- (1.)Instant is a statutory Appeal which is filed by the Appellant under Section 125 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). This Appeal arises out of the judgment and order dated 3rd May, 2013 passed by Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.
(2.)By the aforesaid judgment, the Appellate Tribunal has affirmed the orders of the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as the 'State Commission'). The essence of these orders is that even when the Appellant is a "Deemed Distribution Licensee" for the purpose of Electricity Act, it is still liable to pay Cross Subsidy Surcharge (CSS) to the Respondent No.8 viz. WESCO which is a Distribution Licensee for the area in question.
(3.)To put it in nutshell, the case of the Appellant is that it has its unit in Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and it is a Developer in the said SEZ area. It is not drawing or utilizing any electricity from the Distribution Licensee viz. WESCO for its unit namely VALE-SEZ. In fact, the Appellant had entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) dated 18th August, 2011 with M/s. Sterlite Energy Ltd. The Appellant had filed application for getting approval of the said PPA. However the Odisha State Commission, instead of granting the approval, rejected the said PPA and directed the Appellant to pay CSS to WESCO holding the Appellant to be a 'Consumer'.