ISLAMABAD: People who have installed solar panels on rooftops under the net metering system have put a burden of Rs159 billion on the power consumers who depend on the electricity from national grid. This has led to their tariff increasing by Rs1.5 per unit.
This has been revealed in the latest data of the Power Division which shows that consumers who use only grid electricity are bearing the additional financial burden due to the rich class people getting the facility of net metering.
According to the data, power consumers are giving subsidies of Rs159 billion to the rich class because they have to pay an additional tariff of Rs1.50 per unit in their electricity bills.
Net metering users are not paying for the costs of grid storage and the capacity of power plants that remain closed due to the addition of these solar panels.
According to the data, the number of consumers installing rooftop solar panels under net metering has reached 283,000, which was 226,440 in October 2024.
This means that 800 MW more solar panels have been added to the system in just four months, further burdening consumers who are solely dependent on grid electricity.
Senior officials of the Power Division have warned that if the new policy is not introduced immediately, the financial burden on the system due to the net metering policy will exceed 503 billion rupees in the next 10 years, which will be directly transferred to the poor consumers.
Officials say We have pointed out the shortcomings of the existing policy to the top decision-makers, but the government is avoiding making necessary changes in it due to political compulsions.
According to official documents, the rich class living in the posh areas of the country’s eight major cities has reduced their electricity bills by 35% per month by taking advantage of the low prices of solar technology, but this has resulted in an additional burden of Rs103 billion on consumers who are not using solar net metering.
The cumulative generation of solar connections through net metering in 2021 was 321 MW, which has increased to 3277 MW by 2024. Out of this, 327 MW is expected to be commissioned by 2024. Out of this, 327 MW is expected to be commissioned by 2024.
