The Pakistan Solar Association (PSA) has urged the authorities to continue supporting net metering as a crucial pillar of the nation’s sustainable energy future.

“The real issue lies in rampant energy theft, which results in a significant shortfall in the revenue collection of distribution companies, resulting in a continuous increase in circular debt,” Amir Chaudhry, chairman of PSA said during a press event.

The Power Division Secretary had said that electricity worth Rs380 billion is stolen every year in the country. He said that the impact of Rs520 billion in stolen electricity is to be passed on to consumers in bills from the current fiscal year, he added.

He expressed concern over the alleged incorrect information and false propaganda spread by stakeholders from IPPs and DISCOs in an attempt to draw away attention from the real problem and undermine the trust and progress of the solar industry.

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The statement came amid reports that the government is likely to issue an ordinance aimed at further regulating net metering in the country because people who installed solar panels on their rooftops have inadvertently caused an increase in the capacity payments to IPPs.

The ordinance will also criminalise non-payment of electricity bills, reports said.

Chaudhry termed the decision as an erroneous and misleading approach, which would aggravate the electricity prices in the country.

Net metering allows consumers to send their rooftop electricity to the national grid during the day and use electricity from the national grid at night hours.

Chaudhry said that net metering is a sustainable energy solution that allows consumers to generate their own electricity through solar panels and feed excess power back into the grid.

This process not only reduces electricity bills but also contributes surplus energy to the national grid, he added.

The PSA chairman was of the view that electricity theft increases the burden on bill-paying customers as they are forced to foot the bill for stolen electricity. The cost of financing the circular debt, caused by the recovery shortfall, is also passed on to the customers in the form of FC surcharge and PHL surcharge, he stated.

“On top of this, our electricity bills are loaded with a plethora of taxes, such as electricity duty of 1.5%, GST of 18%, further tax and extra tax of 5% and an additional 3%, and even advance income taxes of an additional 5% to 12% of the total bill value,” he added.

Chaudhry believed that the imposition of several taxes results in an exorbitant cost of electricity and hence incentivises more consumers to avoid paying their bills, making the problem even worse.

He showed dismay that the authorities are targeting the solar energy sector rather than enhancing governance and vigilance to combat electricity theft or re-examining the impact of such massive taxation on electricity bills.