ISLAMABAD (APP) — Amid growing backlash over sweeping changes to Pakistan’s solar net metering framework, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday took decisive notice of the newly introduced Prosumer Regulations 2026 issued by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra).
According to an official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the premier directed the Power Division to urgently file an appeal with the regulator, aiming to safeguard the contractual rights of existing solar consumers.
Chairing a high-level emergency meeting on Nepra’s controversial policy shift, the prime minister emphasised the need for a comprehensive action plan to ensure that the financial impact of approximately 466,000 solar beneficiaries does not unfairly burden the country’s 37.6 million grid-dependent electricity consumers.
The meeting was attended by key members of the federal cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, along with Federal Ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Ali Pervez Malik, Sardar Owais Khan Leghari, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Adviser on Privatisation Muhammad Ali, and senior officials.
The prime minister’s intervention comes just days after Nepra effectively dismantled the long-standing net metering regime, replacing it with a fundamentally different “net billing” system. The move marks a major transformation in how distributed generation is valued and priced across the country.
Under the Nepra (Prosumer) Regulations, 2026, notified earlier this week, power distribution companies will purchase surplus electricity from prosumers — including households, businesses, and industries generating up to one megawatt — at the national average energy purchase price. However, electricity supplied back to these consumers will be billed at the applicable retail tariff.
This shift effectively ends the one-to-one energy offset mechanism that previously enabled solar users to neutralise their electricity bills, significantly altering the economics of rooftop solar investments.
The regulatory overhaul also shortens the standard contract duration from seven years to five years, with renewals subject to mutual agreement. While existing prosumers will continue under their current agreements until expiry, all future renewals and new connections will be governed by the revised five-year net billing model — a change expected to reshape long-term investment calculations.
In cases where the value of electricity exported by a prosumer exceeds the electricity imported from the grid, the surplus amount will either be credited in subsequent bills or paid out quarterly.
The new regulations, which take immediate effect, formally repeal the Nepra Alternative & Renewable Energy Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations, 2015, and extend to solar, wind, and biogas-based systems.
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