Glossary · Rules and the grid

What Is Net Metering? Getting Paid for Solar You Export

Net metering

A deal between solar owners and their utility that pays or credits them for power they send to the grid. Most plug-in solar laws leave it out.

  1. Solar systemMakes power while the sun is out.AC
  2. Your homeUses what it needs at that moment.
  3. Meter and gridThe rest is exported; net metering pays or credits it.
With net metering, power your system sends to the grid earns a payment or a bill credit. With most plug-in systems, only the power you use at home saves you money.

At a glance

What it pays for
Solar power exported to the grid
Who decides
Your state and your utility
Plug-in solar
Usually exempt, as in Utah
Vermont, Maine
Plug-in systems can't be used for it
Exports
Unpaid in Vermont; charged as usage in Connecticut without net metering

Net metering is an arrangement between solar owners and their utility in which the owners are compensated for solar power they export to the grid, the Department of Energy explains. The name comes from the 1990s, when the meter simply ran backwards while power was being exported; today it’s rarely that simple. Whether your system qualifies, how big it can be and how the bill credits work depend on your state and your utility, so the DOE suggests asking your utility first.

Does plug-in solar get net metering?

Usually not. Most state plug-in solar laws exempt these systems from the net metering program along with the interconnection rules. Utah says a portable device is not subject to its net metering requirements, Vermont says power a plug-in device exports isn’t paid for, and won’t let a net-metered customer add one, and Maine says the systems can’t be used for net energy billing. In Connecticut, a device must warn you that excess power is charged as usage unless your meter allows net metering.

So with a plug-in system, the savings come from the power you use as it’s made. Our guide to plug-in solar laws by state shows how each state treats it.

Published by the Plugged Sun editorial team

Sources

  1. Homeowner's Guide to Solar (Official document, US Department of Energy, 2026)
  2. Utah Code 54-15-601, Portable solar generation devices (Official document, Utah State Legislature, 2025)
  3. Act 149 (S.202), as enacted (Official document, Vermont General Assembly, 2026)
  4. 35-A MRSA §3475, Plug-in solar and battery systems (Official document, Maine Legislature, 2026)
  5. Public Act No. 26-127 (HB 5340), An Act Concerning Renewable Power Generation (Official document, Connecticut General Assembly, 2026)

Where Net metering comes up