It says the burden on the 466,000 solar energy users should not fall on the more than 37.6 million consumers who depend on the national grid
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Photo: Archive
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the power division to immediately file an appeal with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to review the new solar regulations in an effort to protect existing contracts for existing solar users, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Nepra on Monday abolished the swapping of electricity units in solar net metering and replaced it with a net billing framework under the Prosumer Regulation 2026, sparking widespread criticism from politicians, former civil servants and energy experts, who argue it will discourage the adoption of rooftop solar and worsen inefficiencies in the energy sector.
Currently, the buyback rate of net solar generation is Rs 25.9 per unit, which can be reduced to Rs 11 per unit. The duration of the contract has been reduced from seven to five years. The burden of capacity payments is now shifting to solar consumers.
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 power purchase price, while selling the electricity to them at the applicable consumer rate, effectively ending one-to-one net metering.
A special high-level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was held in Islamabad today to discuss the issuance of the new regulations by Nepra.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Sardar Owais Khan Laghari, State Minister Bilal Azhar Kiani, Privatization Advisor Muhammad Ali and other senior officials.
Read: Solar dream fades as net metering declines
The prime minister emphasized that the burden of the 466,000 solar energy users should not fall on the more than 37.6 million consumers who depend solely on the national grid. The Energy Division will develop a comprehensive plan to address this issue, the statement added.
The new buyback rate is yet to be officially notified but was discussed at Rs 11 per unit during stakeholder consultations. Net solar consumers will have to pay the net difference to Discos once the unit exchange regime ends.
The policy will not apply to existing consumers, but once the contract expires, Discos have been authorized to terminate agreements or move users to the new policy framework.
The energy regulator has overhauled the country’s net metering regime, moving rooftop solar generators and other small generators to a new ‘net billing’ system under the NEPRA (Prosumer) Regulations 2026, fundamentally changing the way electricity producers are paid and repealing the decade-old framework.
Under the new rules, notified on Monday by Nepra, utilities will have to buy excess electricity from prosumers (households, businesses and industries generating up to one megawatt) at the national average power purchase price, while selling the electricity to them at the applicable consumer rate, effectively ending one-to-one net metering.
Read more: Energy minister defends decision to abolish net metering as law amid Senate fury
The regulations apply to solar, wind and biogas systems and come into effect immediately, replacing Nepra’s Alternative and Renewable Energy Net Metering and Distributed Generation Regulations 2015.
Energy Minister Awais Leghari on Tuesday defended the move, saying: “This is a change in regulations, and it is the job of the regulator to change them according to the law and the Constitution.”
He said the regulations are 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 energy minister said the issue of net metering was not even part of the existing agreement. He said the government had told consumers that in future, whoever installed solar power would be bought electricity at the revised tariff.
