CEA issues guidelines for benchmarking O&M norms for distribution utilities

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has issued the Guidelines for Benchmarking of Operation and Maintenance [O&M] Norms for Distribution Utilities. The guidelines have been developed to standardise O&M norms across the sector. The guidelines include O&M benchmarking for major equipment in 33/11 kV substations, covering key equipment identification and maintenance practices for power transformers. Additionally, they recommend treating total expenditure/operational expenditure as a separate head under annual revenue requirement calculations, with reimbursement based on actual expenditure following prudence checks by the relevant regulatory commission. A hybrid approach for determining O&M expenses has also been proposed.