Solar flip-flop

This letter refers to the editorial ‘To solar or not’ (March 19, 2025). It correctly highlights the policy flip-flops of the government in promoting solar energy in the country. ‘Net-metering’ and its variations are considered transitional policies to promote renewable energy resources. Revising them periodically is therefore not unprecedented. However, the way this has been done and the reasoning used to do it has cast serious doubts on the government‘s intent to transition to a sustainable energy future.

It appears that the monolithic, inefficient, and corrupt power sector empire has successfully manoeuvred to maintain the status quo by raising false alarms. Net-metering customers were actually helping the country avoid capacity charges and high energy costs and also the huge losses of the national grid. Public policies are serious undertakings and must not be issued, revised or scrapped on the whims of any individual, interest group or lobby.

Dr Shahid Rahim

Bahawalpur