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Net Metering Program
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Delaware Electric Cooperative net metering in Delaware

Kent and Sussex counties, including much of southern Delaware and the beach towns. A member-owned cooperative that writes its own net metering rider under the state statute.

Type
Cooperative
Accounts
110K

What they credit you

Full per kWh rate; year-end carryover due by December 2026

Published terms

Under Schedule NEM, a month’s excess becomes kilowatt hour credits valued at the per kWh distribution and supply charges, offsetting later usage. Credits never reduce the $28.00 service charge. The rider says unused credits end with the 12-month annualized billing period; a 2025 law requires them to carry over, with billing changes due by 1 December 2026.

Month to month
Credits carry to later bills, and under the 2025 law from one 12-month period to the next.
Once a year
None is paid. The rider says credits left at the end of the 12-month period are not paid or credited; the 2025 law says they carry over.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Installers serving DEC customers

Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.

Not sure which to choose?

These are real companies operating in DEC territory, ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.

Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.

Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.

What this looks like on a DEC bill

An average Delaware household, against a system sized to cover its year. The energy charge is the part that goes to zero. The fixed monthly charge underneath it is the part that never does, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

Meter readingkWh
Energy charge$175.73
$175.73
We have read this provider’s own tariff. What it still bills you at zero is set out below, with the sheet it came from. The energy line above uses the statewide average. See what they still bill
DirectionReading…

Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41672 kilowatt hours. A 911 kilowatt hour month against 1,165 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 254 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $175.73 to $0.00 at 19.29 cents per kilowatt hour.

Delaware average household use, 911 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 19.29¢ per kWh. Your utility still bills a fixed monthly customer charge that no system offsets, so this is the energy part of the bill, which is the part that goes away.

What your installer should be telling you

Ask the co-op in writing how it will treat credits left at the end of your 12-month period, and whether it still applies the rider’s 110% sizing limit. Time of use members on Beat the Peak cannot take net metering.

What DEC bills you anyway

In a month when your production covers everything you use, the energy charge can reach zero. This does not. It is the floor under every bill, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

The charge
$28.00 a month
How it is set
Residential Service Schedule R sets a Service Charge of $28.00 a month, effective with meter readings on and after 1 July 2024, and “The minimum charge shall be the Service Charge.” Energy adds a distribution charge of 2.14 cents a kilowatt hour and the Renewable Resource Fund of 0.0178 cents, then supply at 10.16 cents for the first 700 kilowatt hours and 8.16 cents above, with a power cost adjustment of 1.2161 cents. The optional Beat the Peak time of use schedule has a $30.00 service charge and cannot be combined with net metering. Under the Net Energy Metering Rider, Schedule NEM, a home system may be up to 25 kW AC and designed to produce no more than 110% of average use over the previous two years. A month’s excess is credited in kilowatt hours valued at the per kilowatt hour distribution and supply charges, and the rider says credits “shall not reduce any fixed monthly Member charges”, so the $28.00 is paid every month. The rider, last revised in August 2024, says credits are used until the end of the 12-month annualized billing period and are not paid or credited after it; a 2025 law (SB 175) requires them to carry over instead, with billing changes due by 1 December 2026.

Delaware Electric Cooperative, Inc. Tariff (revised June 2026): Residential Service Schedule R, Leaf Nos. 47 and 48, effective with meter readings on and after 1 July 2024; Residential Beat the Peak TOU Schedule R-BTP, Leaf Nos. 49 and 50; Net Energy Metering Rider Schedule NEM, Leaf Nos. 78 and 79, adopted 21 August 2024; Section 18, Small Power Production; 85 Del. Laws c. 83 (SB 175) · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to DEC

What DEC itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.

Full per kWh value for excess, at every utility
Delaware law credits a month’s excess in kilowatt hours, valued at the per kWh supply and delivery charges on your rate, at Delmarva Power, Delaware Electric Cooperative and the municipal utilities alike. The fixed monthly charge is paid either way.
Unused credits no longer have to expire
Until 2025 the law sent a year’s unused credits back to the utility at the end of each 12-month period. SB 175 (85 Del. Laws c. 83) carries them over instead and gives utilities until 1 December 2026 to change their billing. Both utilities’ published tariffs still describe the old forfeiture, so ask how your credits will be handled.
The 110% limit is now in the tariffs, not the law
The same law deleted the rule that a system be designed to produce no more than 110% of average use over the previous two years. Delmarva’s and the cooperative’s tariffs still contain it, so bring two years of bills, and ask how a planned electric car or heat pump will be counted.
Ask which utility you are actually on
Delmarva also serves Maryland, under different state law. The rules described here are the Delaware ones.

From DEC’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-01 · source

DEC net metering questions

Does DEC offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Under Schedule NEM, a month’s excess becomes kilowatt hour credits valued at the per kWh distribution and supply charges, offsetting later usage. Credits never reduce the $28.00 service charge. The rider says unused credits end with the 12-month annualized billing period; a 2025 law requires them to carry over, with billing changes due by 1 December 2026. Credits carry to later bills, and under the 2025 law from one 12-month period to the next.
What does DEC pay for power sent back to the grid?
Full per kWh rate; year-end carryover due by December 2026. None is paid. The rider says credits left at the end of the 12-month period are not paid or credited; the 2025 law says they carry over.
Do I need a battery with DEC?
Not for the economics. DEC credits exports at the retail rate, so power you send out during the day comes back at the same value after dark without storage. A battery is still worth considering for outages during hurricane season, but it is an upgrade here rather than a requirement.
How do I find my DEC bill?
Sign in at delaware.coop. Open My Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
What is the catch with DEC?
Ask the co-op in writing how it will treat credits left at the end of your 12-month period, and whether it still applies the rider’s 110% sizing limit. Time of use members on Beat the Peak cannot take net metering.