Proposed amendments in Net Metering Rules: Standing body on Cabinet Secretariat has stopped Nepra in its tracks

ISLAMABAD: The Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has termed proposed amendments in Net Metering Rules against the public interest and directed the NEPRA not to proceed with the amendments till the issue was under consideration of the committee.

The committee met with Kishwer Zahra, here on Friday.

The committee expressed its annoyance at the absence of the Secretary Cabinet, Secretary Establishment, and Chairman NEPRA from the meeting. The committee directed that they should make themselves available in the next meeting of the committee.

The committee was apprised that the NEPRA had initiated public consultation in respect of those rules and in view of the feedback, the final draft will be shared with the committee. The NEPRA’s representative said that by virtue of the proposed amendment, each surplus unit supplied by the solar producer will be adjusted against 3.7 off-peak units supplied against one peak unit consumed as per prevailing tariffs. He said that previously two off-peak units supplied were adjusted against one peak unit consumed.

The members of the committee were quite skeptical about the role of the NEPRA in initiating such amendments. They said the proposed amendments would not only discourage people to convert to renewable energy but also increase the burden on the government. The committee said the NEPRA should take measures to protect the interests of the consumers besides encouraging the public to shift to renewable energy setting of the burden on the government.

The committee expressed its displeasure on the reluctance of different quarters to accept the responsibility of hanging of live wires on electric poles in Karachi causing incidents of electrocution. The committee was of the view that everyone was trying to shift the onus on each other.

The committee decided to call the CEO of K Electric, the chairmen PEMRA and the PTA, the Commissioner Karachi, the representatives of cable operators and internet service providers in its next meeting. The committee was informed that cable operators and internet service providers were using K-Electric poles for their cables which were causing issues of electrocution and disruption of K-Electric services.

The Committee, while discussing the closure of Abandoned Properties Organization, directed the Ministry of Law and Justice to immediately convene a meeting of the committee constituted by the prime minister and discuss the issue in question. The committee was apprised that the committee could not meet due to a change of government. The representative of the Law Ministry assured to take up the issue at an appropriate level.

The committee pended discussion on matters referred to the committee by the assembly due to the absence of the movers.

The meeting of the committee was attended by MNAs Rana Iradat Sharif Khan, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Musarat Rafiq Mehasar, Seema Mohiuddin Jameeli, Muhammad Sajjad, Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Muhammad Abu Bakr, Syed Mehmood Shah, additional secretaries of Establishment and Cabinet Division, and senior officers of the concerned departments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022