Nepra directs PITC to update pending net-metering connections

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has tasked Power Information Technology Company (PITC) with checking and updating pending net-metering connections in Discos and K-Electric, as consumers who completed the required formalities and are still awaiting connection processing.

In a letter to the CEO of PITC, copies of which were sent to the Secretary Power Division and CEOs of Discos and K-Electric, Nepra Registrar Waseem Anwar Bhinder referred to the Authority’s earlier letter of July 31, 2026.

Through that letter, all Discos and K-Electric had been directed to comprehensively check their records and update net-metering connections that remained pending despite payment of demand notices, physical replacement or reprogramming of meters, and execution of Meter Change Orders (MCOs), where applicable, for net-metering facilities prior to February 9, 2026, under the Nepra (Alternative & Renewable Energy) Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations, 2015.

READ MORE: Pakistan to get Advanced Metering Infrastructure in five Discos

However, the issue remains unresolved, the Nepra registrar noted.

He has now directed PITC to check its records and update in the billing system/software all net-metering connections that were pending prior to February 9, 2026, despite completion of all codal formalities under the 2015 net-metering regulations.

PITC has been asked to complete the exercise without further delay.

The issue assumes significance following the introduction of the Prosumer Regulations 2026 and subsequent concerns over the treatment of existing net-metering consumers.

In February 2026, the Power Division had approached Nepra for re-examination of the Prosumer Regulations 2026 in light of directions issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The Prime Minister had directed the Power Division to take up the matter with Nepra to safeguard the existing contracts of solar consumers.

The directions included ensuring all possible protections for existing consumers and devising a comprehensive mechanism to prevent any undue transfer of the financial burden of around 466,000 solar consumers to more than 38 million national-grid consumers.

In compliance with the directions, the Power Division requested Nepra to immediately re-examine the Prosumer Regulations and proposed that consumers holding valid net-metering licences as of February 9, 2026, should be protected, particularly with regard to the benefits available under the repealed net-metering regulations. For new consumers, however, the framework and mechanism prescribed under the Prosumer Regulations 2026 would apply.

The Power Division also requested that, until a final decision was reached, distribution companies be allowed to continue operating under the repealed net-metering mechanism for consumers holding valid licences as of February 9, 2026.

The Power Division has maintained that consumers who have not installed net-metering systems—the non-protected category—are bearing an additional financial burden of around Rs3.5 per unit under the existing net-metering regime. It has also cautioned that rapid solarisation is creating a growing risk for the national grid system.

Meanwhile, a consultant to the Power Division, Syed Faizan Ali, has proposed the introduction of Time-of-Use (ToU) net metering/net billing, with enhanced evening discharge rates of Rs18-22 per kWh from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

The proposal is aimed at incentivising Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and reducing peak-hour electricity procurement costs for system operators. Pakistan’s evening peak demand has now crossed 26,000 MW annually.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026