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Net Metering Program
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Vermont Electric Cooperative net metering in Vermont

Northern Vermont, including the Islands and much of the Northeast Kingdom. A member-owned cooperative operating under the same statewide net metering rule but filing its own blended rate.

Type
Cooperative
Accounts
32K

What they credit you

The rate you pay, then adjusted by your certificate

Published terms

VEC credits a month’s excess generation at the kilowatt hour rate you pay for electricity, 23.483 cents above the first 100 kWh, and the siting and REC adjustors in your certificate of public good move it up or down. Credits expire after twelve months.

Month to month
Credits carry forward and expire after twelve months.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Installers serving VEC 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 VEC 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 VEC bill

An average Vermont 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$140.29
$140.29
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 41766 kilowatt hours. A 574 kilowatt hour month against 734 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 160 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $140.29 to $0.00 at 24.44 cents per kilowatt hour.

Vermont average household use, 574 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 24.44¢ 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.

VEC requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in VEC territory.

VEC does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.

That does not make solar a bad idea in VEC territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.

Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Vermont sets your credit in your own certificate of public good, including the siting and certificate adjusters, so two identical systems can be paid differently. Read the certificate before you read the quote. VEC sets its own limits. Ask VEC what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.

A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.

So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in VEC territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.

Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement

What your installer should be telling you

For the first ten years after commissioning, credits can pay any charge on the bill, the $22.97 customer charge included; after that they cannot touch the customer charge or the other non-bypassable charges. Ask which adjustors your certificate carries.

What VEC 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
$22.97 a month, which is also the minimum
How it is set
Service Classification #1 sets a Customer Charge of $22.97 a month (Fifth Revised Sheet No. 58, effective 1 January 2026), and “The minimum charge under this schedule for all or part of a monthly billing period shall be the monthly customer charge.” Energy is priced in inclining blocks, 11.635 cents for the first 100 kilowatt hours and 23.483 cents above that, before the energy efficiency charge. A second residential meter at the same home costs $7.47 a month; VEC says a solar production meter does not count as one. VEC’s net metering tariff (effective 1 August 2026) is unusual in what credits may pay for. For the first ten years after a system is commissioned, credits can be applied “to any charges on the customer’s bill irrespective of whether that charge is a Non-Bypassable Charge”, the customer charge included; after ten years they no longer offset the customer charge, the energy efficiency charge, on-bill financing or equipment rentals. A month’s excess is credited at the kilowatt hour rate you pay, credits expire after twelve months, and the siting and REC adjustors in your certificate of public good apply to every kilowatt hour on the production meter.

Vermont Electric Cooperative, Vermont P.U.C. No. 15: Service Classification #1, Residential Rate, Fifth Revised Sheet No. 58, effective 1 January 2026; Self Generation and Net Metering, Original Sheet Nos. 55FFF and 55GGG, effective 1 August 2026 · checked 2026-10-01 · source

VEC net metering questions

Does VEC offer one for one net metering?
No. VEC credits a month’s excess generation at the kilowatt hour rate you pay for electricity, 23.483 cents above the first 100 kWh, and the siting and REC adjustors in your certificate of public good move it up or down. Credits expire after twelve months.
What does VEC pay for power sent back to the grid?
The rate you pay, then adjusted by your certificate. Credits carry forward and expire after twelve months.
Do I need a battery with VEC?
Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because VEC does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in VEC territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
How do I find my VEC bill?
Sign in at vermontelectric.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 VEC?
For the first ten years after commissioning, credits can pay any charge on the bill, the $22.97 customer charge included; after that they cannot touch the customer charge or the other non-bypassable charges. Ask which adjustors your certificate carries.