Net Energy Metering (NEM) & Your New Solar Bill
SCE customers who produce their own power are eligible for a special metering and billing option called Net Energy Metering (NEM). The NEM schedule allows solar customers to receive a credit for the surplus electricity they supply to the grid. This credit is then applied to customers’ bills to offset all or part of the costs associated with the energy they consume. Under this billing option, customers are billed once a year for the “net” energy consumed over the previous 12 months, if any. Customers are also billed monthly for nominal costs associated with account administrative fees.
How NEM Works
With a non-solar account, an electric meter spins forward as it measures the amount of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a customer consumes.
With a solar account, an electric meter not only spins forward as it measures the amount of kWh a customer consumes, but can also spin backward as it measures the net amount of electricity a customer generates.
This happens when a solar customer generates excess electricity, or more electricity than the customer is currently consuming, and the excess electricity is diverted onto SCE’s electric grid.
SCE will read your meter once a month, recording the “net” amount of energy either consumed or generated over the entire month. If, in a given month, your solar system generates more electricity than you consumed, the excess energy will be credited to your account at the same rate that you would have been charged had you purchased that electricity from SCE.
Virtual Net Metering
SCE's Virtual Net Metering (VNM) has been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission and is effective as of June 8, 2009. VNM will allow MASH program participants to apply the credits from a single solar system to multiple accounts at an eligible low income building.
Learn more about the VNM tariff (PDF).
Get Adobe® Reader
Print