Ohio net metering and net billing

History: from full retail credit to the unbundled generation rate

Ohio original net metering law was passed in 1999 as part of electric industry restructuring, per DSIRE. At first, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio required utilities to credit net excess generation at the full retail rate, per DSIRE. In 2002, this exchange was declared illegal by the Ohio Supreme Court and the requirement changed to the utility unbundled generation rate, per DSIRE. This entry therefore records the unbundled rate, not full retail, and no dollar amount.

PUCO amended its rules in 2007, and Senate Bill 221 in 2008 placed a limit on net metering whenever total rated capacity used by customer generators is less than one percent of the provider aggregate peak demand in Ohio, per DSIRE. In November 2017, PUCO amended the rules again, setting a maximum system size at 120 percent of a customer average yearly usage, per DSIRE. The current text is Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28, effective April 8, 2024.

Who can net meter and how large a system can be

Rule 4901:1-10-28 requires each electric utility to develop a standard net metering tariff and a hospital tariff, available nondiscriminatorily. Except for hospitals, a system must use solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas or hydropower, or a microturbine or fuel cell, per the rule. It must sit on the customer generator premises, and a contiguous lot may count as premises if it creates no unsafe condition, per the rule.

Size is intent based and numeric. The customer generator must intend primarily to offset part or all of its own requirements, per the rule. The utility must assist in calculating requirements from the average supplied annually over the previous three years, or, where data is unavailable due to new construction, vacancy or expansion, establish an appropriate estimate from available data, per the rule.

• Cap: facilities must be sized so as not to exceed 120 percent of requirements at interconnection, whether service is through a utility or a competitive supplier, per the rule.
• Metering: a single meter capable of registering flow in each direction is used, per the rule.
• No feed in charges: the utility may not impose charges relating to electricity the customer generator feeds back, per the rule.

How monthly billing and the surplus credit work

If electricity supplied by the utility exceeds electricity received from the customer generator over the monthly billing cycle, the customer generator is billed for net electricity consumed under normal metering practices, per Rule 4901:1-10-28. That within month netting is the main value, because kilowatt hours netted in the month avoid tariff charges that would otherwise apply.

Only the monthly surplus becomes money, at a narrower rate. On the standard tariff, when the utility receives more than it supplied over the month, the excess is converted to a monetary credit at the energy component of the utility standard service offer, per the rule. The credit continuously carries forward on future bills, the utility need not pay it other than as a bill credit, and it may be lost if unused or if service stops, per the rule. Competitive suppliers differ: a competitive retail electric service provider may offer a contract at any price, rate, credit or refund for excess generation, and is not required to offer one, per the rule. Confirm your arrangement and current tariff before valuing exports.