Net Metering by State: Ranked by Homes on Net Metering Today

A home with solar panels makes power when the sun shines and uses power when it needs it. Net metering is a billing arrangement that credits the home for power it sends to the grid. The details of the credit, such as whether it is at the full retail price or at a lower export rate, are set by each state or utility. Our guide to net metering explains the credit types.

The federal homeowner tax credit for solar ended for expenditures after December 31, 2025, which makes the credit your utility gives for exports a bigger part of the math. See solar incentives for what remains.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 (final 2025 data), net metering file, residential. Per 1,000 homes uses residential customers from the same survey. Capacity is the reported sum of residential systems. Kilowatts per customer is capacity divided by customers.

• It counts net metering customers only. Some solar homes are on other export arrangements, and EIA tracks those in a separate file. A state with a newer rule may look smaller here than its solar count.
• It does not rank savings. A high count shows how many homes use the arrangement, not how much each one saves.
• Reporting depends on the utility. Cooperatives and city utilities report too, but their programs differ.
• System size is an average. Kilowatts per customer is a ratio of two reported totals, so one large site can move a small state.

The states with the most homes on net metering per 1,000 were Hawaii, California, Nevada, Arizona, Connecticut.

The kilowatts per customer column is the reported capacity divided by the number of customers, so it estimates the typical system size in each state. The five states with the largest average systems were Maine (46.6 kW), Indiana (21.3 kW), Vermont (18.2 kW), Arkansas (17.4 kW), North Dakota (16.0 kW). The smallest were Alaska (6.0 kW), Louisiana (6.4 kW), Colorado (6.5 kW).

Size differs for reasons that have little to do with a state's sunshine: the age of its systems, the price of a kilowatt hour, how much roof space homes have and whether the utility credits exports at the full retail price. A state with older systems will often show smaller averages, because panels installed years ago were smaller. If you are sizing a system, look at your own use, not the state average, and use the solar savings calculator to see how size and export credit interact.

1. Do you offer net metering, and is it open to new customers?
2. What credit do I get for power I send out: the full retail price, or a lower export rate?
3. Do credits carry over from month to month, and do they expire?
4. Is there a fee, a minimum bill or a rate plan I must use?
5. What happens to my credit if the rules change after I install?

Then price the system with your own numbers in the solar savings calculator, which lets you set the retail and export prices separately.

Source: Federal dates and program rules were read on October 10, 2026 from the sources at the end of the page. Rebate programs open, change and close often, so confirm every offer with the program before you buy. This is not tax or financial advice.

• U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 (final 2025 data)
• IRS FS-2025-05, FAQs on sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D after Public Law 119-21 (Aug. 21, 2025)
• DSIRE, Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency