Virginia Just Protected Net Metering — Here’s What Dominion Customers Need to Know

For months, Virginia solar homeowners and installers waited anxiously as Dominion Energy pushed for major changes to the state’s net metering program.

Early proposals suggested a future where homeowners could lose traditional 1:1 energy crediting and instead receive much lower export payments based on 30-minute billing intervals.

Now, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) has issued its final order — and the outcome is far more favorable for homeowners than many originally feared.

The Short Version

Virginia’s core net metering structure remains largely intact.

That means most homeowners going solar in Dominion territory can still offset their electric usage using the traditional annual crediting structure that has made residential solar financially attractive across Virginia for years.

While the SCC approved the creation of a new “NEM 2.0” tariff, regulators rejected several of Dominion’s most aggressive proposed changes.

Most importantly:

• The SCC did not approve Dominion’s proposed “two-channel billing” structure

• The SCC did not approve converting monthly excess generation into lower-value dollar credits

• Existing solar customers remain protected

• New customers still retain annual net metering mechanics

In simple terms:
Virginia did not move to California-style rooftop solar compensation cuts.

And that’s a very big deal.

What Dominion Originally Proposed

Dominion’s original proposal would have fundamentally changed how rooftop solar customers were credited for energy sent back to the grid.

Instead of allowing excess solar generation to offset future electricity usage over a traditional 12-month net metering period, Dominion proposed a much more granular 30-minute accounting system.

Under that structure:

• Electricity consumed from the grid would be billed at the normal retail rate

• Electricity exported back to the grid would be credited at a much lower avoided-cost rate

• Excess generation credits would effectively become monetary export credits instead of full retail energy offsets

For many homeowners, this could have significantly reduced the long-term economics of going solar.

What the SCC Actually Approved

The SCC ultimately took a far more moderate approach.

The Commission stated that while a 30-minute measurement interval could be used for data and program administration purposes, Dominion’s proposal to convert the program into a dollar-credit export system was rejected.

That distinction matters enormously.

The final order preserves the core structure of annual energy netting rather than replacing it with the much more restrictive export compensation model Dominion initially sought.

The SCC specifically declined to “reconfigure the net metering program so significantly at this time.”

That sentence may end up being one of the most important outcomes for Virginia’s residential solar market.

So… Is Solar Still Worth It in Virginia?

For many homeowners, yes.

This ruling preserves much of what has historically made Virginia solar attractive:

• Long-term utility savings

• The ability to offset annual usage

• Protection against future utility inflation

• Strong economics when systems are properly designed

However, the order also sends a clear message:

Virginia regulators are actively monitoring solar adoption levels and future cost-shifting concerns.

The SCC specifically referenced states like California and Arizona while warning that future program revisions could occur if rooftop solar penetration rises substantially.

In other words:

Net metering survived this round — but the conversation is far from over.

Existing Solar Customers Are Protected

One of the most important portions of the order is the protection granted to current net metering customers.

The SCC explicitly stated that customers already interconnected under the existing tariff may remain on their current structure.

Customers would only move to NEM 2.0 voluntarily.

That means homeowners who already installed solar systems under Virginia’s original framework retain significant long-term stability.

The Bigger Picture

This decision reinforces something many Virginians are beginning to realize:

Energy policy is changing quickly.

Utilities, regulators, and lawmakers across the country are actively reevaluating how rooftop solar integrates with the modern electric grid.

Virginia’s latest ruling shows that while the state remains supportive of distributed solar generation, future policy debates are inevitable.

For homeowners considering solar, timing still matters.

The current structure remains favorable — but as other states have shown, net metering programs can evolve quickly once adoption accelerates.

Final Thoughts

Virginia’s solar market just avoided a major turning point.

While Dominion succeeded in creating a new NEM 2.0 framework, the SCC stopped short of approving the sweeping compensation reductions many in the industry feared.

For now, traditional net metering remains alive in Virginia.

And for homeowners considering solar, that’s welcome news.