Power minister defends move to abolish net metering as in line with law amid Senate fury

Power Minister Awais Leghari on Tuesday defended the power regulator’s changes on rooftop solar and net metering during a furious Senate session that criticised the decision, saying the new regulations were aimed at protecting poorer consumers.

The government is currently facing political backlash as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) 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.

Defending the move in today's Senate session, Leghari said: “These are a change in the regulations and it is the job of the regulator to change them as per the law and the Constitution."

He said the regulations were not being changed for the first time. "NEPRA has not changed anyone’s agreement, and we have not said anything to the existing 466,000 net metering consumers," Leghari added.

The power minister said the net metering issue was not even part of the existing agreement. He said the government had told consumers that, in future, whoever installed solar would have electricity purchased from them at the revised rate.

Leghari said the move was in favour of low-income consumers, while the government had reduced electricity prices for industry.

“We have made electricity 20% cheaper for industry,” he said.

Leghari said the government had been signalling its direction for months and claimed the Solar Association of Pakistan had supported the need for the proposed move.

“The Solar Association of Pakistan also said what the government is going to do is necessary,” he said, adding that the association suggested the changes be introduced after “five to six months”.

Leghari criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, saying currency devaluation and higher electricity prices had worsened the situation.

“In PTI’s tenure, the rupee’s value fell three times,” he said. “In the founder of PTI’s government, electricity prices went through the roof.”

He said Pakistan planned to expand clean energy in its power mix.

“We have to reach 60% clean energy by 2030,” he said. “By 2034, 90% of electricity will come from clean energy. We are proud we are a clean energy country,” he said, adding that furnace oil use last year was “0.3%” and that 24% of electricity generation still relied on imported fuel.

“Our reform methods are moving in a positive direction. Not only the World Bank, but other international organisations have praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s power sector reforms, saying the world has never witnessed such responsible and revolutionary reforms,” he said.

Read More: NEPRA rolls out new regulations abolishing net metering

On independent power producers (IPPs), Leghari said the government had reduced financial leakages and burdens in the system.

He said the government had stopped “Rs3,400 billion” from going into what he described as “the pockets of tycoons”, and removed 10,000 megawatts the country was planning to purchase from the system.

Earlier, Senator Zarqa Suharwardi presented a resolution on the changes and solar policy, but Leghari opposed it and the House voted it down.

Speaking during the debate, Suharwardi called for a transparent policy on solar panels, saying IPPs were “looting this country” and should be shut down, and urging the government to adopt policies that provide relief to the public.

She called for a transparent solar policy and criticised IPPs.

“IPPs are looting this country — shut them down,” she said. “Policies should be made to facilitate the public.”

Senator Ali Zafar criticised the government’s stance on solar policy, accusing authorities of protecting powerful interests at the expense of ordinary consumers. He said a minister had told the House the government was not going to withdraw its solar policy.

Zafar called IPPs “a very big mafia” and alleged they were paid even when they did not generate electricity. He accused the government of targeting poorer people who had installed solar panels and criticised proposed changes linked to net metering.

“Today NEPRA has given a policy that electricity will be bought from the public at Rs11 and sold at Rs40,” he said.

Zafar said the government would argue that NEPRA was an independent institution and the policy was its own, but rejected that claim.

“NEPRA is not an independent institution,” he said. “NEPRA makes the policy the government tells it to make.”

He said the law required the state to honour commitments, even those made to ordinary citizens, and warned that policy reversals would damage investor confidence.

Zafar called for the NEPRA chairman to be summoned and sent to jail, and questioned whether the regulator had previously urged the public to adopt solar and net metering.

In a post on X, Zafar said tax breaks and incentives were given all over the world to promote green energy, "but in our country, the cruel policies of the rulers are ruining the lives of the people.

"It is cruel to end net metering and force the people to buy expensive electricity. It is unacceptable to burden the people suffering from historic inflation and unemployment before the summer instead of providing relief. We will raise our voice against this anti-people policy at every forum."