ISLAMABAD: Amid growing criticism from both allies and opposition over the recently introduced net metering reforms, Energy Minister Sardar Awais Leghari has clarified that no changes will be made to the solar net metering policy for existing consumers for now.
Speaking to private news channel on Wednesday, Leghari attributed the backlash to what he described as a “social media trend” against the new reforms, which effectively replace the net metering regime with a net billing system.“My wife opposed this policy, saying you had increased my bill after switching to net billing from net metering,” the minister remarked during the show. He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed that the net billing system should not be applied to existing consumers at this stage and has instructed the Power Division to challenge the regulator’s decision.
Earlier, the prime minister took notice of the new Prosumer Regulations 2026 issued by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). According to a statement from the PM Office, he directed the Power Division to immediately file an appeal with NEPRA to safeguard the contracts of existing solar consumers.
Chairing a high-level meeting on the new regulations, the prime minister also instructed officials to prepare a comprehensive action plan to ensure that the burden of 466,000 solar consumers is not shifted onto more than 37.6 million electricity users who rely solely on the national grid.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, 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 other senior officials.The development follows NEPRA’s decision earlier this week to introduce sweeping changes under the Nepra (Prosumer) Regulations, 2026, effectively ending the one-to-one net metering model. Under the new framework, rooftop solar users and other small generators producing up to one megawatt will operate under a net billing system.
According to the revised rules, power utilities will purchase surplus electricity from prosumers at the national average energy purchase price, while selling electricity back to them at the applicable consumer tariff. This replaces the earlier arrangement that allowed solar users to offset their electricity bills on a one-to-one basis.
The new regulations also reduce the standard contract term from seven years to five years, renewable by mutual consent. While existing prosumers will remain under their current agreements until expiry, all new connections and renewals will fall under the five-year net billing framework, potentially affecting long-term investment returns.
If the value of electricity supplied by a prosumer exceeds the electricity consumed from the grid, the excess amount will either be adjusted in the following bill or paid out every three months. The regulations, which came into immediate effect, repeal the Nepra Alternative & Renewable Energy Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations, 2015, and apply to solar, wind, and biogas systems.
