What does Appalachian Power pay for power sent back to the grid?

About 12.4 cents, since the window closed. Per the utility’s net metering tariff.

Do I need a battery with Appalachian Power?

Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Appalachian Power 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 Appalachian Power territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility 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.

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Appalachian Power

Southern and central West Virginia, including Charleston, Huntington, Beckley and Bluefield. An American Electric Power company. It also serves Virginia, under different rules, and its West Virginia grandfathering window closed in 2026.

Type: Investor owned
Accounts: 450K

What they credit you

About 12.4 cents, since the window closed

Published terms

Full retail one for one crediting closed to new applications on 1 March 2026. Residential systems installed after the grandfathering window are reported to be credited at around 12.4 cents per excess kilowatt hour.

Month to month: Per the utility’s net metering tariff.

Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source

Appalachian Power requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in Appalachian Power territory.

Appalachian Power 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 Appalachian Power 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. West Virginia’s two utility families pay very differently, and Appalachian Power’s better rate closed to new applications in March 2026, so the design question here starts with which company and which application date. Appalachian Power sets its own limits. Ask Appalachian Power 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 Appalachian Power 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

Confirm which arrangement your application falls under, and get the current excess credit rate in writing. The 12.4 cent figure is reported rather than read from a tariff.

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.

The full retail window closed on 1 March 2026: That was the deadline to file a net metering application in order to fall under full retail one for one crediting, with orders of completion required by 1 September 2026 for residential customers. Both dates have now passed.
What new residential systems get instead: Reported at around 12.4 cents per excess kilowatt hour. Lower than retail, but far better than the avoided cost rates at the FirstEnergy companies in the same state.
If you applied before the deadline, the date is the asset: Anyone with an application filed and completed inside the window holds a materially better arrangement than anyone applying now. Keep the paperwork.
Do not read the Virginia rules across: The same company serves Virginia under a completely different statutory framework, including an aggregate cap and a standby charge that do not exist here.

From Appalachian Power’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source