Open access

The right comes from the Electricity Act, 2003. The consumer contracts with a generator or trader, or owns the plant, and applies for approval to use the network through the state's nodal agency, usually the state load despatch centre. Supply within one state falls under the state electricity regulatory commission. Supply that crosses state lines also uses the inter-state network, regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. The size threshold has historically been around 1 MW of contract demand. National green energy open access rules in 2022 lowered it for renewable supply.

The consumer stays connected to its utility and usually keeps some contract demand with it as backup. Open-access charges typically include transmission and wheeling charges, energy lost in the wires, a cross-subsidy surcharge, sometimes an additional surcharge, and scheduling fees. Most are set per kWh or per MW in the state commission's annual tariff order. Power is scheduled in 15-minute blocks, and the gap between schedule and actual is settled as a deviation. Whatever the open-access supply does not cover, the utility supplies at its normal tariff.

For an industrial buyer, open access is the main way to buy renewable power below the grid tariff at scale. The saving is the gap between the grid tariff and the landed cost, after every charge and loss. Those charges are reset by the state each year, so a saving that looks safe at signing can narrow. For a developer, each state's charges decide where open-access projects make sense and which consumers can afford to switch.

Open access is India's route around a regulated utility monopoly, and each state prices it differently. In the US, a buyer can choose its supplier only in states with retail choice, such as Texas. Elsewhere, US buyers often sign virtual PPAs that settle on price and leave physical supply with the utility. In Europe, retail markets are open, so any consumer can choose a supplier, and a physical PPA is delivered through one.