Net Metering

Customers who install small solar, wind, biogas, and fuel cell generation facilities to serve all or a portion of on-site electricity needs, are eligible for the state's net metering program. NEM allows a customer-generator to receive a financial credit for power generated by their onsite system and fed back to the utility. The credit is used to offset the customer's electricity bill. NEM is an important element of the policy framework supporting direct customer investment in grid-tied, distributed renewable energy generation, including customer-sited solar PV systems.

NEM allows the customer for sizing their generation to meet their annual load instead of the peak demand.

NEM also reduces concerns about short-term fluctuations in a generation. Solar PV generation is relatively predictable on an annual basis but shows strong variability, even on an hourly basis, as passing clouds, inclement weather or other fluctuations in the available solar resource affect the actual output of the solar system. Since customer load also varies, at any given moment it is very difficult to determine if a solar PV system will be serving on site load or exporting energy to the grid. NEM means that load and generation do not have to be precisely coincident to return value to the customer.

NEM provides a long-term, predictable benefit tied to market value (bundled retail rates) for the customer, improving the financial viability of distributed generation (DG) investments.

NEM program rules and regulations allow regulators and utilities to provide transparent, simplified and expedited interconnection procedures for small customers.

Virtual Net Metering

Virtual Net Metering (VNM) is a special tariff available to MASH incentive recipients that enable a multifamily housing owner to allocate a solar system's benefits to tenants across multiple units. Current tariff rules allow the system owner to allocate bill credits of a percentage of the solar generation between common load areas and tenants along a single service delivery point. Under VNM, MASH Track 1a incentives are granted to common load offset and Track 1b incentives to tenants' load at the determined allocation rates.