PM steps in on Nepra net-metering overhaul, orders appeal to protect users

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of Nepra’s newly notified Prosumer Regulations 2026, which reshape how rooftop solar and other small generators settle electricity with power utilities.

In a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the premier directed the Power Division to immediately file an appeal with Nepra to safeguard existing contracts of solar consumers. He also instructed officials to prepare a comprehensive plan to ensure the impact of the new framework does not shift costs from roughly 466,000 solar users onto the wider base of more than 37 million grid-only consumers.

The intervention follows Nepra’s move to end the traditional net-metering model and transition new and renewing connections to a “net billing” approach. Under the updated rules, utilities would buy surplus electricity from prosumers at the national average energy purchase price while selling electricity back at the applicable consumer tariff.

The regulations also reduce the standard agreement period to five years from seven, with renewals subject to mutual consent. Existing prosumers are expected to remain on their current agreements until those contracts expire, after which renewals would fall under the newer framework. The updated rules apply to solar, wind and biogas systems and repeal the earlier 2015 net-metering regulations.