While hearing a public interest petition, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has decided to withdraw proposed amendments in net-metering rules 2015. The decision will cushion electricity rates for rooftop solar consumers.
Appearing before the Authority on behalf of a number of Net-Metering consumers Barrister Umer Ijaz Gilani contended saying proposed amendment would have changed per unit price at which utility companies buy excess power produced by rooftop solar power producers.
Barrister Gilani and Moin Fudda argued that the financial deal between the state authorities and the entire 20,000 strong rooftop solar power community in Pakistan cannot be reworked simply through a one-word delegated legislation.
Gilani further said that the top court has repeatedly held that the executive authority cannot exercise its rule-making power (whether such power is to make, amend, vary or rescind) to take away vested rights of the citizens, and any change which is destructive to rights so vested is without lawful authority and of no legal effect (PLD 1970 SC 439). Counsel also argued that since rooftop solar generators are selling less than 20MW to the national grid, which is less than one percent of the country’s power basket, it made no policy sense to target them.
“In the light of Supreme Court verdicts, an executive authority cannot exercise its rule-making power to take away vested rights of the citizens, ” Barrister Umer Gilani
The public/ consumers, during the hearing, strongly opposed the proposed amendments citing reasons that electricity through net metering is one of the most efficient methods incurring low distribution losses, with no investment for distribution infrastructure, and the proposed amendment in the Regulations would discourage net metering / solar installation.
Barrister Gilani was of the view that the proposed amendment would have changed the per unit price at which utility companies buy excess power produced by rooftop solar power producers. Presently, these excess units are purchased according to the ‘average power purchase price’. If the amendments had gone through, they would be purchased at the ‘average energy purchase price’, which would be much lower – Rs9 as opposed to Rs19 per unit. This means that the rate being offered to rooftop solar producers would have been halved in one go.
Consequently, the Nepra allowed the public interest petition as the Authority said in its 2-page decision (copy available with TLTP). All the four members of the Nepra including its Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui jointly announced the decision, saying “The Authority has decided not to amend the existing NEPRA (Alternative & Renewable Energy) Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulation, 2015”.
It is pertinent to mention that during 2022, the Nepra had decided to amend the existing Nepra (Alternative and Renewable Energy) Distributed Generation and Net-Metering Regulations, 2015.
