ISLAMABAD:

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued a draft of amendments to the Solar Policy 2026 that roll backs some controversial changes to its net metering policy, it emerged on Monday.

NEPRA recently significantly revised the terms of contracts for all existing and future net-metered solar consumers — or prosumers — in an effort to manage rising solar energy penetration and protect an expensive and inefficient state-owned power network. It abolished exchange of electricity units in solar net metering. At present, the buyback rate for solar net generation is Rs25.9 per unit which may be reduced to Rs11 per unit. The contract period has been reduced from seven to five years. The burden of capacity payments is being shifted to solar consumers now.

Under the new rules, utilities will be required to purchase excess electricity from prosumers, households, businesses and industries generating up to one megawatt at the national average energy purchase price, while selling electricity back to them at the applicable consumer tariff, effectively ending one-to-one net metering. The federal government’s new solar policy drew sharp criticism from multiple quarters, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to instruct the Power Division to appeal to NEPRA to review the new regulations, aiming to protect existing contracts for current solar users.

Accordingly, NEPRA has issued a draft of an amendment to the new regulations, inviting suggestions from stakeholders and partners within 30 days for further deliberation.

The amendments are set to take effect from February 9 and exclude existing solar net metering users from the ambit of the regulations until their current agreements expire.

“Notwithstanding the repeal effected by these regulations, nothing shall affect approvals granted, licences or concurrences issued and agreements executed under the repealed regulations before the commencement of these regulations and any distributed generator having a valid agreement executed under the repealed regulations shall be billed in accordance with rate and mechanism provided in the repealed regulations till the expiry of the term of the agreement executed under the repealed regulations,” the draft reads.

 

 

Following the prime minister’s directives to the Power Division, Power minister Awais Leghari announced that the government would not seek a review to reverse recent changes to the solar policy for new consumers, citing an aim to save non-solar consumers from an additional Rs2.87 per unit impact.

Leghari said the government would file a review with Nepra only to maintain the existing net-metering terms for the 466,506 current solar panel owners.

The minister added that the policy change affected only 1% of consumers, but could not provide a clear explanation as to why this small group was prioritised over systemic issues such as electricity theft, low recovery rates, high line losses, idle capacity payments and cross-subsidies.

NEPRA’s revised policy abolishes netting of sold and purchased units, introducing separate rates for electricity sold and bought by solar panel owners. Under the new terms, solar owners will sell electricity at Rs8.13 per unit but purchase it at rates as high as Rs60 per unit.

Last year, non-solar users paid Rs223 billion (Rs2.44 per unit) due to net-metering, which was projected to rise to Rs2.87 per unit this fiscal year. However, the increase is far smaller than the Rs12 per unit that high-consumption households pay to cross-subsidise low users and the Rs4-5 per unit lost due to theft and system inefficiencies.