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Virginia Policy

Net Metering Virginia: What's Settled and What's Not

Virginia's net metering rules came through Dominion's proposed overhaul largely intact, with one-to-one credit preserved. A separate merger case now raises questions about the 6% cap.

By the Go Solar DMV news desk · Oct 23, 2026 · 5 min read

Net Metering Virginia: What's Settled and What's Not

Key facts

How net metering works in Virginia right now

Net metering in Virginia gives you a one-to-one retail rate for the electricity your system exports to the grid, subject to system size caps and a utility-wide enrollment cap of 6% of peak load, with 1% of that reserved for low-income customers6. In practice, a kilowatt-hour you send out during the afternoon offsets a kilowatt-hour you pull back at night at the same value.

That structure survived a direct challenge. Virginia's State Corporation Commission issued its final order on April 30, 2026, rejecting the most consequential elements of Dominion Energy's proposed NEM 2.0 overhaul and preserving the one-to-one kilowatt-hour value of net metering for solar customers across Dominion territory1. If you are mapping out the rest of the picture, our Virginia solar incentives page covers how net metering fits with the other programs available here.

Dominion net metering in Virginia: what the SCC decided

Dominion had proposed four significant changes: switching from annual to 30-minute interval netting, reducing the export credit rate from approximately $0.15/kWh to roughly $0.0955/kWh, claiming ownership of customers' SRECs without compensation, and adding application fees ranging from $100 to $750 per customer1.

The commission rejected the petitions of both utilities to allow 30-minute netting and new application or grid-connection fees2. On the SREC question, the order explicitly recognized that "the Company does not own the RECs created by customer generators"3. That matters because the renewable energy credits your system produces remain yours to sell.

One installer-published account of the order notes that a small administrative fee was added for new Dominion customers3. It is worth confirming that detail against your own interconnection paperwork rather than assuming either way.

Appalachian Power net metering in Virginia (AEP)

Appalachian Power customers went through a similar process a year earlier. Despite APCo's request to reduce the cap on net-metered projects, the SCC maintained the current 6% limit4.

There was one meaningful change for oversized systems. For generation that exceeds your total annual consumption, the compensation rate is actually higher than the prior default PJM Locational Marginal Pricing rate, because it now includes the value of Renewable Energy Credits required by state law4. The practical takeaway is unchanged: sizing a system to your own annual usage is still where the strongest economics sit, with excess production credited under a separate rate.

The 6% cap and why it has not been a constraint yet

The enrollment cap is the part of Virginia net metering most likely to come up in online discussions, usually with more urgency than the numbers support. In its own filing, Dominion argued it is unnecessary to raise or remove the six percent aggregate net metering cap at this time, because the rated capacity of all customer-sited generation participating in net metering is less than three percent of the company's adjusted Virginia peak-load forecast for the previous year7.

Advanced Energy United's summary of the April order reaches the same conclusion: the 6% statutory cap remains in place, and Dominion is currently below 3%8.

There is a caveat for anyone planning on a long horizon. In the Dominion case, the commission left the door open to future adjustments when the proportion of capacity represented by net metered installations nears the statutory limit of 6% of the utility's peak load2. That trigger is the reason the cap keeps resurfacing in policy filings.

Net metering changes in Virginia: what is proposed, not final

The current round of attention is driven by the Dominion–NextEra merger case, not by any change to the net metering rules themselves. Gov. Abigail Spanberger called on Virginia regulators Monday to require a six-year freeze on residential electricity rates and additional customer bill credits as conditions for approving the proposed merger5. Her clean and local energy generation requirements included creating a Virginia-based zero-carbon subsidiary to serve large data centers and eliminating the rooftop solar net-metering cap, and she said the commission should reject the merger if those proposals are not substantially addressed by Dominion and NextEra or alternative solutions are not identified5.

For scale: on May 18, NextEra announced a $66.8 billion deal to merge with Dominion, a transaction that would eliminate a competitor in the energy generation market and create the largest regulated electric utility in the world, worth $420 billion9. The companies have said they expect the deal to close in the second half of 20279.

Expert testimony filed on behalf of Spanberger and Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond calls for freezing residential base-rate increases for three rate-review cycles, or six years, and providing monthly customer credits of $29 for four years; the companies' revised proposal offers a $10 monthly credit for residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours10. The governor also wants regulators to increase the debt share of Dominion's capital structure from 48% to 60% to lower its rate of return10. SCC staff separately said the deal should be denied because it exposes Dominion to additional financial risks from NextEra's unregulated businesses, with insufficient commitments on post-merger service resources12.

None of this is a rule you can plan around today. It is testimony in a pending case, and the cap-elimination proposal would only take effect if regulators impose it as a merger condition5.

What a rate freeze would and would not do for your bill

If you are weighing solar partly as a hedge against rising bills, read the proposed freeze carefully. Base rates account for only part of a customer's electric bill, meaning a freeze would not prevent other charges from increasing10. Spanberger also emphasized the freeze would apply to rate hikes rather than preventing rates from falling, and the SCC could review rates if they would otherwise decrease during the six-year period11.

On the pressure side, one installer analysis citing the rate case reports that Dominion residential customers saw approved increases of $11.24 per month starting in 2026, with more rate cases likely, and attributes much of the pressure to data center load, noting data centers now consume roughly 25% of Virginia's total electricity, projected to double by 203014. Those two figures come from a secondary analysis rather than the docket itself, so treat them as directional.

What this means if you are deciding this year

For a Virginia homeowner or small business, the planning facts are stable: one-to-one export credit, annual rather than 30-minute netting, no new application or grid-connection fees from the rejected petitions, and SRECs that stay in your name123. The 6% cap exists, and Dominion sits below 3% of it8.

The open questions sit in the merger docket, and they point toward loosening the cap rather than tightening net metering5. If you want a straightforward read on what your own roof and usage would produce under these rules, start with a qualification review, and our solar FAQs cover the interconnection steps that follow.

Questions people ask

What is net metering 2.0 in Virginia?

NEM 2.0 was Dominion's proposed overhaul of the net metering program. It would have switched from annual to 30-minute interval netting, cut the export credit from roughly $0.15/kWh to about $0.0955/kWh, claimed customer SRECs without compensation, and added application fees of $100 to $7501. The SCC rejected the 30-minute netting and the new application and grid-connection fees, and found the company does not own customer-generated RECs23.

Does Dominion still offer full retail net metering in Virginia?

Yes. The State Corporation Commission's final order on April 30, 2026 preserved the one-to-one kilowatt-hour value of net metering for solar customers across Dominion territory1. One installer account of the order notes a small administrative fee was added for new Dominion customers, which is worth confirming on your interconnection paperwork3.

Is there a cap on net metering in Virginia?

There is a utility-wide enrollment cap of 6% of peak load, with 1% reserved for low-income customers6. Dominion is currently below 3% of its cap8, and in its own filing argued it is unnecessary to raise or remove the cap at this time7.

How does Appalachian Power net metering work in Virginia?

The SCC maintained the current 6% limit for APCo despite the utility's request to reduce the cap on net-metered projects4. For generation exceeding your total annual consumption, the compensation rate is higher than the prior default PJM Locational Marginal Pricing rate, because it now includes the value of Renewable Energy Credits required by state law4.

Are net metering changes coming to Virginia because of the Dominion-NextEra merger?

Possibly, and in the direction of more room rather than less. Gov. Spanberger's filing asks regulators to make eliminating the rooftop solar net-metering cap a condition of approving the merger, and says the commission should reject the deal if her proposals are not substantially addressed5. That is testimony in a pending case, not a rule, and the companies expect the merger to close in the second half of 20279.

Sources

  1. Net Metering Protected in Virginia: SCC's Final Ruling on Dominion's NEM 2.0 - News - business.cvillechamber.com
  2. Virginia corporation commission approves Dominion Energy NEM 2.0 that looks very similar to NEM 1.0 - pv magazine USA - pv-magazine-usa.com
  3. Net Metering Protected: SCC Rules on Dominion NEM 2.0 in VA - virtuesolar.com
  4. Victory for Virginia Solar: APCo Net Metering Preserved! - Virtue Solar - virtuesolar.com
  5. Virginia governor lays out demands for NextEra, Dominion Energy merger - wtop.com
  6. 1 Virginia State Capitol Virginia Energy Plan - energy.virginia.gov
  7. 250510039 PUR-2025-00079 Case Number (if already assigned) Case Name (if known) - scc.virginia.gov
  8. Virginia Regulators Defend Net Metering in Dominion Territory - advancedenergyunited.org
  9. Virginia governor calls for 6-year electricity rate freeze amid potential Dominion-NextEra merger - wusa9.com
  10. Dominion-NextEra merger hits turbulence, faces opposition from Va. leaders, SCC staff • Virginia Mercury - virginiamercury.com
  11. Spanberger: Dominion-NextEra merger ‘not nearly good enough’ for Virginia - virginiascope.com
  12. Virginia wants six-year rate freeze in NextEra-Dominion deal - thestar.com.my
  13. Virginia governor seeks 6-year rate freeze if Dominion-NextEra merger is approved - utilitydive.com
  14. Virginia Net Metering: How It Works and What's Changing - solarenergyworld.com
  15. Gov. Abigail Spanberger urges State Corporation Commission to block utility merger without rate protections - thehill.com
  16. Virginia governor says will not support NextEra-Dominion merger without six-year rate freeze - seekingalpha.com
  17. Virginia Governor Demands Six-Year Rate Freeze Before Backing NextEra-Dominion Deal - briefs.co
  18. Virginia Solar Incentives (2026): Net Metering, SRECs & Tax Credits - virtuesolar.com
  19. Virginia Solar Incentives 2026: ITC, SRECs, Net Metering ... - convert-solar.com
  20. Virginia Net Metering 2026: Full Retail Credits + 25 kW Cap - mysolarfy.com

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