NEPRA orders PITC to clear pending net-metering by Feb 9

PITC told to update billing records for consumers who completed demand, meter and other formalities; move comes amid concerns over protection of existing solar consumers under the new framework. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has directed Power Information Technology Company (PITC) to identify and update pending net-metering connections for consumers who had completed all required formalities before February 9, 2026. According to a news report, Nepra Registrar Waseem Anwar Bhinder issued the direction in a letter to PITC's CEO, with copies sent to the Secretary Power Division and CEOs of Discos and K-Electric. NEPRA said its July 31 directive requiring Discos and K-Electric to review such cases had not resolved the issue. PITC has now been asked to check its records and update the billing system/software for connections where consumers had paid demand notices, completed meter replacement or reprogramming, and executed Meter Change Orders (MCOs), where applicable. The cases fall under the NEPRA (Alternative & Renewable Energy) Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations, 2015. PITC has been directed to complete the exercise without further delay. The move comes amid the implementation of the Prosumer Regulations 2026 and concerns over the treatment of existing solar consumers. In February, the Power Division asked Nepra to protect consumers holding valid net-metering licences as of February 9, 2026, following directions from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The Power Division said around 466,000 solar consumers should be protected from any undue transfer of their financial burden to more than 38 million national-grid consumers. It proposed that consumers with valid licences as of February 9 continue under the repealed net-metering mechanism, while the Prosumer Regulations 2026 apply to new consumers. The Power Division has also said non-solar consumers bear an additional burden of around Rs3.5 per unit under the existing net-metering regime and warned that rapid solarisation is increasing risks for the national grid. Separately, Power Division consultant Syed Faizan Ali has proposed Time-of-Use net metering/net billing with evening discharge rates of Rs18-22 per kWh from 5 pm to 10 pm to encourage Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and reduce peak-hour electricity procurement costs. Pakistan's evening peak demand has crossed 26,000 MW.