Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has once again stopped an official effort to revise the government’s solar net-metering policy, this time even before a formal proposal to adjust the buyback rates could be submitted to his office.
A directive from the Prime Minister’s Office has ordered us to stop the campaign against net-metering,” Dawn reported quoting a senior power division official.
The official said that the division had been working with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to shape a public narrative ahead of presenting the policy revision to the federal cabinet.
“This is the third time we’ve been told to stand down,” the official said.
Previously, a proposal to revise the net-metering buyback terms, approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), was rejected by the federal cabinet following strong backlash.
Earlier this month, Power Minister Awais Leghari announced that he planned to present a revised version of the policy to the cabinet, incorporating feedback from stakeholders. The updated plan proposes extending the investment recovery period for net-metering from the current 1.5 years to 2–3 years.
Under the proposal, the ministry wanted to set a buyback rate of Rs. 11.33 per unit for the electricity solar users sell to the grid, almost 60 percent less than the current net metering system which pays Rs. 27 per unit.