Pakistan Ends Net Metering Era Under NEPRA Prosumer Regulations 2026

Pakistan has officially ended its decade-long net metering regime, replacing it with a net billing framework under NEPRA's (the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority's) Prosumer Regulations 2026 — a change that fundamentally alters how all 283,000 registered rooftop solar consumers are paid for the electricity they export to the national grid. The 2015 framework that made solar financially compelling for millions of households has been formally repealed.

How Net Metering Made Solar a Household Essential

The 2015 framework operated on a straightforward one-for-one rule: every unit of solar electricity exported to the grid earned the producer one unit of credit at the same retail rate they would otherwise pay their DISCO (distribution company). As grid tariffs climbed from roughly PKR 9 per kWh in 2015 to PKR 44 per kWh by 2024, that credit became progressively more valuable. A household exporting 200 units per month in 2024 was, in effect, avoiding a bill of roughly Rs. 8,800 every month — a compelling financial incentive that required no subsidy and no government programme.

The logic proved irresistible. Pakistan's rooftop solar base expanded from just 50 MW to more than 6 GW of net-metered capacity, with 283,000 consumers formally registered across LESCO, IESCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, QESCO, FESCO, TESCO, GEPCO, and K-Electric networks. For middle-class families battered by both rising tariffs and chronic load shedding, rooftop solar had become less a lifestyle choice and more a financial necessity.

What Changes Under Net Billing

The core distinction is how exported electricity is valued. Under the old net metering model, the grid functioned as a free virtual battery: export a unit at noon, draw it back after sunset at no extra charge — a full retail-rate credit in both directions. Under net billing, exported units are compensated at a separate buyback rate, which is set below the retail tariff consumers pay when drawing power from the grid.

This breaks the one-for-one symmetry that drove Pakistan's solar boom. A household that exports surplus generation during the afternoon will now receive a lower-value credit for those units, while still paying the full retail rate for grid power consumed at night. The gap between the buyback rate and the retail tariff is the core financial variable every existing and prospective solar owner now needs to confirm from their DISCO or the official NEPRA gazette.

The Scale of This Policy Reversal

• Over 6 GW of installed residential and commercial solar capacity is now governed by the new compensation rules
• 283,000 registered prosumer connections span every major DISCO and K-Electric's Karachi distribution network
• The tariff differential that powered the solar boom — PKR 9/kWh in 2015 rising to PKR 44/kWh by 2024 — no longer translates directly into full bill credits for exported units
• The 2015 net metering framework has been formally repealed; transition provisions in the Prosumer Regulations 2026 will govern what happens to existing connections

Consumers who invested in panels, inverters, and net metering connection approvals did so on the assumption that the 2015 rules would remain stable. The shift creates an urgent need for NEPRA and the DISCOs to communicate transition timelines and any grandfathering arrangements clearly and promptly.