The exorbitant rate hikes (155% between 2021 and 2024) and unreliability of supply from the power grid in Pakistan are forcing consumers to seek alternative options to meet their demand. This trend is evident in the phenomenal growth of rooftop solar capacity, which has already crossed 45,000 MW. Not all of this is interactive with the grid. Grid-interactive solar systems, which are governed by NEPRA (A&RE) Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations 2015 (“NEM Regulations 2015”), are estimated to add up to 6,000 MW.

This growing trend (being termed the “Solar Revolution”) has alarmed some high priests in the power sector and also in the energy ministry, as demand on the grid is not just eroding, it is also seeing a radical change in profile. However, instead of embracing these trends and using them to fix the power sector’s woes, they are making lame excuses to resist the rising solar tide that has swept the whole world.

Common refrains making rounds in media and other forums include stranding of capital investments, shifting of sunk costs to non-solar consumers (PKR 159 billion as claimed by the energy ministry), and painting those with solar systems as greedy and heartless profiteers.

There is little substance to these claims, and it seems to be just a hoax used by the proponents of the status quo to perpetuate poor governance, inefficiency, and rampant corruption at all levels in the power sector. A senior executive in the power sector is reported to have conceded before NEPRA recently that while solar generation was increasing in the country, it had not yet reached a level to cause adverse impacts on the grid. He also claimed that consumers with solar systems were actually consuming more and that their consumption from the grid had not changed much.

The above lobby seems to have succeeded in persuading the Power Division and NEPRA to rescind the NEM Regulation 2015 and replace it with a new policy. Its draft was posted on the regulator’s website last week, seeking stakeholder feedback before approval. The new policy will be titled “NEPRA (Prosumer) Regulations 2025” and, once approved, will supersede the previous one.

© The Friday Times