Net Metering Protected in Virginia: SCC's Final Ruling on Dominion's NEM 2.0

Last May, I wrote about Dominion’s NEM 2.0 proposal and what it would have meant for Virginia solar. The short version: it was bad. Dominion wanted to slash the value of every kilowatt-hour your panels produce, claim ownership of your renewable energy credits (SRECs), charge you new application fees, and fundamentally change how net metering works.

After almost a year of hearings, expert testimony, public comments, and hard work from advocates across the state, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) issued its final ruling on April 30, 2026.

The headline: net metering in Virginia is protected.

The core 1:1 value of solar — the thing that actually makes residential solar save you money — survived. Dominion got a few small concessions, but the major changes that would have hurt homeowners and small businesses were rejected outright.

If you’ve been on the fence about going solar in Dominion territory, or worried about your existing system, you can take a breath and relax, because solar was fully protected.

The Quick Take

If you’re considering going solar: Solar in Dominion territory still makes great financial sense. The SCC preserved the 1:1 value of every kilowatt-hour your panels produce, and your SRECs still belong to you. New customers will be on a “NEM 2.0” tariff with a small $1/month administrative fee and a slightly different rate for any year-end excess generation — but the fundamentals are intact.

If you already have solar: Nothing changes for you. You’re fully grandfathered into your existing net metering agreement. You have the option to switch to NEM 2.0 at your discretion (you probably won’t want to), but otherwise stay put and keep saving.

Now let me dig into what actually happened, because the order is dense and there’s nuance worth understanding.

What Was at Stake

For a refresher, Dominion’s NEM 2.0 proposal had four main components, all of which would have hurt solar customers:

1. Switch from annual to “real-time” (30-minute) netting, so your midday solar production wouldn’t bank against your evening energy use at the same value
2. Pay solar customers a much lower “Export Credit Rate” of about $0.0955/kWh for exported energy, instead of the retail rate of around $0.15/kWh
3. Take ownership of customers’ SRECs without paying for them and use them toward Dominion’s own RPS compliance
4. Charge new application fees of $100–$750 plus a $1/month administrative fee

Each piece on its own would have been damaging. Together, they would have made residential solar economically unworkable for most Virginians in Dominion territory.

What the SCC Approved

The SCC’s final order reshapes Dominion net metering in three small ways for new customers — but leaves the core intact. Let’s start with what changed.

A New “NEM 2.0” Tariff for New Interconnections

The SCC approved a NEM 2.0 tariff that will apply to new solar customers who interconnect after the order takes effect. Existing customers are not affected (more on that below).

30-Minute Interval Measurement — But annual netting remains

Dominion wanted to measure your solar production and grid usage every 30 minutes and convert any excess production into a dollar value at the lower Export Credit Rate at the end of each interval. That would have effectively gutted net metering — your midday solar production would be worth pennies, while the energy you pulled from the grid in the evening would be charged at the full retail rate.

The SCC approved 30-minute interval measurement, saying that the data may be useful, but rejected the 30-minute netting, as it effectively would have created a buy/sell arrangement. The order is explicit: credits will remain as kilowatt-hours, not dollars.

By keeping credits in kWh, the 1:1 value of your solar energy is preserved. When you export a kWh during the day and later pull a kWh from the grid at night, those still cancel each other out. The 30-minute interval becomes a measurement and reporting tool — useful for tracking program impact — but not a mechanism to slash solar’s value.

The order specifically states the Commission “declines to reconfigure the net metering program so significantly at this time.” Industry consensus — including from SEIA, Solar United Neighbors, and Virginia’s distributed solar advocates — is that monthly rollover and annual true-up are preserved.

Compensation for Net Excess Generation: $0.05829/kWh

If you produce more energy over an entire year than you consume, the leftover gets “cashed out” at the end of your annual netting period. Under NEM 2.0, that cash-out rate is set at $0.05829/kWh.

Notably, the SCC actually pushed this rate slightly higher than Dominion proposed by including a $0.01/kWh credit for avoided RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) compliance costs — recognizing that net metering reduces Dominion’s own compliance burden.

This rate only applies to true excess generation at the end of the year — not to your day-to-day energy banking. As long as your system is sized appropriately (which is what we do at Virtue), this rate will rarely come into play for most homeowners.

A $1/Month Administrative Charge

NEM 2.0 customers will pay a $1 per month administrative fee. The SCC approved this as a placeholder until the actual administrative costs are quantified in more detail. It’s a small enough number that it doesn’t meaningfully change the economics of going solar — about $12 a year.

What the SCC Rejected

Now for the wins — and there are a lot of them.

Dollar-Based Credit Carryover: Rejected

As covered above, the SCC rejected Dominion’s proposal to convert your excess production into dollars at the end of every 30-minute interval. This was the single biggest threat to Virginia solar economics, and it’s gone.

Application Fees of $100–$750: Rejected

Dominion wanted to charge new solar customers an upfront application fee — $100 for systems under 250 kW, or $750 for larger systems — just to start the interconnection process. The SCC denied this entirely. Applying for interconnection still costs nothing.

Dominion Claiming Your SRECs: Rejected

This was a particularly egregious part of Dominion’s proposal — they wanted to claim ownership of the renewable energy credits your system generates, even though they aren’t paying a penny toward your panels. The SCC saw through this and denied the request, explicitly recognizing that “the Company does not own the RECs created by customer generators.”

Your SRECs remain your property. You can register and sell them for additional income — typically a few hundred dollars per year for a residential system.

Reducing the 6% Aggregate Cap: Unchanged

The 6% aggregate cap on net metering participation in Virginia remains in place. With participation still well under that 6% cap, there’s substantial room for the program to grow before any cap concerns become relevant.

What This Means for You

Here’s how the new Virginia net metering rules for 2026 apply to you.

If You’re Considering Going Solar

The economics of solar in Dominion territory are essentially unchanged. Your panels still offset your electric bill on a 1:1 basis. Your SRECs are still yours. You’ll pay an extra $1/month if you connect under NEM 2.0, and any extreme year-end over-production gets cashed out at $0.05829/kWh. None of this materially changes the value proposition.

The federal residential tax credit expired at the end of 2025, which has created headwinds for residential solar nationally. But with strong net metering preserved in Virginia — and electricity rates rising fast due to data center demand on Dominion’s grid — solar still makes financial sense for most homeowners. We’re now offering third-party ownership (TPO) options for homeowners who want to go solar without needing an upfront tax credit.

If You Already Have Solar

The order is explicit: “Nothing in the Commission’s final order shall affect any eligible customer-generators… who interconnect before the effective date of such final order.”

You are fully grandfathered. Your existing net metering agreement is preserved indefinitely. The only reason to switch to NEM 2.0 would be if it ever became more favorable for you, which the order allows at your discretion. For nearly all existing customers, the answer is simple: stay put.

If You’re a Low-Income Customer

The SCC included an important protection here: low-income customers can interconnect under whichever tariff — Legacy NEM or NEM 2.0 — is more financially favorable to their situation. This helps ensure solar remains accessible to the households who would benefit most from energy bill savings.

Looking Ahead

This ruling follows the SCC’s similar protection of APCo net metering last September — making it two-for-two on Virginia’s biggest investor-owned utilities trying, and failing, to gut net metering.

Net metering policy is never truly settled. The SCC noted that as solar adoption grows in Virginia, the program will likely need to be revisited — particularly as time-of-use rates roll out across Dominion’s customer base. We’ll continue to advocate for fair, value-based net metering policies that fully recognize the benefits solar provides to all utility customers, not just those who install it.

But for now: Let’s celebrate! This is a huge win for Virginia solar. The SCC carefully evaluated the evidence, listened to thousands of public comments and dozens of expert witnesses, and ultimately rejected the most damaging parts of Dominion’s proposal. Thanks to all who wrote in, gave testimony, and fought for solar here in Virginia.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been waiting on solar because you were worried Dominion was going to gut net metering — the worry is over. The 1:1 value of solar in Virginia is intact. New customers will see minor changes (a small admin fee, a slightly different year-end cash-out rate), but the fundamentals that make solar a smart financial decision are all preserved.

If you’d like to talk through what this means for your specific home or business, reach out for a free solar quote. We’ll model your savings, walk through equipment options, and give you a transparent quote — no high-pressure sales, just honest answers from a team that’s been doing this in Virginia since 2015.

You can read the full SCC final order on the State Corporation Commission’s website (Case No. PUR-2025-00079). And if you missed our original breakdown of what Dominion was proposing, you can find that right here.