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Karnataka court pauses stringent power grid penalties for renewable firmsKarnataka court halts new CERC penalty rules for solar and wind deviations after industry challenge, old mechanism stays until next hearing, government to respond by June 10By CNBCTV18.com April 28, 2026, 1:21:24 PM IST (Published)2 Min ReadA Karnataka court has temporarily blocked new, tougher penalties for solar and wind power producers for deviating from scheduled grid supply after industry bodies challenged the rules.

As per a Reuters report, the industry claims that India's proposed regulations forcing renewable energy suppliers to rigorously stick to their promised green energy supply to the grid will pinch business revenues and restrict investment in the field.

In its September 2025 draft, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) suggested stricter rules for wind and solar energy producers under the Deviation Settlement Mechanism.

The goal of the new framework is to progressively reduce the allowable difference between the quantity of power producers promise to supply and what they actually produce.

The formula used to determine these deviations will be updated in April 2026, and the tolerance margin will decrease annually until 2031, at which point renewable producers will be given the same treatment as conventional power plants.

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The case was filed by the National Solar Energy Federation of India, which argued that new rules issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) were introduced without proper public consultation.

As renewables make up a bigger portion of India's energy mix, the objective is to encourage renewable generators to increase the accuracy of their forecasting and scheduling in order to guarantee grid discipline and reliability.

Until the next hearing, renewable energy companies can continue using the older system for paying charges when their power generation differs from the schedule given to grid operators, the court order on Monday, reviewed by Reuters, showed.

Solar and wind power output depends on weather conditions and cannot always be controlled, the petitioners said, unlike coal or gas-based power plants.

The Union government and power regulator have been asked to respond by June 10. India aims to build 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Industry groups had previously said stricter regulations could lead to revenue loss and limit investor interest in India's clean energy sector.Continue Reading(Edited by : Juviraj Anchil)