ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman Tuesday expressed serious concern over the newly issued Prosumer Regulations by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), warning that the changes will undermine Pakistan’s clean energy transition, weaken investor confidence, and penalise citizens who have invested in solar power in good faith.
“The new prosumer rules issued by Nepra will not only slow down the country’s energy transition and contradict Pakistan’s climate commitments, it will, quite literally, punish citizens for producing clean, affordable energy. And for investing in solarisation by trusting the contract the state offered.”
She noted that the revised framework reflects a policy shift that protects inefficiency rather than reforming a deeply outdated power distribution system.
She further added, “By terminating net-metering, sharply reducing buyback rates, and retroactively shifting existing prosumers to net-billing, Nepra has opted to shore up government finances by penalising households and SMEs that invested their own capital in rooftop solar. This is not efficiency-based reform; it is deficit management through regulation.”
“The planned shift by the power ministry rewards inefficiency, and props up an ageing distribution system that should have been privatised or given to the provinces long ago.” Senator Rehman pointed out that the decision appears driven by short-term fiscal considerations, as electricity bills have increasingly become a vehicle for indirect taxation. “The move is also fiscally motivated. Today electricity has quietly become one of the state’s most reliable tax collection tools.”
She cautioned that frequent and unilateral changes to tariffs send a damaging signal to investors, particularly households and businesses that have turned to rooftop solar in response to high energy costs. “The signal to rooftop and other investors is a poor one. When the state keeps changing tariffs then any investment becomes a high risk venture.”
Referring to Pakistan’s recent surge in solar imports, she questioned the absence of a coherent plan to absorb clean energy capacity. “What will Pakistan do with the 50 GBs of solar panels and equipment it imported until Sept 2025,” she asked.
She proposed forward-looking alternatives, including demand-side innovation and reform of legacy power purchase agreements. “If there’s excess demand, set up AI centres that use it. Or reform the old contracts where the state pays even if the electricity is not used.”
Highlighting the broader economic burden on citizens, Senator Rehman stressed that salaried classes are already facing unprecedented taxation. “The salaried classes are overtaxed as it is this year to the tune of Rs 315 billion. Why is Pakistan subsidising dirty energy and paying a small fortune to import furnace oil and LNG to sustain its last-century grid and distribution system?”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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