees, and global advancements in energy technologies.

Following feedback from the public, KSERC published the draft of the new regulations on May 30, 2025. The control period for the new rules will run from FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30. The regulations introduce various metering systems to suit different types of consumers.

Net Metering is available for all agricultural, domestic, and industrial users for systems between 1 kW and 3 kW. If a hybrid inverter and battery system with 30% storage is used, the limit increases to 5 kW. This system allows users to feed extra power into the grid and draw it later. For systems above 2 kW, Time-of-Day billing will be used. Consumers with excess credit will benefit from zero billing, meaning they will not be charged fixed or fuel surcharges.

Net Billing applies to systems between 1 kW and 500 kW. Under this method, users are paid for the surplus energy they send to the grid and are charged retail tariffs for the electricity they consume from the grid.

Gross Metering is open to all consumers, including those who are not connected to the grid. It covers systems from 1 kW to 3000 kW. Consumers are paid for all the electricity their systems generate while paying standard rates for their grid usage.

The Behind the Meter system allows consumers to install renewable energy systems only for their own use, within their contracted load limits.

Virtual Net Metering enables collective use of renewable energy, especially for flats, residential associations, low-income users, and government institutions. The minimum system size is 10 kW. Distribution loss charges may apply, except in certain cases.

Group Net Metering lets users install a renewable system at one location and adjust the energy across multiple sites under the same tariff.

The new regulations also include provisions for Virtual Power Plants, Peer-to-Peer energy trading using blockchain, and Vehicle-to-Grid services, which allow electric vehicles to supply energy back to the grid during peak hours.

Time-based billing with peak, off-peak, solar, and non-solar periods will start on October 1, 2025. Online application systems will be introduced to speed up approvals, and registration fees are being reduced from ₹1000 to ₹300 per kW. Decentralized energy storage and special incentives for summer electricity generation from reservoirs have also been proposed.

Settlement rates have been fixed. Under Net Metering, the APPC rate is ₹3.08. Feed-in tariffs are ₹2.09 for solar and ₹2.86 for wind. Net Billing offers ₹2.79 for solar and ₹3.82 for wind. Gross Metering rates are ₹3.48 for solar and ₹4.78 for wind.