Net Metering by State: Full-Retail vs Net Billing (2026 Table)

Net metering is fifty different policies wearing one name. The table below calls each state what it actually is — with the program, the date, and the primary source — so a quote’s “net metering” claim can be checked in one line.

All 51 jurisdictions

Rows marked (verify) carry a low-confidence flag in our records — the classification is our best read of the primary document, and the source link is the place to confirm. Where the export column shows — the rule publishes no single statewide rate; this site’s model then uses the disclosed default shares (30% of retail for net billing, 25% for avoided cost) rather than pretending to precision.

How to read the four regimes

Full retail — every exported kWh is credited at the same rate you’d pay to buy it. The simplest regime and, all else equal, the fastest payback: a kWh sent out is worth exactly what a kWh pulled in costs.

Net billing — exports are credited below retail, at a published per-kWh figure or, where none exists, at an assumed share of retail stated plainly on this site. Every exported kWh is worth less than a retail kWh, which slows payback even when the sun and the rate are both good.

Avoided cost — exports are credited near what the utility would have paid to generate or buy that power itself, generally the lowest of the compensated regimes.

None — no export compensation. The economics only work through self-consumption or a battery; sending power to the grid for free is the honest baseline.

Why the regime moves payback more than sunshine

A state with mediocre sun and full-retail exports routinely beats a sunnier state stuck on avoided cost, because payback is a dollar question first — the site’s own 50-state payback ranking shows it directly: New York’s high rate plus full-retail exports outpaces sunnier, cheaper-power states by a wide margin. For your own roof, state pricing plus the savings calculator runs the number under your state’s actual rule, and net metering, explained covers the billing mechanics.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

Where to go next

• Solar panel cost by state — Local pricing and payback under each state’s actual regime.
• Net metering, explained — How each regime is structured and billed, mechanically.
• 2026 solar savings calculator — Run your own roof against your state’s real export rule.