![]() They work by charging a fixed, monthly fee based either on the customer’s maximum kilowatt demand during any hourly (or even sub-hourly) period during a month, or by charging the customer a fixed fee based on the size of their solar system. C: Fewer than all IOUs in the state, but greater than 35% of population coveredĭemand charges and other fixed monthly fee increases are a recent attempt by utilities to penalize people for owning solar panels.B: Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) only.Grade breakdown for “Who is covered in practice”: Importantly, there are some states where the rules only apply to IOUs, but co-ops and other utilities make up the difference by providing good rules of their own. Many states require only investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to follow their net metering rules, while others have specific rules for each utility. This category awards higher grades to states that require all utilities to adhere to net metering rules. Who is covered in practice (15% of grade) D: FiT for all generation (such as under a buy-all, sell-all scheme), or FiT for real-time or daily NEGĢ.C: Retail-rate credit for monthly offset, but feed-in tariff (FiT) for net excess generation (NEG).B: Full-retail kWh credits minus non-bypassable charges (or similar).A: Guaranteed full retail-rate net metering as kWh credits on the customer's bill. ![]() Grade breakdown for “Definition of net metering”: Lesser policies pay only a feed-in tariff for monthly, daily, or even real-time excess generation. They call these fractions of the retail price “non-bypassable charges.” Most often, those states reduce compensation for solar energy by the amount of the final retail price of electricity that goes to fund low-income programs and other social benefits. Some states without full retail-rate net metering have designed smart policies that compensate system owners with close to retail rates. The best states require all excess generation to be credited in kilowatt hours and applied to the next bill, which is called full retail-rate net metering or 1-to-1 net metering. This judges how strong the net metering rules defined by a state legislature or PUC are.Įvery state except South Dakota has rules that define how solar owners should be compensated for their energy. Definition of “net metering” in the state (40% of grade) Evaluation factors for grading state net metering programsįor 2021, we're judging state net metering programs based on 5 weighted factors, as described below.ġ. Government and regulatory agencies can use the rankings to see how their policies fare at helping ordinary homeowners and how they compare to those in the best states. Homeowners can use our guide to see whether their financial wellbeing will be protected by their home state if they choose to install home solar panels. That’s why we came up with the idea of ranking state net metering policies.īelow you’ll find a list of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, graded and ranked based on our set of evaluation factors. As consumer advocates, we’re concerned with what’s best for the average homeowner who wants to install solar panels. The difference has a lot to do with politics, lobbying, and the power of the almighty dollar, on both sides of the issue. In other states, solar owners are paid the wholesale price of energy (often a small percentage of retail), without regard for the benefits rooftop solar provides to the utility and its ratepayers. Some states have come up with smart “successor” programs that pay solar owners for each kWh based on a value of solar energy developed through careful study. In recent years, most states have gone through the process of amending or even eliminating net metering rules, with mixed results.
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