Dominion Energy's NEM 2.0 Proposal: What It Means for Solar in Virginia
18 comments
·May 16, 2025conradev
It's worth noting that while net metering is helpful for bootstrapping rooftop solar, ratepayers are essentially subsidizing solar arrays on the houses of (wealthier) homeowners.
The utility company would normally pay wholesale rates for solar energy (which has an aggressive duck curve), but instead they're forced to pay retail prices to net metering customers.
California pays wholesale rates now (they're on NEM 3.0) with a fixed fee for maintaining the wires even if you don't use them a whole lot.
lokar
I’m not sure it makes sense to pick one spot in such a complex system and say “x is subsidizing y”
If you believe burning carbon fuels is a big negative externality, then solar users are subsidizing everyone else.
When the utility puts up capital to build a plant, they are promised a return on that investment over time.
onlyrealcuzzo
> If you believe burning carbon fuels is a big negative externality, then solar users are subsidizing everyone else.
If the energy company is paying you $0.12 to sell electricity for $0.09 - they're losing money. Not to mention, they aren't covering any of the costs of maintaining their network (which is a large chunk of the overall cost).
If they're forced to buy rooftop solar from homeowners at a loss - they are FORCED to transfer that loss onto other costumers - which means the other customers are subsidizing that.
There isn't anything tricky about who is subsidizing whom.
Your issues with "dirty" energy are entirely separate.
abracadaniel
They’re also simultaneously selling it again for $0.12 ensuring that your surplus free electricity is used by your neighbors. Conceptually it’s a wash, because they then scale down the amount of power they generate. The real world consequence is that power generation is not easily scaled on demand.
Y_Y
> they are FORCED to transfer that loss onto other costumers
How does that figure?
I won't even insist you account for second order effects of having the solar panel, just that the consumer is only paying for their net draw of energy from the grid (which has decreased).
gusgus01
At least in New York state, they've recently tried to deal with this discrepancy while still keeping the incentive to install solar. There's a flat rate fee for all electricity customers to be hooked up to the grid to support grid infrastructure. There's also an additional fee to those that have solar panels called the Customer Benefit Contribution that is based off your generation to help fund energy efficiency projects and low-income programs.
johncalvinyoung
I wish this article recognized that there is a cost to maintaining the grid, both in transmission infrastructure, but also in maintaining the dispatchable generation capacity to smooth out solar's variability. As frustrating as this policy change sounds for consumers, I can see the case that the utility has variable && fixed costs related to net metering that warrants a sub-retail rate of exchange. In point of fact, roughly the rate that Dominion is willing to pay for solar energy in commercial PPAs.
The SREC situation is more complicated. I'm not familiar with Virginia's program, but I could see a case that Dominion doesn't deserve those credits... or one that says if they're building/operating their grid around accepting rooftop solar, some of those tax credits should accrue to their operations. I don't know. I wonder if commercial PPAs also transfer credits in exchange?
kanisae
Glad I am not a Dominion customer anymore. I will happily stick with my coop and pay $0.12/kwh and keep my 1:1 metering.
aidenn0
Edison designs their bill to make it very hard to tell what you are paying per kwh, but I think I'm paying between $0.20 and $0.30 depending on time of day.
detourdog
.12 kWh sounds great where is that.
gruez
Many states have rates in that range. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.ph...
kanisae
I am on svec.coop, and have been much happier with them than I was on Dominion.
laurencerowe
Rooftop solar in the US is absurldy expensive. The 30% federal subsidies alone are greater than the full buildout cost of utility scale solar. At these prices rooftop solar makes no sense.
This seems to be more about the US market than rooftop vs utility scale. Australia shows it is possible to install rooftop solar cheaply. Why can't we?
conradev
I studied this for a year fellowship, and there are lots of problems, but problems with permitting and interconnection are pretty unique in the US.
NREL, NFPA, UL, and Tesla got together and developed SolarAPP (https://gosolarapp.org). It enables instant online permitting for standard installations, and California passed a law mandating its adoption.
It's also sales. Solar is currently sold by salespeople and they need to be paid. The small solar companies contract out to the larger solar companies for crap rates because top of funnel is very hard for them. There is a YC company going after that opportunity: https://projectsolar.com/
Software providers like Aurora (https://aurorasolar.com) are used for making proposals, but they sell software to solar installers rather than vertically integrating and going after it themselves.
Tesla sells online, but the online experience ends after you pay and they try to sell you too much solar. Everything, including design, is subcontracted out in my understanding.
Sunrun is a great option even though you don't own the panels. PPAs are more popular at the moment because interest rates are so high.
utsolartemp
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detourdog
I find it hard to judge the expense of a solar array. I have purchased 2 in Massachusetts about 8 years apart. The SRECs I have received for the first array I would say roughly covered the costs. The second array seems to be on the same pace. I also benefit from the electricity produced.
Last year the second Massachusetts changed the electrical repurchase agreement and I just checked the bill for April. I produced 480 more kWh than used. I ended up with a $58.04 credit. National Grid pays me $.24320141 per kWh. I will be pumping just under 6,000 kWh a month into the gird until October.
I don't see solar as expensive I see it as a good value. I will always be buying electricity and it will always be rising in price. I'm happy to have the opportunity to invest to reduce these costs.
I agree that the system is not fair...
Analemma_
It's mostly shortage of labor: if you're willing to do the research on your setup, buy the equipment yourself, and just hand instructions+gear to a contractor, you save a bunch of money. If you're willing/able to do the installation yourself, you save even more.
This isn't specifically a rooftop solar thing, the entire construction industry in America has been bottlenecked on labor for years. You can insert your own personal hobbyhorse here about why that is (immigration, undervaluing trades, etc.), but whatever it is it sure is a headwind on solar migration.
Wow. I don't think we've had net metering in Australia basically ever (maybe if you DIYed decades ago, the analogue counter would have simply spun backwards... not sure if that was ever legal though). If you have solar, there's always two one-way metres with seperate rates (and now real-time smart meters with the optional capability to use a provider that offers time-of-use wholesale rates - so you can profit in energy trading/arbitrage if you have a battery).