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The Power Planning and Monitoring Company (PPMC) has reversed its earlier stance on the billing of solar power connections after issuing a fresh notification aimed at providing limited relief to consumers in January electricity bills.
The move follows widespread concern after an earlier notification issued in December resulted in financial losses for solar consumers who had generated surplus electricity and exported it to the national grid. Contrary to existing agreements, the exported units of solar consumers were treated as zero, while billing was carried out on the basis of imported electricity units.
Under the earlier instructions, no export benefit was extended to solar users who were deemed to have violated their agreements by installing additional panels. PPMC had also directed power distribution companies to bill such consumers under the Maximum Demand Indicator (MDI) mechanism.
In a subsequent letter, PPMC issued revised instructions, allowing conditional billing under Distributed Generation (DG) capacity. However, the company maintained its position of not providing relief on electricity generated through additional panels installed beyond the approved capacity.
The revised directive clarified that export benefits would not be extended to consumers who violated contractual terms in December. It also stated that billing authority lies with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), and that PPMC does not directly handle electricity billing matters.
The development reflects a partial rollback of the earlier decision, while leaving unresolved concerns among solar consumers affected by the December billing mechanism.
