Net Energy Billing

Rates outlined in Attachment 1 apply to customers subscribed to systems that do not meet the Tariff Rate program requirements (Section 3(J)(4) of CMR 65-407-313), as well as those that do meet the requirements and have a capacity of 3 MW or more but less than 5 MW. Rates outlined in Attachment 2 apply to customers subscribed to eligible systems under the Tariff Rate program requirements with a capacity of less than 3 MW.

Maine offers two compensation options for customer-generators and community solar subscribers. Any customer may participate in the Net Energy Billing (NEB) kWh Credit Program, while only non-residential customers are eligible for the NEB Tariff Rate Program.L.D. 1777, enacted in June 2025, significantly revises the NEB framework. Amendments to kWh credit agreements after June 1, 2025, may not extend original termination dates, and front-of-the-meter systems are eligible only if operational by June 1, 2026. Once a successor distributed energy resource (DER) program is established, utilities may no longer enter NEB agreements with grid-side distributed generation systems.Current tariff rates remain in effect through 2025. Beginning in 2026, new size-based rates apply with a 2.25% annual escalator. The law also establishes a 2026 NEB project charge for shared financial-interest systems to recover distribution costs, creates a procurement program for projects online before November 1, 2025, and phases out existing NEB structures as successor programs take effect.Net Energy Billing kWh Credit ProgramWhile being called “net energy billing,” the Net Energy Billing kWh Credit Program functions like traditional net metering. Production and consumption are netted monthly. Excess kWh’s remaining at the end of a billing period are applied to the customer’s next bill as a kWh credit. At the end of a 12-month rolling period, any accumulated unused kilowatt-hour credits may not be applied against any future kilowatt-hour usage. On April 1 of each year, utilities must determine the value of unused/expired kWh credits and send that value to the Public Utilities Commission to assist low-income households.Systems with a capacity of less than 5 MW are eligible for the program. Municipal systems may be more than 5 MW if less than 5 MW of the total output is used for net energy billing.Systems with a capacity of at least 1 MW and no more than 2 MW can be used under the kWh Credit Program if the system is commercially operational by 2025 as specified in a net energy billing agreement or an amended agreement.

Starting in 2026, front-of-the-meter systems that are interconnected or plan to be interconnected to the grid are prohibited from entering into a net energy billing agreement.Net Energy Billing Tariff Rate ProgramThe Net Energy Billing Tariff Rate Program is available only to non-residential customers (i.e., commercial or institutional customers, including shared financial-interest customers). Instead of receiving kWh credits on their electric bills, participants receive dollar credits on their bills. This allows participants to potentially offset the demand charge components of their bill, which kWh credits would not otherwise offset. System capacity must be less than 5 MW.Beginning in 2026, for customers with a system that has a capacity of less than 3 MW, the applicable tariff rate (referenced above in Attachment 2) shall be the tariff rate that applied in 2025 to the customer’s rate class, which equals the applicable standard-offer service rate plus 75% of the effective transmission and distribution rate for the rate class serving the smallest commercial customers of the utility from which the customer receives service. This tariff rate shall increase annually by 2.25% beginning January 1, 2027.For resources with a capacity of 3 MW or more and less than 5 MW, the applicable tariff rate (referenced above in Attachment 1) is equal to the standard-offer service rate established that applied to the customer’s rate class on December 31, 2020, plus 75% of the effective transmission and distribution rate in effect on that date for the rate class serving the smallest commercial customers of the utility that the customer takes service under; and will increase by 2.25% annually on January 1, beginning January 1, 2027. Under the Tariff Rate Program, a customer who remains eligible must be allowed to receive a bill credit based on the tariff rate for a period of no less than 20 years from the date of first receiving the credit.Lastly, after 2023, a system may be used for the Tariff Rate Program if it is collocated with all the associated customers, and those customers are subscribed to 100% of the output. This rule does not apply to systems with a net energy billing agreement that was executed before 2024.