Energy Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Sunday rejected reports the government is planning to end the policy of solar net-metering after several reports emerged of authorities committing to end the policy in discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to the reports, the government plans to replace the net metering policy with a new gross-metering mechanism under which the electricity generated by consumers’ rooftop solar systems would be sent to the national grid and be “re-purchased” from distribution companies, reducing monetary benefits. Net metering, meanwhile, allows consumers to sell excess electricity produced by their solar system to their power distribution company.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Leghari maintained the government would not discourage the shift to solar power, as it was enacted by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who continued to support it. “[PMLN] introduced this scheme in 2017,” he said. “We will continue encouraging the net metering since it is the scheme close to the heart of P.M. Shehbaz Sharif,” he claimed, adding “a large number of people” had benefitted from it.
Reiterating that consumers with existing solar power setups and net-metering connections would remain unaffected, he claimed any future change to the policy would only be taken after taking all stakeholders into confidence.
The minister recalled that very few people have availed net metering when it was introduced in 2017 due to the high prices of solar panels. However, he added, the number had steadily increased and the applications received now were 125% over the applications submitted in 2017.
According to Leghari, 0.3% of total electricity consumers have rooftop solar net-metering connections. “The number of total net metering connections has reached 113,000,” he said, implying this was partly to blame for an overall reduction in demand for electricity. Another factor for the reduced demand, he said, was a decline in industrial growth.