• Awais proposes delay in payback to ease grid surplus
• Claims Rs191bn saved in FY25 as power losses dip due to governance reforms
• Govt eyes 6,000MW surplus supply for crypto, data centres

ISLAMABAD: The Power Division is making another attempt to convince the federal cabinet to curtail returns on solar net metering and remove electricity duty on consumer bills being resisted by the provinces.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Power Minister Awais Leghari said he would be presenting a revised plan to the federal cabinet in a week or two based on consultations with some stakeholders to stagger the recovery of investment on net metering to two to three years from the current one and a half years.

Mr Leghari also announced that the Power Division on Thursday moved a summary for cabinet approval to finalise rules for wheeling charges, a key step towards operationalising the competitive electricity trading market.

He added that the government was exploring plans to offer 5,000-6,000MW of surplus electricity at marginal costs to industries such as data centres and crypto mining, and discussions were underway with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The minister said that a change in the net metering arrangement would not reduce the electricity tariff, but there would be no further increase in rates. Unless measures are introduced, the expansion of solar systems could add to the surplus on the........

© Dawn Business