In a response to its invitation for membership for SERC, the state department of energy has received around 15 names from various institutions. These will be forwarded to the select committee for consideration. The SERC will have experts from the power industry and from the finance and legal fields.

The department had approached several institutions for nomination, including the Indian Institute of Managements, Indian Institute of Technology, the Maharashtra State Finance Corporation, State Bank of India, Central Electricity Authority, Maharashtra State Finance Corporation and IAS officials.

The state will initially spend around Rs 2.5 crore on setting up of the SERC. This also includes expenditure for officespace and allied infrastructure. "To make the commission easily accessible to the public, locations at Bandra-Kurla complex and south Mumbai are being considered," sources said.

The energy department has already submitted its request for funds to the finance department, sources said. Sanction of funds should not be difficult as the government has already decided to set up the commission, they added. At the beginning, the state will facilitate the commission with a skeletal staff of around 30 officers which would later be expanded to around 80-90 personnel.

Set up last August, the select committee was to finalise the SERC nomination early this month. However, due to the busy schedule of the committee members, there was a delay in getting response from various institutions, said sources. The select committee comprises former Mumbai high court chief justice PS Shah, CEA member DV Khera and state chief secretary P Subramaniam.

The SERC is being set up as per the guidelines issued by the ElectricityRegulatory Commission Act passed early this year. The commission will fix power tariff for wholesale, bulk or retail use. It will also fix tariff for transmission facilities and regulate the purchase and procurement process of transmission and distribution (T&D) utilities in the state. This includes the decision on the price of electricity procured from generating companies/stations or from other sources for transmission, sale and distribution of power.

SERC will also regulate investment approval for generation, T&D and working of licensees. It will set standards for electricity industry regarding quality, continuity and reliability of services. SERC will adjudicate upon the disputes between licensees and utilities and help the state formulate a power policy.