Miftah Ismail raises serious concerns over new net metering policy

KARACHI: Former Finance Minister and economist Miftah Ismail has strongly criticized the government’s new net metering policy, which reduces the buyback rate of solar electricity in Pakistan, ARY News reported on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, Miftah Ismail argued that this move is unfair and will ultimately increase the burden on electricity consumers.

Ismail said that the government’s policies are flawed. He pointed out that only a short time ago, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had been advocating for the adoption of solar energy and urging the public to switch to renewable sources.

However, Ismail noted that as more and more consumers are moving away from the national grid and adopting solar systems, the government seems to view this shift as problematic.

The former finance minister criticized the government’s policies as deeply flawed, accusing the decision-makers—whom he described as more than two dozen individuals within the government—of making poor decisions that are only increasing the financial burden on consumers.

He also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to explain who is responsible for installing costly power plants in the country, suggesting that greed-driven decisions had been made in the past.

Ismail further claimed that the government is now reneging on its agreements with net metering consumers, forcing people to pay more than 10% tax on selling and buying their own solar-generated electricity.

He also blamed the country’s expensive power plants as the root cause of the problem.

Read More: Govt reduces net metering rate to Rs10 per unit

Earlier, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved a set of amendments to the existing net-metering regulations aimed at reducing the growing financial burden on grid consumers.

According to press release issued by finance division, the ECC meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb and was attended by Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari; Minister for Maritime Affairs, Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh; Minister for Petroleum, Ali Parvez Malik, along with federal secretaries and senior officials from relevant ministries and divisions.

The decision comes in light of a significant increase in the number of solar net-metering consumers, with associated financial implications for grid consumers, the statement added.

As part of the approved changes, the ECC has revised the buyback rate from the National Average Power Purchase Price (NAPP) to Rs 10 per unit.

Furthermore, the committee approved the proposal, subject to the ratification of Cabinet, to allow the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to revise this buyback rate periodically, ensuring that the framework remains flexible and aligned with evolving market conditions.