LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company has stopped issuing bi-directional meters used for solar system connections after a shortage of the devices, leaving consumers who have already paid demand notices waiting for installation.
According to sources, LESCO has limited stock of bi-directional green meters, and the issuance of new meters has consequently been suspended. Allocations submitted under the ERP code for bi-directional green meters have also begun to be held up.
Sources said a number of consumers had submitted demand notices for bi-directional green meters after installing solar systems. LESCO had issued those demand notices to consumers under the net-billing policy.
After the demand notices were deposited, the relevant offices completed the online process for the issuance of meters, and the demand for all meters, routed through divisions and circles, accumulated with the Material Management department.
Sources said that because of the non-availability of bi-directional meters, the process of installing meters for new connections and of replacing faulty meters has also frozen, creating difficulties for solar consumers.
A bi-directional meter is the single piece of hardware that makes a grid-tied solar system economically meaningful. It records electricity flowing in both directions — consumption drawn from the grid and surplus generation exported to it — which is what allows a consumer’s export to be credited against their import.
Without it, a solar installation is either confined to self-consumption or risks being metered as consumption in both directions on a conventional meter. Households and small businesses that have already committed capital to panels and inverters therefore find that the final and cheapest component of the system is the one holding up the return on their investment.
Pakistan has experienced an extraordinary surge in rooftop and commercial solar adoption over the past three years, driven by the steep fall in the landed cost of imported photovoltaic panels and the equally steep rise in grid tariffs. Distribution companies have struggled to process applications at the rate they arrive.
The move from net metering towards net billing — under which exported units are bought at a rate lower than the retail tariff rather than offset unit-for-unit — has been among the most contested energy policy debates in the country, with the solar industry warning it lengthens payback periods and the government arguing that the earlier arrangement shifted fixed network costs onto consumers without solar.
Whatever view is taken of that debate, a procurement failure at the meter stage undermines both positions. Consumers who complied with the policy, paid the notice and completed the online process cannot proceed.
Solar installers in Lahore report a growing backlog of clients whose systems are complete but uncommissioned, and say they are absorbing the reputational cost of a delay outside their control. Consumers, for their part, have questioned why demand notices continued to be issued and payments accepted while stock was known to be short.
Three questions require an answer from the utility: how many demand notices are currently pending against unavailable stock; when the next consignment of bi-directional meters is expected; and whether consumers who have already paid will be given a dated commitment or the option of a refund.
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