Lahore:
Pakistan’s electricity sector is at a critical time as a growing inconsistent between policy direction and implementation threatens to derive the country’s pure energy transition.
While the government once advanced Solar installations on the roof as a long-term solution to rising electricity costs and energy security, it is now turning the course-ice-shoulder in the net meter regime that leaves citizens and business that question the state’s obligation to renewable energy.
Electricity demand in the country hovers about 29,000 megawatts (MW) in high summer, while the installed generational capacity exceeds 46,000 MW. However, generation remains ineffective due to the under -utilization of capacity, poor net infrastructure and increasing dependence on imported fuels. Solar energy, once considered a promising alternative, now faces political obstacles despite having contributed about 5% of Pakistan’s total electricity generation in 2025.
Solar installations, especially roofing systems, increased between 2022 and 2024, when households and businesses invested in net meter, lured by generous repurchase prices and government incentives. According to official data, the network dimensions sprang capacity from just over 300 MW in 2021 to 2,813 MW at the end of FY25, with over 280,000 households registered under the scheme. But the government’s recent steps to cut back down the repurchase frequency from RS27 to RS10 per year. Unit has sent shock waves over the sun community.
“The sun transition, once seen as a cornerstone of Pakistan’s energy smoking, is now being treated as a disadvantage,” said Mian Sohail Nisar, patron-in-the-chief of the Pakistani industrial and trading associations. “The government encouraged this shift, but now refuses to integrate it into the formal power system with a long -term perception. This kind of policy inconsistency undermines both investor confidence and public confidence.”
Energy experts claim that the revised net measurement policy stems from the installation of financial pressure on the national network. With solar cell users reducing their dependence on lattice electricity and selling excess power back to high rates, utilities claim they are struggling to cover fixed infrastructure costs. By 2024 alone, the cost burden was switched to grid -dependent consumers estimated at RS159 billion. Projections suggest that this imbalance could rise to over RS4,000 billion in the next decade if not controlled.
A former official in the electricity sector said the problem is not solar energy, it is poor planning. “The government failed to upgrade the distribution network to deal with reverse current streams. Now the solar users are accusing of losses that are actually rooted in technically wrong management and outdated infrastructure.”
He believes that the new gross measurement model that bills users separately to imported and exported electricity may have profits in principle, but has been introduced to suddenly. “Policies like these must be phased in with stakeholder consultation. Instead, we see a knee-pressure reaction to financial burden that can deter future investments in pure energy.”
Consumers who installed solar cell panels during previous government regulations feel betrayed. Many invested heavily in hybridinverters and battery storage in the hope of reducing their dependence on lattice electricity and taking advantage of favorable mains measurement starifs. Now the shrinking returns, unsafe billing structures and even hidden replacement of smart meters from distribution companies.
The inconsistency in energy policy is not new. Over the past two decades, successive governments have announced ambitious plans, whether for hydropower, LNG terminals or renewable energy, only to abandon or turn them because of changed political climates, pressure from utilities or international monetary findings (IMF) men reforms.
Energy onanian Syed Farid Hussain said the biggest failure is the lack of a total transition card. “You can’t expect a successful shift to pure energy without adapting the web upgrades, price mechanisms and consumer protection. Piecemeal reforms are not a strategy.”
He added that with Pakistan’s circular debt in the electricity sector that crosses RS2.6 trillion, there is pressure on the state to either raise customs or reduce losses. Unfortunately, instead of reforming inefficiency in distribution companies or tackling power theft, the government sees the burden of sunscreen, those who follow its own advice, he said.
A structural approach is the need for the hour, an approach that cannot be reversed in a few years for any reason. “Pakistan does not need political U-turn; it needs energy.
