ISLAMABAD: The Power Division of Pakistan has been paying special attention on Thursday to what is described as unneeded delays in rooftop c, asking power distributors to clear the case backlog of 1,355 pending net meters within ten days.
June 1 is the deadline looming over all Disco employees under the ex-Wapda system, as the government moves to finally resolve the solar connection backlog. This deadline comes with real repercussions, including disciplinary measures for superintending engineers, executive engineers, and sub-divisional officers, along with an instant withholding of their incentives.
Building up the Net Metering Crisis in Pakistan
The backlog of the net metering system in Pakistan was not developed overnight; the problem started developing towards the latter half of last year, when the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority started limiting the growth of rooftop solar. The Power Division had launched an awareness campaign against low power demand in the country.
According to an announcement by the Power Information Technology Company, Discos have been delaying applications for net-metering for over six months owing to changes in prosumer laws. Of the total number of registrations made prior to February 8, only 1,355 were pending, waiting for installations. This information was obtained from transformer tagging and complaint portal services 118.
Transformer tagging issues worsening the situation
Apart from the deliberate delay tactic, there was a technical issue as well that was further adding up to the difficulties faced by Pakistan in regard to net metering. It was found out by the authorities that many transformers were not properly tagged with their consumers, which resulted in abnormal load sanctioned against such transformers.
Moreover, the proportion of cases which were unresolved beyond the prescribed timeframe by Nepra was also found to be on the higher side, suggesting poor Disco performance beyond just the issue of solar backlog.
Net Metering to Net Billing Regulatory Transition
Nepra officially transitioned the net metering regime of Pakistan into the net billing framework with new prosumer regulations from February 8. The shift in regulation provided Discos an easy way out for delaying applications that fell between the two regulatory regimes.
The Power Division moved into action right after the changeover in order to safeguard the interests of present customers. It approached Nepra to respect the existing agreements related to net metering till their completion and clarified that applications filed prior to the cut-off date would not be discriminated against.
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Officers Now Subject to Cuts in Bonuses and Disciplinary Actions
This case was handled by the power minister directly following the report from the PITC. The order given clearly states that 1,355 of Pakistan’s net-metered accounts should have their connections fitted and switched on before June 1. Any officer associated with unnecessary delay in fitting or handling complaints will be subjected to disciplinary action.
This is about accountability for the many thousands of families and companies who went ahead and installed their rooftop solar units in good faith, only to have their applications denied. It all comes down to whether the Discos make good on the promise.
