ISLAMABAD (Zeeshan Yousafzai) - Serious irregularities have surfaced in electricity bills issued last month by power distribution companies, as a large number of solar net metering consumers were not credited for the electricity units they supplied to the national grid, resulting in excessive bills amounting to hundreds of thousands of rupees.
The Ministry of Energy has acknowledged the issue in an official press release, while the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) also admitted in a clarification that net metering units were not credited for some consumers last month, particularly where electricity generation exceeded their documented approved capacity.
According to the Power Division, certain net metering consumers have installed systems exceeding the capacity approved under their licensed DG (Distributed Generation) capacity. As a result, in some cases, electricity units sold to the national grid were not credited—an approach later termed incorrect by the authorities.
A senior Power Division official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such incidents were reported across multiple distribution companies, with Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) and Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) among the most affected.
Officials explained that the issue surfaced earlier in LESCO and MEPCO due to their earlier billing cycles compared to other companies. Additionally, both utilities have a higher number of solar net metering consumers, which contributed to the early detection of the problem.
According to official figures, LESCO has over 106,000 solar net metering consumers, MEPCO more than 83,000, and IESCO over 72,000. Nationwide, the total number of net metering consumers is estimated to exceed 350,000.
In response, Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari took notice of the matter on the instructions of the Power Planning and Monitoring Company (PPMC) and ordered a review of the billing mechanism.
The Power Division clarified that while some consumers had installed systems beyond their approved capacity, withholding full credit was not in line with correct procedures. IESCO has also formally acknowledged the error.
Authorities have now issued instructions to all DISCOs to adjust the affected bills in the next billing cycle. Under the revised guidelines, only electricity units generated beyond the approved capacity will be excluded from credit, while consumers will receive full credit for units supplied to the grid within their licensed capacity.