5-4-and-a-Door Solar: Net Metering

In early 2020, the Georgia PSC implemented monthly net metering for Georgia Power solar customers. It took Georgia Power a full year to get their systems in order. In January, 2021 the power company issued revised bills for all of 2020, enabling solar customers like us to see exactly the impact of monthly net metering.

The graph below compares the original bills for each month to the revised bills under net metering.

The bottom line is a 20% savings for the year. The power bills prior to net metering (not including rebates) were $1415. After net metering, they came to $1136. And net metering knocked at least a year off of our payoff date.

For those unfamiliar, monthly net metering means that the power company adds up all power consumed and subtracts all power generated back into the grid for the entire month before pricing. For time-of-use plans (like we have), net metering is done in each time segment independently. The alternative (what was in place before monthly net metering) is instantaneous pricing. In instantaneous pricing, the user could purchase power at 14cents one second, then generate power back into the grid for a 3.5cent credit the next. Net metering is obviously more equitable.