The Meghalaya State Electricity Regulatory Commission (MSERC) issued a corrigendum on 7th August 2025 regarding its earlier tariff order dated 22nd March 2025 in Case No. 07 of 2024. In that order, the Commission had approved the revised Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) and generation tariff for FY 2025–26 for Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation Limited (MePGCL). Among the allocations, Umiam Stage III was given an ARR of ₹68.49 crore with an installed capacity of 60 MW. However, the Commission had already acknowledged that Umiam Stage III would remain under complete shutdown for the entire financial year due to renovation, modernization, and upgradation works and had therefore assigned zero energy charges for the station.

Later, MePGCL wrote to the Commission on 2nd July 2025, pointing out what it claimed was an error in the tariff order. The utility argued that since Umiam Stage III would remain completely non-operational in FY 2025–26, no capacity charges should be billed or recovered against the allocated ARR and requested that the capacity charges be reallocated to other generating stations. The Commission examined the request but rejected MePGCL’s claim, clarifying that capacity charges are recoverable only when a generating station is available for generation. Citing Regulation 57.1 of the MSERC (Multi-Year Tariff) Regulations, 2014, it emphasized that no charges can be recovered without making available capacity or generating electricity. The Commission also noted that planned shutdowns under renovation cannot qualify for capacity charge recovery, unlike situations where non-availability is due to factors beyond the generator’s control.

The Commission further clarified that both the capacity charge of ₹34.245 crore and the energy charge of ₹34.245 crore at ₹2.49 per unit, originally indicated for Umiam Stage III, would not be admissible during the true-up process for FY 2025–26 due to the full-year shutdown. However, if the station becomes operational for any period during the year, charges would be recoverable on a pro-rata basis, linked to actual availability and generation as per the Normative Annual Plant Availability Factor (NAPAF). The Commission also noted that expenditure incurred by MePGCL towards renovation and modernization may be considered during the true-up, subject to prudence check and compliance with regulations.

As a result, the Commission revised the tariff order and updated Table 78, which details project-wise annual fixed charges and energy charges for FY 2025–26. The table confirmed that Umiam Stage III will not recover any charges during the shutdown period, while the other stations, such as Umiam I, Umiam II, Umiam IV, Sonapani, MLHEP, NUHEP, and Lakroh MHP, will continue as per their approved allocations. The total installed capacity of 345 MW across all stations, excluding Ganol, corresponds to a net generation of 1227.26 MU with total annual fixed charges of ₹393.79 crore. The average tariff across stations stands at ₹3.208 per unit. Except for this correction, all other terms of the March 2025 order remain unchanged.

This corrigendum makes it clear that planned renovations cannot justify recovery of capacity charges, and the Commission’s stance ensures that charges are strictly linked to actual generation availability, thereby protecting consumers from bearing costs of unavailable capacity.