Power Minister Awais Leghari on Thursday reiterated his intent to revise solar net metering policies, maintaining that the current returns on investment have become unjustified.
In a press conference, the minister explained he would present a revised policy for net metering to the federal cabinet in a week or two. Under the new proposal, the ministry aims to extend the time for return on investment from one-and-a-half to two to three years, he said.
According to Leghari, the proposed changes to the net metering policy would have no impact on the prevailing electricity tariff, but claimed it would prevent any future tariff hikes. The current pace of solar system expansion, he claimed, would adversely impact grid stability. Maintaining that existing contracts with the government would remain untouched, he warned that if the policy were not altered going forward, electricity bills would see significant increases.
During the press talk, the minister said the government is considering options to provide subsidized surplus electricity to industries, adding the matter is under discussion with the International Monetary Fund.
Leghari explained that the government has saved over Rs. 3 trillion from negotiations with independent power producers, cancelled over 10,000MW in new power plants out of 17,000MW committed capacity and saved over Rs. 4 trillion in future payments. He claimed recovery, transmission and distribution losses have been reduced through good governance.
He said the government faced Rs. 591 billion in losses in fiscal year 2024 due to high technical losses and less billing. This money, he claimed, could have been utilized for other sectors. In fiscal year 2025, he said, this loss was reduced to Rs. 399 billion through good governance.
The Power minister said distribution companies had been given a target of Rs. 100 billion annual reduction in losses over the next five years, and had achieved a Rs. 191 billion reduction even before this initiative started. This, he said, was achieved through improvement in recoveries.
Leghari said recovery against billing had also improved from 92.4% in FY24 to 96.6% in FY25, claiming the recovery rate of five Punjab and Islamabad companies exceeded 101%. At the same time, he said, transmission and distribution losses, mostly attributed to electricity theft, had declined from Rs. 276 billion in FY24 to Rs. 266 billion in FY25.
The minister said the Power Division had moved a summary for cabinet approval to finalize rules for wheeling charges, adding he had also written to all chief ministers informing them power distribution companies would no longer act as collection agents for electricity duty. He said only one chief minister had responded so far to his letter, adding once all give their feedback, he would seek a final decision from the federal cabinet.
Going forward, he said, the Power Division and DISCOs would focus on recoveries, dismantle networks of theft and improve governance and overall efficiencies.