Islamabad: Stakeholders and policy experts amid witnessing Pakistan's record-breaking rooftop solar movement facing a critical turning point warned that the proposed Prosumer Regulations 2025 risk dismantling a decade of citizen-led energy progress.
During the national consultative dialogue convened by the Pakistan Renewable Energy Coalition (PREC) and the Alliance for Climate Justice and Clean Energy (ACJCE) on 'Redefining the Prosumer-Grid Relationship: Analysis of Draft Prosumer Regulations 2025', the participants cautioned that a shift from net metering to net billing could destabilize the power sector by pushing consumers toward total grid defection.
Dr. Nafisa Shah, Member National Assembly stated, 'Consumers are bearing the brunt of policy failures while simply trying to secure their basic right to electricity. The next phase of this revolution will be a battery rush, and we must safeguard those who rely on solar.'
Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur underlined that this regulation contradicts ARE 2019, NDC 3.0, and the rights of solar consumers. 'It risks disincentivizing renewable energy adoption in a climate-affected nation,' she added.
The experts briefed the forum that over the past decade, Pakistani citizens have independently imported over 51.5 GW of solar capacity. This organic growth, fueled by soaring electricity prices and grid unreliability, turned ordinary consumers into prosumers rather active contributors who reduce peak demand and advance the clean energy transition without requiring public financing.
The new draft regulations, however, propose replacing the 2015 net metering framework with a net billing system that compensates exported solar electricity at significantly lower rates, the experts argued, adding this move penalizes the very citizens who stepped in to solve the country's energy shortfalls.
Imtiaz Baloch Director General Licensing, NEPRA Imtiaz Baloch from NEPRA clarified, 'This is still a proposal under consultation, not a policy change.' He pointed towards legacy system constraints cautioning that they should be addressed too with a forward-looking approach.
Zeeshan Ashfaq, CEO of Renewables First said the propensity of control was the root cause of power sector failures as limiting technological proliferation through administrative measures was impossible. 'The choice before us is simple: penalize the consumer or facilitate him," he said.
Dr. Khalid Waleed, Energy Economy Expert, SDPI noted that the 2015 policy was celebrated globally, yet the 2025 draft resorts to short-term solutions rather than a long-term integration strategy. He proposed that instead of abrupt shutdowns, young coal plants like Sahiwal should be repurposed into ancillary assets to provide grid stabilization services or converted into Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) using sodium-ion technology.
Rabia Babar Manager Data and Analytics, Renewables First said grid electricity sales have declined for three consecutive years despite a rising number of consumers, signaling that citizens are already moving away from grid dependence.
Shah Jahan Mirza, Ex-Managing Director, PPIB acknowledged that while the government may not intend to curb solar, any transition from the 2015 rules should have been gradual and phased.