Solar 101: What is net metering?

Despite popularity and record-breaking growth, rooftop solar is increasingly under attack by lobbyists from power companies that are fighting policies that would expand solar access and benefits.The rooftop solar policy most directly under attack is called “net metering,” which is the process where the owner of a solar panel is paid fair rates by the power company for the electricity they are contributing to the electricity grid. Utility and power companies across the country are attempting to curtail the rates it pays back to customers, which creates fewer incentives for people to invest in solar. In the past 5 years, state legislatures or state public service commissions in Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Maine and Indiana have cut net metering programs, stunting the growth of solar in some of the sunniest parts of our nation. Nevada’s program has since been reinstated.