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

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 1:1 kilowatt-hour value of net metering for solar customers across Dominion territory.
 

The ruling closes out nearly a year of hearings, expert testimony, and public comment that drew attention from solar advocates statewide. Dominion had proposed four major changes to the net metering program: 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' solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) without compensation, and adding application fees ranging from $100 to $750 per customer.
 

The SCC declined to approve the changes that would have most significantly reduced the financial return on residential solar installations in Virginia.

Under the final order, net metering credits will continue to be tracked in kilowatt-hours rather than converted to dollar values at each 30-minute interval — a distinction the Commission described as essential to avoiding a de facto buy/sell arrangement. The 1:1 offset structure, under which a kilowatt-hour exported during the day cancels out a kilowatt-hour drawn from the grid at night, remains intact for all customers. SRECs remain the property of the customer who generates them.

The SCC did approve a new "NEM 2.0" tariff structure that applies to customers who interconnect after the order takes effect. Those customers will be subject to a $1 per month administrative charge and will have any true excess generation at year-end compensated at $0.05829/kWh — a rate the Commission set slightly above Dominion's proposal by including a $0.01/kWh credit for avoided Renewable Portfolio Standard compliance costs. Existing solar customers are fully grandfathered under their current net metering agreements and are not required to make any changes.
 

Virtue Solar, a Charlottesville-based solar installation company serving residential and commercial solar customers across Virginia, published a detailed analysis of the ruling, including a breakdown of what was approved, what was rejected, and what the changes mean for both prospective and existing solar customers. The full article is available at Net Metering Protected in Virginia: SCC's Final Ruling on Dominion's NEM 2.0.

The ruling is relevant to homeowners and businesses throughout Dominion's Virginia service territory, which covers the majority of the state's population. Dominion's original NEM 2.0 proposal, filed in 2025, had raised concern among solar advocates that the combined effect of its changes would make distributed solar economically unworkable for most residential customers.
 

The new $0.05829/kWh year-end cash-out rate applies only to generation that exceeds total annual consumption — a threshold most homeowners with properly sized systems will rarely reach. The $1 monthly administrative fee amounts to $12 per year and does not materially alter the financial case for going solar in Virginia.
 

For Virginians who delayed a solar decision while waiting for the SCC's ruling, Virtue Solar notes that the regulatory environment is now settled. The company offers free solar assessments for homeowners and businesses interested in understanding whether solar makes financial sense for their property.
 

Virtue Solar is based in Charlottesville, Va., and installs solar energy systems for residential and commercial customers throughout Virginia, including the Piedmont, Shenandoah Valley, Richmond, and Lynchburg regions.