Power minister defends net-metering revision, warns of Rs550 billion annual burden on consumers

During the Senate sessionon Tuesday, Power Minister Awais Leghari defended proposed revisions to net-metering regulations, warning that failure to rationalise buyback rates would place an annual burden of up to Rs550 billion on more than 34.5 million electricity consumers. 

Responding to a resolution on rooftop solar and NEPRA’s draft Prosumer Regulations, 2025, Leghari said the new framework would apply only to future net-metering consumers, while over 466,000 existing users would continue under current arrangements.

He informed the House that out of around 34.5 million electricity consumers nationwide, 466,506 were net-metering users, collectively feeding about 7,000 megawatts into the grid. He added that a small number of industrial consumers accounted for roughly 3,500 megawatts of that capacity.

The minister said continuing net-metering at existing buyback rates of around Rs26–27 per unit would increase the cost burden on remaining consumers from about Rs200 billion to Rs550 billion annually. He said NEPRA was legally obligated to protect consumer interests and limit upward pressure on electricity tariffs.

Leghari disclosed that he himself owned a net-metering system, producing electricity at about Rs5.50–6 per unit, and questioned the fairness of selling that power to the grid at much higher rates. He said the revisions were regulatory in nature, not a policy change, and that the law allowed regulators to amend regulations.

He told the Senate that consultations with stakeholders had been underway for the past 10 to 12 months, with some issues settled in June last year. He also said the Solar Association of Pakistan had supported NEPRA’s decision.

According to the minister, the revised regulations did not have retrospective effect and did not alter any clauses in existing seven-year contracts or licences between consumers and power distribution companies. He added that net-metering and net-billing were not guaranteed rights under those contracts.

Earlier, PTI Senator Ali Zafar supported the resolution moved by his party colleague Zarqa Taimur, arguing that the draft regulations would adversely affect net-metering consumers through what he described as unfair revisions. The resolution was rejected in the absence of opposition members.

Separately, senators from both sides of the aisle raised concerns over the Senate proceedings not being live-streamed on national and social media platforms, urging the government to address the issue. The Senate session was adjourned until Thursday.