What will my power bill look like when I enter into a net metering agreement with Dominion? It is a common question among solar consumers. We are going to take a look at an example bill to get some answers, but first, it is important to review a few key terms:
Power: In electrical terms, power is Voltage x Current, and is measured in Watts (W). If your home is using 1,000W in a given moment, it is using 1 kilowatt (kW).
Energy: Energy is simply Power x Time. If your home uses 1 kW of power for 24 hours, the home is said to have used 2 kilowatt-hours of energy (kWh). Energy is the metric that is reflected on power bills. The unit of measurement is kWh.
Usage: This is the amount of energy a home or business uses throughout a period of time. Usage is measured in kWh. Also called consumption.
Generation: This is the amount of energy a solar generator produces over a period of time, measured in kWh. Also called production.
Now let’s see what a Dominion Energy bill looks like for a customer in a net metering agreement:
The “Total kWh” under Billable Usage shows the amount of energy the customer is being billed for the month. If the customer’s solar generator (solar panels) delivered to the grid more than the house pulled from the grid, the “total kWh” will be zero.
Beneath Measured Usage, the first field we see is “CyOvr Prev Yr. “ This field lists the amount of excess generation credits carried over from the previous net metering period. It is important to remember that net metering excess generation credits are only valid for 12 months.
The “Total kWh Del” section reflects the amount of energy the home or business imported from Dominion.
“Total kWh Rec” is where we see the amount of energy the solar generator sent back to the utility. The “Total kWh” number is the billable usage, calculated by subtracting “Total kWh Rec” from “Total kWh Del”.
“CyOvr Cur Yr” shows the amount of excess generation credits are available for the current net metering period. This is the amount of energy that is available to the consumer for free when the solar generator is not producing as much power as the home or business demands.
In addition to the data reflected on Dominion’s Net Metering Bill, all of our installations include homeowner access to a cloud based monitoring program. Each inverter manufacturer has a different monitoring platform, but they all show very detailed real time information including consumption and production. The data is very specific and allows consumers to see how much power each solar panel is making at any given time. Between the monitoring platforms and Dominion’s net metering bill, consumers are equipped to be very informed energy consumers in a world where energy is getting more expensive year over year.
Please let us know if we can help you understand anything we’ve covered today. Trident Solar is committed to empowering consumers to make an informed decision regarding solar.
