Net metering explained, and how it differs from net billing

The short answer

Net metering is a billing rule for homes that make some of their own electricity, almost always with rooftop solar. When the panels produce more than the house is using, the surplus flows out to the grid and the meter counts it; when the house uses more than the panels produce, power flows in. At the end of the billing period you pay for the net amount. EIA's glossary defines net metering as tariffs that let customers "reduce the volume of billed electricity supplied by the grid", taking into account what they sold back when self-generation exceeded consumption.

The terms are set by the state utility commission for investor-owned utilities and, for many city utilities and cooperatives, by the utility's own board. That is why the same panels on the same roof earn different credits in different places. The Federal Trade Commission's consumer page on home solar gives the practical first step: contact your utility to see what arrangement it offers homeowners who produce solar power.

Net metering vs net billing

The two terms describe what an exported kWh is worth.

California is the largest example of a switch. In December 2022 the California Public Utilities Commission's decision D.22-12-056 established a net billing tariff as the successor to net energy metering (NEM2) for customers who submit an interconnection application on or after April 15, 2023. The commission notes that the decision did not affect customers who applied by April 14, 2023, so the state's regulated utilities now bill solar homes under both systems at once.

A tariff can also mix the two, for example by netting kWh within a month and paying a lower value for any surplus left at the end of the year. The name on the tariff matters less than two questions: what is an exported kWh credited at, and how long does the credit last.

What a credited kWh is worth where you live

Under full net metering, an exported kWh is worth whatever your utility charges per kWh, so the value follows local prices. Over the last 12 months (September 2025 to August 2026), homes in Hawaii paid an average of 44.27¢ per kWh, those in California 32.34¢ per kWh and those in Tennessee 13.61¢ per kWh, against a US average of 18.04¢ per kWh¹ (EIA, months since January 2026 preliminary). On those averages, a kWh sent to the grid offsets far more in Hawaii than in Tennessee.

Those figures are average revenue per kWh: everything homes paid, divided by what they used. They include monthly customer charges spread over each kWh, which net metering credits do not cancel. The per-kWh charges on a tariff are therefore lower than the state average, and the credit is worth that lower figure. To find your own value, add up the charges on your bill that are stated per kWh (energy, delivery, fuel and per-kWh riders); that sum is roughly what each netted kWh saves under full net metering. Under net billing, look for the export rate in the tariff instead.

Source: EIA, Historical state data, annual sales, revenue and customers; EIA-861 2025, advanced meters, dynamic pricing and net metering. Each dot is a state (horizontal: Residential ¢/kWh, 2025; vertical: Net-metered solar per 1,000 homes). Residential revenue divided by sales in 2025, all providers (EIA-861 final). Residential photovoltaic installations under net metering (EIA-861) per 1,000 residential customers. Period: 2025.

Show the numbers

State	Residential ¢/kWh, 2025	Net-metered solar per 1,000 homes
North Dakota	11.82¢	0.2
Idaho	11.83¢	26.9
Nebraska	12.05¢	3.6
Louisiana	12.52¢	16.7
Arkansas	12.87¢	13.1
Montana	12.99¢	22.2
Utah	13.02¢	66.0
Kentucky	13.13¢	5.3
Washington	13.17¢	19.4
Oklahoma	13.21¢	9.6
Tennessee	13.22¢	0.0
Nevada	13.26¢	106.7
Missouri	13.30¢	11.3
South Dakota	13.32¢	1.3
Wyoming	13.37¢	12.1
Iowa	13.62¢	13.2
North Carolina	14.00¢	12.4
Mississippi	14.03¢	1.5
Kansas	14.44¢	7.4
Georgia	14.74¢	4.2
New Mexico	14.85¢	68.2
South Carolina	15.12¢	15.7
Florida	15.21¢	29.9
Arizona	15.26¢	104.2
Virginia	15.28¢	20.2
West Virginia	15.39¢	5.6
Texas	15.40¢	10.8
Oregon	15.46¢	32.6
Colorado	15.69¢	73.8
Minnesota	15.83¢	10.2
Indiana	15.96¢	3.7
Alabama	16.09¢	0.0
Ohio	16.90¢	5.8
Delaware	17.15¢	31.5
Illinois	17.67¢	22.0
Wisconsin	18.08¢	7.5
Pennsylvania	19.29¢	16.9
Maryland	19.53¢	48.1
Michigan	20.03¢	5.9
District of Columbia	21.92¢	66.1
New Jersey	22.48¢	58.0
Vermont	22.79¢	29.9
New Hampshire	24.53¢	38.3
Alaska	26.11¢	10.0
New York	26.39¢	33.7
Maine	27.69¢	25.4
Connecticut	29.31¢	75.6
Rhode Island	29.48¢	43.0
Massachusetts	30.41¢	71.9
California	31.35¢	156.0
Hawaii	40.40¢	232.3

Price alone does not predict where net metering spread. Hawaii and California combine high prices with high adoption (232.3 and 156.0 net-metered installations per 1,000 homes). Nevada and Arizona paid below the US average in 2025 (13.26¢ per kWh and 15.26¢ per kWh, against 17.23¢ per kWh) yet ranked 3rd highest and 4th highest for net-metered homes, with 106.7 and 104.2 per 1,000. Tennessee's price was close to Nevada's (13.22¢ per kWh²) and its utilities reported 97³ net-metered residential installations in total. Sunshine, state rules and each utility's own tariff all enter; the data show the outcome, not which factor mattered most.

Where net-metered homes are common

EIA's survey of every utility (form EIA-861) counts residential solar installations billed under net metering. Divided by residential customers, the 2025 figures run from 232.3 per 1,000 in Hawaii to 0.0 in Tennessee and Alabama. The median among the states and DC was 16.9 per 1,000; the US figure, 38.1, is pulled up by California, which alone reported 2,241,381 of the nation's 5,510,135³.

Next from the bottom were North Dakota (0.2), South Dakota (1.3), Mississippi (1.5), Nebraska (3.6) and Indiana (3.7³). A low count does not always mean few solar homes: solar paid under a buy-all, sell-all or other non-net-metering arrangement is not in this measure.

Utility by utility

Adoption also differs inside states, where each utility has its own tariff and customer base. The table lists the largest programs, the highest and lowest rates among utilities with a page on this site that reported net-metered homes, and two Florida neighbors. All figures are EIA-861 for 2025; "MW" is the reported capacity of those residential systems.

SDG&E had the highest share of net-metered homes of any utility here, just ahead of Hawaiian Electric; PG&E and Southern California Edison had the most installations. The Florida pair is the clearest within-state contrast: Duke Energy Florida reported 57.1 net-metered installations per 1,000 homes and FPL 22.4³, although FPL has more customers and so more systems in total. Duke Energy Florida's homes also paid a higher average price in 2025, 18.36¢ per kWh against FPL's 14.62¢ per kWh⁵, so each netted kWh offset a higher average price there. Each utility's page shows its own net-metering figures next to its prices.

Reading a net-metered bill

A net-metered bill usually shows three kWh figures: delivered (taken from the grid), received (sent to the grid) and the net. If the net is positive you are billed for it at the normal rates. If it is negative, the surplus becomes a credit, in kWh or dollars, that rolls into the next bill. The tariff decides what happens to credits left at the end of a year: some carry forward, some are paid out at a lower rate, some expire.

Three things do not net out. The monthly customer charge applies whether you import or export. Charges that are not per kWh, such as a minimum bill or a solar-specific monthly fee where a tariff has one, stay. And on a time-of-use rate, a kWh exported at midday may be credited at the midday price while the kWh you import in the evening is billed at the peak price; the time-of-use guide explains how those periods work. Because solar output peaks in summer, a net-metered home can build credits in summer and use them in winter.

Signing up, and claims to check

Joining is part of connecting the system: the installer or homeowner files an interconnection application with the utility, the utility approves it, and the meter is replaced or reprogrammed to record both directions. Where a utility takes applications online, that is the "net metering portal" or "application" people search for; the utility's own website is the authoritative place to find it. Home solar does not change who delivers your power. If you buy supply from a competitive supplier, ask both the utility and the supplier how export credits are applied.

Net metering is a utility tariff, not a government grant, and California's change shows that terms for new customers can change. The FTC advises not to deal with a company that pressures you for a quick decision, and notes that future utility rates are hard to predict, so savings estimates built on assumed rate increases are uncertain. Before signing, read the net metering or net billing tariff your utility files with its commission and check which one a new system would join.

What the figures here cover

The counts come from the EIA-861 annual survey for 2025, in which each utility reports residential photovoltaic installations billed under net metering in each state it serves. The rate per 1,000 homes divides those installations by residential customers; EIA counts customer accounts, not households. The measure excludes solar billed under other arrangements, and it does not show how much electricity the systems exported or what credits were worth. Prices are EIA averages for full-service residential customers, not tariff rates.