Net Energy Metering
Supporting California’s Clean Energy Goals
Generating your own electricity, reducing your carbon footprint and saving on your bill.
NEM Accounts that are Changing to the Solar Billing Plan
NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 customers, when your 20-year legacy period ends, your account will transition to the Solar Billing Plan. You will be notified by email and in My Account before the transition.
If you submitted an interconnection application for a new renewable energy system after April 14, 2023, your account will transition to the Solar Billing plan in December 2023. At true-up, if your system returned more kilowatt hours (kWh) to the grid than you used, you will receive bill credits based on NEM 2.0 terms. After the true-up date, your energy use and generation will be billed on the Solar Billing Plan.
How NEM Works
NEM measures your energy use in both directions: the surplus energy your system sends to the grid and the amount of energy your home or business uses from the grid to fill the gap between what your system generates and your overall energy usage.
If you generate more energy than you use, you can earn generation credits. These credits can be applied to your account to use on a later bill when you owe a balance – perhaps on cloudier months when your system doesn’t get as much sunlight, or when it’s hot out and you’re using more energy to run your AC.
At the end of every 12-month cycle, you will receive your “true-up” bill. This is when your account is reconciled, and you may need to pay off an outstanding balance. After true-up, your account automatically resets for a new 12-month period.
Virtual Net Metering
Virtual Net Metering (VNM) is similar to NEM but involves several customers sharing a single renewable energy system. This option is most applicable to properties with multiple tenants, like apartment complexes and office buildings.
For example: If you are a tenant in a four-unit apartment building, and your landlord installs a solar energy system with VNM, you would be allocated a percentage of that system’s output. Let’s say your allocation is 5%. If that system generates more energy than your building needs, you will get the same percentage of generation credits (5%). The building’s usage would all be calculated through a single meter, but you’d still receive an individual bill.
NEM Aggregation
NEM Aggregation is designed for customers with renewable systems on multi-metered properties. It allows you to “aggregate” your energy production and consumption into one account, so you can offset your non-renewable energy use with your renewable energy surplus.
A good example is a small farm: If the farmhouse is equipped with solar panels that generate surplus energy, that surplus can be used to offset the energy costs incurred by a water pump used for irrigation on another area of the property.
No, NEM doesn’t track all of the energy your renewable system generates. NEM only tracks the surplus energy that flows out of your home or business into the electric grid. We cannot track or advise how much overall energy your system produces.
To learn more about generation credits, annual true-up and how to read your bill, visit Understanding Your NEM Bill.
Per the methodology established by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), when your renewable system exports excess energy to the grid, we compensate you with generation credits at the wholesale market value of that energy. Wholesale market value is applied to excess generation to align with what a utility would pay if it were to purchase renewable energy from a solar facility. The energy you buy from us is priced at the retail market value, which is typically higher than wholesale, although the pricing of both fluctuates with the market over time.
Many low-income households qualify for subsidized NEM billing through the California Alternative Rates for Energy, CARE or FERA program. Customers with electrical medical equipment may need a Medical Baseline plan with NEM.
We offer NEM pricing plans that are compatible with Medical Baseline, so you can keep your allowance and necessary measures can be taken to keep your health equipment running. Visit our Medical Baseline page for more information.