• By Best Solar Company PK
  • 22 Oct, 2026
  • Net Metering
  • 7 min read

For nearly a decade, rooftop solar in Pakistan ran on a simple, generous idea: every unit you exported to the grid cancelled out a unit you later imported. That one-to-one exchange — net metering's "unit banking" — is what let thousands of homeowners push their electricity bill close to zero. As of 2026, that era is over.

NEPRA's new **Prosumer Regulations 2026** (notified via SRO 251(I)/2026) repeal the Net Metering Regulations 2015 and replace net metering with a **net billing** model. The change in how your exported and consumed units are counted is the single most important shift Pakistani solar owners need to understand this year. Below, we break down the NEPRA net billing rules in plain terms, with concrete PKR figures.

How net metering unit banking used to work

Under the old 2015 regime, your bidirectional meter tracked two numbers — units imported from the grid and units exported to it — and then simply **subtracted one from the other**.

  • If you exported more than you imported in a month, the surplus units were **banked** and carried forward for up to **three months** to offset future consumption.
  • Export and import were valued at effectively the same (retail) rate, so 1 exported unit genuinely wiped out 1 imported unit.

In practice, a well-sized system let a household "store" its sunny-afternoon surplus and spend it on a cloudy evening weeks later — the grid acted like a free battery.

This is precisely the mechanism NEPRA has now dismantled.

What net billing does instead

Net billing breaks that single calculation into **two separate transactions** priced at two very different rates:

  • **Units you export** are *bought* by your DISCO at a low wholesale rate — the National Average Energy Purchase Price (NAEPP), roughly **Rs 10–11 per unit** for new connections.
  • **Units you import** are *sold* to you at the full applicable consumer tariff, which for many protected and unprotected slabs runs **Rs 42 to over Rs 47 per unit** in 2026.

The units no longer net against each other one-for-one. You are a seller and a buyer in the same billing cycle, and the gap between the two prices is now your loss.

### A worked example

Consider a home that exports 1,000 units and consumes 900 units from the grid in a month.

| Scenario | Export value | Import charge | Net position | |---|---|---|---| | Old net metering | 1,000 units cancel 900 imported | — | ~Rs 0 (small credit) | | New net billing (new user) | 1,000 × Rs 11 = Rs 11,000 | 900 × Rs 47 = Rs 42,300 | **Rs 31,300 payable** |

Same solar system, same sunshine — a near-zero bill becomes a five-figure monthly bill. That is the real-world impact of ending unit banking.

What happens to your banked surplus now

The banking window has also been slashed. Where surplus units once rolled over for **three months**, under the net billing settlement they now carry for **one month only**. Any export credit not consumed within that cycle is settled at the low NAEPP buyback rate rather than preserved as a unit you can "spend" later.

The practical lesson: **oversizing your system to bank summer surplus for winter no longer pays.** You want to *self-consume* as much of your generation as possible in real time — which is exactly why battery storage and load-shifting are becoming central to solar economics in Pakistan. See our guide on sizing a solar system for self-consumption.

Are existing net metering users protected?

Mostly, yes — with a catch. If your net metering agreement was signed **before 9 February 2026**, you are grandfathered:

  • Your export compensation stays at the older National Average Power Purchase Price, around **Rs 25–27 per unit**, until your current agreement expires.
  • Your 3-to-7-year contract remains valid; DISCOs can move you to full net billing only **after** it expires.

The catch is that many existing prosumers report their banking window being trimmed to one month even during the protected period, and the renewal — when it comes — will be a **five-year net billing agreement** at the ~Rs 11 rate, not a renewal of the old terms. Roughly **466,000** existing connections sit inside this transition.

New applicants after the cut-off date go straight onto net billing. For a side-by-side, read net metering vs net billing in Pakistan.

Other key changes in the 2026 rules

  • **System cap:** Your solar capacity is now tied to your **sanctioned load (1.0×)**, down from the earlier 1.5× allowance, with an overall ceiling of **1 MW** per facility.
  • **Technology scope:** The regulations cover solar, wind and biogas distributed generation.
  • **Licensing relief:** Prosumers are exempted from generation-licence and fee requirements, simplifying paperwork.

NEPRA frames the reform as correcting a cross-subsidy — arguing that grid-tied solar owners were being over-compensated at the expense of non-solar consumers. Critics, including commentary from the Prime Minister's office, have pushed back on applying it to users mid-contract. You can read NEPRA's own notifications on the official NEPRA website{target="_blank" rel="noopener"}, and the shift is analysed in depth in a 2026 study published on ScienceDirect{target="_blank" rel="noopener"}.

Does solar still make sense in 2026?

Yes — but the math has changed. With grid tariffs still above Rs 42/unit, **every unit you consume directly from your own panels** saves you that full retail rate. The losses only appear on units you *export*. So the winning strategy in 2026 is a right-sized system paired with daytime load management (and increasingly, storage) so you buy as little from the grid as possible and export as little as possible.

Solar payback periods lengthen modestly under net billing, but with cash electricity bills where they are, a properly designed system still pays for itself — just through self-consumption savings rather than export credits.

Frequently Asked Questions

**Did NEPRA completely abolish net metering in Pakistan?** NEPRA repealed the 2015 Net Metering Regulations and replaced them with the Prosumer Regulations 2026, which use net billing. One-to-one unit banking is gone; exported and imported units are now priced separately.

**What is the new solar export (buyback) rate in 2026?** New prosumers are paid roughly Rs 10–11 per unit (the National Average Energy Purchase Price) for electricity exported to the grid, while they buy grid electricity back at the full consumer tariff of Rs 42+ per unit.

**Will my old net metering agreement change?** If signed before 9 February 2026, your agreement is protected at the older ~Rs 25–27/unit rate until it expires. At renewal you move to a five-year net billing contract at the lower rate.

**How can I reduce the impact of net billing?** Size your system to your actual daytime load, shift heavy appliances to sunlight hours, and consider battery storage so you self-consume your generation instead of exporting it cheaply. Talk to Best Solar Company PK for a net-billing-optimised design.

The bottom line: in 2026, your solar units are no longer a currency you bank — they are a product you sell cheap and buy back dear. Design for self-consumption, and solar remains one of the smartest investments a Pakistani household can make.

Best Solar Company PK designs and installs reliable solar systems in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Taunsa Sharif and Karachi. Contact us for a free survey and the best advice for your home or business.