Islamabad: The government has prepared a new electricity tariff plan for the industrial sector, introducing a model where lower power consumption will incur heavy charges while higher usage will be incentivized with relief.
According to Power Division sources, the policy is aimed at discouraging industries from shifting to solar energy. Under the proposed plan, fixed charges will be increased for industries that consume less electricity from the national grid.
The new tariff policy is expected to be implemented within the next two months.
It proposes giving cheaper per-unit rates to high-volume consumers, potentially bringing industrial electricity prices down to 6–8 cents per unit.
This new tariff structure has already been shared with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has requested detailed data on industrial power consumption and companies leaving the national grid.
Initially, the tariff will only apply to industrial consumers, but there are plans to extend it to commercial and domestic consumers in the next phase.
Officials estimate that this policy will increase power demand on the national grid by 1,000 megawatts.
According to authorities, the policy is necessary to cover the costs of the national grid and aims to incentivize industries to continue using state-provided power.
