solar
Net metering
Also known as: Net energy metering, NEM
Billing arrangement where solar customers receive bill credits for grid-exported electricity, often at the retail rate.
Net metering credits residential and commercial solar customers for electricity exported to the grid, typically against retail-rate consumption. Most US states and many EU countries operated full retail-rate net metering through the 2010s; the 2020s saw a shift to net billing (lower export rates), net surplus compensation, and time-of-export tariffs. California's NEM 3.0 (2023) is the most-cited example of net metering reform reducing solar export value.