Military Engineer Services petitions TNERC for deemed distribution licensee status

CHENNAI: To reduce electricity expenditures, the Military Engineer Services (MES), Air Force Station Tambaram, has petitioned the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission to enable it to operate as a ‘deemed distribution licensee’ in the State under the provisions of the Electricity Act.

In the petition, MES has sought to pass appropriate orders for handing over connected assets to the MES created from defence funds at Tambaram and Thanjavur Air Force stations to establish direct grid connectivity to buy electricity directly from any generating company.

According to the petition, the Air Force Tambaram Area consumed 42.65 million units in the last five years and 7.8 million units in 2023-24. The MES sought the license under Section 14 of the Electricity Act, which states that distribution licensees must be authorised by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC). However, the Act also allows the designation of deemed licensees in some instances.

MES is a part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) responsible for providing infrastructure services, including construction, maintenance, and operations of various defence establishments. They handle everything from buildings and roads to water supply and electricity.

The MES, however, clarified that it was directly not connected with the state’s transmission utility in most of the cantonments or small stations with very little electricity load, and hence would not be able to operate as a deemed distribution licensee in such small stations.

Across the country, the MES has already been given deemed licensee status in New Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. In the petition, the MES said that Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has allowed a rebate of 20% in EB tariff for defence residential consumers in cantonment areas.

Any person intending to object to the grant of a licence should file their objections in an affidavit by January 17.