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Net Metering Program
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Appalachian Power net metering in Virginia

Western and southwestern Virginia, including Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg and Bristol. An American Electric Power utility. Residential customers here have not faced the net metering standby charge since a prohibition took effect on 1 July 2020.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
540K

What they credit you

Retail all year, and no standby charge

Published terms

Optional Rider N.M.S. nets kilowatt hours at the retail rate through your twelve month net metering year and carries credits forward. The surplus at the end is bought at the PJM AEP Zone annual average wholesale price, but only under a power purchase agreement requested in writing before the year began.

Month to month
Excess in a billing period is carried forward and credited against positive usage in later periods, by time of use tier where that applies.
Once a year
Annual, at the PJM AEP Zone day-ahead annual simple average LMP, paid within 30 days of the later of the year end or PJM publishing the figure.

Published terms · checked 2026-09-21 · source

Installers serving Appalachian Power 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 Appalachian Power territory. Bold Energy is listed first because it is the company we introduce first. That order is our choice, not a score. The other companies are 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 Appalachian Power bill

An average Virginia 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$177.71
$177.71
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 41638 kilowatt hours. A 1,032 kilowatt hour month against 1,320 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 288 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $177.71 to $0.00 at 17.22 cents per kilowatt hour.

Virginia average household use, 1,032 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 17.22¢ 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

Request the power purchase agreement in writing before your first net metering year starts. The rider is explicit that without a signed agreement you "shall receive no compensation from the Company for any Excess Generation", and it cannot be backdated. Size to your last twelve months of use, because Appalachian caps the array at 100 percent of it rather than Dominion’s 150 percent.

What Appalachian Power 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
$7.96 a month
How it is set
Residential Standard, Schedule 15, carries a Monthly Basic Service Charge of $7.96 on Tariff Sheet 50, with generation, distribution and thirteen separate riders charged per kWh on top of what you use. The sheet this is read from is Appalachian Power’s own published schedule of charges and it carries the company’s note that the assembled totals on it are illustrative; the basic service charge itself is a fixed tariff figure.

Schedule 15, Tariff Sheet 50, charges dated 27 May 2026 · checked 2026-09-18 · source

Applying to Appalachian Power

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

Nothing is paid for your annual surplus unless you ask first
Both tariffs sell your year-end surplus only under a power purchase agreement, and both require the written request "prior to the beginning of the Net Metering Period". Appalachian Power states the consequence outright: "absent a signed power purchase agreement as outlined above, [the Customer] shall receive no compensation from the Company for any Excess Generation." Miss the request and a year of surplus is simply kept. Ask for the power purchase agreement in writing before your system is switched on.
The price is a PJM wholesale index for the AEP Zone
Optional Rider N.M.S. obliges Appalachian Power to buy your surplus "at a price equal to the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) day-ahead annual, simple average LMP (locational marginal price) or in the case of time-of-use Customers, the simple average of hourly LMP’s by tiers, for the AEP Zone". Full payment comes annually, within 30 days of the later of the year end or PJM publishing the figure.
Your roof is capped at 100 percent of your own usage, not 150
Appalachian limits a generator "to an annual energy output no greater than your previous 12 months electrical energy consumption". Dominion allows 150 percent of the same figure, so an identical house on the other side of the territory line may be permitted a meaningfully larger array.
Inside the year it is genuine retail netting
Rider N.M.S.: in a billing period where net energy is zero or negative, "the Customer shall pay only the non-usage sensitive charges, including any applicable standby charges". The excess is carried forward and credited against later positive usage rather than paid out.
No residential standby charge here
The standby charge that applies above 20 kW in Dominion territory has been prohibited for Appalachian Power residential customers since 1 July 2020. It is the one respect in which this is the better of the two Virginia territories.
Your net metering year starts on your own anniversary
The Net Metering Period is "each successive 12 month period beginning with the first meter reading date following the date of interconnection". It is not the calendar year, so the date your surplus is settled and the deadline for the power purchase agreement both depend on when you switched on.
A $50 inspection fee, and insurance for as long as you stay connected
Appalachian: "An inspection fee of $50 is required for any non-inverter based system or an inverter based system greater than 10 kW AC. You must carry liability insurance while interconnected." Submit the fee with sections 1 to 4 of Form NMIN, before you commit to a purchase.
The statute you are reading may not be the one you apply under
The version of § 56-594 published by the Virginia law site carries the note "Effective January 1, 2027", following amendment by HB 1255. Confirm with your utility which version governs an application filed today.
Residential systems are capped at 25 kW
The section limits an eligible residential facility to "not more than 25 kilowatts for residential customers". That is generous by national standards.
But the standby charge starts at 20 kW, not 25
A facility "with an aggregate nameplate capacity that exceeds 20 kilowatts of alternating current shall pay to its supplier ... a monthly standby charge", in Phase II Utility territory. In practice that makes 20 kW the number to design against.
The program has a ceiling, and part of it is reserved
The aggregate cap is "six percent, in the aggregate, five percent of which is available to all customers and one percent of which is available only to low-income utility customers". If you qualify as low income, you are competing for a separate and less crowded allocation.
Cooperatives are a different statute with a different cap
Electric cooperative territories run under § 56-594.01, with caps of 2% of the co-op’s system peak for residential customers, 2% for not-for-profit customers and 1% for other businesses, which a co-op board may raise. If your provider is a co-op, the section above is not the one that governs you.
What excess is worth is set by tariff, not by the statute
The supplier purchases excess electricity "at the rate that is provided for such purchases in a net metering standard contract or tariff approved by the Commission". At both investor owned utilities that tariff turns out to price it at a PJM wholesale index rather than at retail.
You can make them tell you how much of the cap is left
Dominion’s tariff: "Upon request by the Customer, the Company will provide to the Customer the amount of capacity still available for interconnection." Neither company publishes the figure, but you are entitled to ask for it, and it is the number that decides whether you can join at all.
There is a $50 inspection fee once you pass 10 kW AC
Both utilities charge $50 to inspect the inverter settings of a system above 10 kW AC, or any non-inverter system. Appalachian Power also requires you to carry liability insurance for as long as you stay interconnected.

From Appalachian Power’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-21 · source

Appalachian Power net metering questions

Does Appalachian Power offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Optional Rider N.M.S. nets kilowatt hours at the retail rate through your twelve month net metering year and carries credits forward. The surplus at the end is bought at the PJM AEP Zone annual average wholesale price, but only under a power purchase agreement requested in writing before the year began. Excess in a billing period is carried forward and credited against positive usage in later periods, by time of use tier where that applies.
What does Appalachian Power pay for power sent back to the grid?
Retail all year, and no standby charge. Annual, at the PJM AEP Zone day-ahead annual simple average LMP, paid within 30 days of the later of the year end or PJM publishing the figure.
Do I need a battery with Appalachian Power?
Not for the economics. Appalachian Power 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 Appalachian Power bill?
Sign in at appalachianpower.com. 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 Appalachian Power?
Request the power purchase agreement in writing before your first net metering year starts. The rider is explicit that without a signed agreement you "shall receive no compensation from the Company for any Excess Generation", and it cannot be backdated. Size to your last twelve months of use, because Appalachian caps the array at 100 percent of it rather than Dominion’s 150 percent.