What is the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)?

About Central Electricity Regulatory Commission:

• It is a statutory body established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998.
• It is the Central Commission for the purposes of the Electricity Act, 2003, which has repealed the ERC Act, 1998.
• Composition: The Commission consists of a Chairperson and four other members including the Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority, who is an ex-officio Member of the Commission.
• The Commission intends to promote competition, efficiency, and economy in bulk power markets, improve the quality of supply, promote investments, and advise the government on the removal of institutional barriers to bridge the demand supply gap and thus foster the interests of consumers. 
• Functions:
  • To regulate the tariff of generating companies owned or controlled by the Central Government;
  • To regulate the tariff of generating companies other than those owned or controlled by the Central Government specified in clause (a), if such generating companies enter into or otherwise have a composite scheme for generation and sale of electricity in more than one State;
  • To regulate the inter-State transmission of electricity;
  • To determine tariff for inter-State transmission of electricity;
  • To issue licences to persons to function as transmission licensee and electricity trader with respect to their inter-State operations.

Q1: What is Electricity?

It is a type of energy that consists of the movement of electrons between two points when there is a potential difference between them, making it possible to generate what is known as an electric current.

Source: Central Government appoints Shri Harish Dudani as Member in Central Electricity Regulatory Commission