Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved a new policy for the purchase of electricity of net measurement consumers, which reduces the RS27 rate per unit to only RS10 per unit.
This decision occurs after a significant increase in the number of homes and offices in Pakistan that installs solar panels to generate its own electricity, a trend driven by energy scales and the increase in electricity costs in recent years.
The new government policy aims to address the economic burden imposed on general consumers due to the growing number of net measurement users. “The attack on regular consumers due to net measurement has created an additional economic burden, and this policy was approved to relieve it,” said a government spokesman.
According to official data, the number of net measurement consumers in the country is expected to reach 283,000 at the end of 2024, compared to 226,440 in October 2024. The Government has calculated that, in December 2024, net measurement consumers will have changed an additional load of RS159 billion to other electricity users. If the policy was not reviewed, this financial burden could increase to RS4.24 billion by 2034.
The number of megawatts produced through net solar measurement has also seen significant growth. Since only 321 MW in 2021, the number of megawatts of the consumers of net solar measurement reached 3,299 MW in October 2024 and is expected to increase to 4,124 MW in December 2024.
According to the new policy, the Government will now buy electricity from net measurement consumers at a rate of RS10 per unit, significantly lower than the previous RS27 rate. However, the new policy also allows the importation of electricity during peak hours at a rate of RS60 per unit, including taxes, net measurement users.
Given all these circumstances, the question is how long will it have to recover the cost of the solar system under the new net measurement policy?
The energy expert Rao Amir Ali, of Arif Habib Limited, expressed concern about the new policy, stating that it discourages people to adopt net measurement.
“The new policy will prolong the time it has been recovering the cost of a solar system. According to the previous rate, the solar costs recovered within three or four years, but with the new policy, it will take 10 to 12 years,” he said, adding that the objective of the government seemed to be discouraged consumers to opt for net measurement systems.
The Government explained that net measurement consumers do not pay capacity payments and are exempt from paying fixed charges to electricity distribution companies, which exercises more financial tension over the government. The revised policy aims to restore balance to the energy distribution system.
In addition, the Government said that about 80% of net measurement consumers are in the nine main cities of the country, mainly in rich areas. This change in politics aims to guarantee a right balance in the electricity distribution network and address the growing disparity between net measurement users and regular consumers.
As the country faces the growing energy challenges, it is expected that the change in politics will have significant ramifications in the solar energy market and the broader electricity scene in Pakistan.
