Govt is Ending Solar Net Metering Next Month

The federal government has decided to end solar net metering and replace it with a gross metering system to discourage solar use and to force consumers to switch back to drastically unaffordable grid electricity. The Ministry of Energy has informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that net metering is eating away at the revenues of distribution companies (DISCOs). Gross metering will require consumers to sell all their rooftop-generated electricity to the grid and then buy back what they need, reported Express Tribune. The government’s ploy to enforce gross metering next fiscal year is in response to the increasing number of households switching to solar energy to escape expensive grid electricity which, with additional charges, costs around Rs. 62 per unit. The energy ministry tried to explain to the lender that adopting solar panels has hurt grid electricity demand and increased idle capacity payments and quarterly tariff adjustments. In the first ten months of the current fiscal year, 6,800 MW worth of solar panels were imported. The IMF viewed idle capacity payments as a major factor in rising electricity costs and recommended reviewing the captive power generation policy, which allows industrialists to use cheaper gas for in-house electricity. The government may discontinue this captive gas policy next month and force industries to rely on more expensive grid electricity.