Net Metering - Frequently Asked Questions
Net metering is a program for customers with their own electric generation (such as solar panels). Under net metering, customers generally receive credit from MGE for their Exported Energy at the same rate at which they are billed by MGE for their Imported Energy from our community grid.
The energy produced by the solar array will get used in the home first by electric appliances or devices. The remaining energy that is not used in the home is exported to the electric grid. MGE uses a meter that can measure the amount of electricity that you export to the grid and the amount of energy that you use from the grid.
Contrary to popular belief, net metering is not a specific type of metering or installed configuration. Utilities may require different configurations but still provide the same net metering benefits. Without net metering, the typical customer receives monthly electric bills that include:
- Grid Connection and Customer Service charge
- Distribution Service charge
- Electricity Service charge
With net metering, the typical customer receives monthly electric bills that will include:
- Grid Connection and Customer Service charge
- Distribution Service charge
- Electricity Service charge
- Net Energy Exported credit for Exported Energy
Under net metering, customers are credited for Exported Energy at the same energy rates ($/kWh rates) that they purchase energy from MGE. Your credit rate may include Time-Of-Use (TOU) or Time-Of-Day (TOD) rates, if applicable. Your credit rate is not impacted by enrollment in additional services such as MGE’s Green Power Tomorrow program.
For the typical residential MGE customer, this credit rate is the sum of the Distribution Service rate, Electricity Service rate and any effective Fuel Cost Adjustment.
The following is an example of a bill with net metering with a line-by-line description of each bill
component.
A. Energy used (in kWh).
B. Exported Energy (in kWh).
C. Grid Connection and Customer Service Charge - Covers the cost of basic customer care services,
such as billing, record-keeping and information services, along with a portion of the costs of being
connected to our distribution system, including meters, poles and wires.
D. Distribution Service - Calculated based on your Imported Energy. It covers the costs of operations
and maintenance for our local delivery systems.
E. Electricity Service - Calculated based on your Imported Energy. Covers the costs to produce,
purchase and deliver electricity to our distribution system. In the example above, this is a per-kWh
charge of $0.09849 per kWh and is multiplied by the total kWh of Imported Energy (A), 495 kWh x
$0.09849/kWh = $48.75.
F. Net Energy Exported - Calculated based on your Exported Energy. This is a per-kWh credit, and it
is the same as the standard rate if the customer is not a Net Seller. The buyback rate can be
calculated by dividing the credit dollar amount by the kWh of Exported Energy (B), $54.26 / 365
kWh = $0.14866/kWh. This should equal the sum of Distribution Service, Electricity Service and
any effective Fuel Cost Adjustment.
G. State Low Income Assistance Fee - Fee paid to the State of Wisconsin. Used to provide energy
efficiency and utility bill payment assistance to low-income customers.
H. Subtotal Electric Meter - Total of charges and credits for the electric portion of your bill.
Your bill has two lines for electric meters because the meter that MGE installed for net metering is bidirectional. The billing system displays each of the meter’s directions (Exported Energy and Imported Energy) as a separate meter.
Yes. As long as your home or business is connected to MGE’s grid and receiving either electric or gas service, you will receive a monthly bill from MGE.
The credit on your bill is for Exported Energy not Gross Generation. Typically, only about 30% to 70% of your Gross Generation will be Exported Energy based on your household’s energy consumption.
Net Seller status is determined at the beginning of your billing month starting with your 13th month of net metering (you are never a Net Seller during the first 12 months of net metering). Whether or not you are a Net Seller, your Net Seller status will always be redetermined at the beginning of your next billing month. MGE will total and compare the last 12 months of your Exported and Imported Energy. If you exported more than you imported, you are a Net Seller for that month.
Please note: The Net Seller determination does not look at your previous 12 bills individually to see if you had more Exported Energy than Imported Energy. The determination is based on the total Exported Energy and total Imported Energy.
When you are a Net Seller, your credit for Exported Energy will include credit to exactly offset what you were charged for Imported Energy plus credit for your Excess Energy according to MGE’s Parallel Generation Buyback Rates. These rates only apply to your Excess Energy.
Please note: Being a Net Seller only impacts your credit rate if you also had more Exported Energy than Imported Energy on a bill. For example, if you are determined to be a Net Seller at the beginning of your October bill but during your October bill you have more Imported Energy than Exported Energy, then you will be credited for your Exported Energy as if you are not a Net Seller.
You will receive credit for all your Exported Energy, including any Excess Energy, on the bill corresponding to when that energy was exported.
It’s possible that the credit you receive for your Exported Energy will exceed the charges on your bill. In this situation, your MGE account balance will become negative. This negative balance will continue to be carried forward to future bills and offset future charges.
Your bill will show the credit you received for Exported Energy, but it will not show the entire value you received from net metering. This is because your bill does not show your Self-Consumption, which is unknown to MGE.
If you want to calculate the full value of your net metering, you must know your Gross Generation. For many customers, this can be accessed through an online tracking portal for your system, which should be provided by your solar installer. Once you know your Gross Generation for a particular billing month, you can estimate the total value of your net metering by doing the following calculation:
- Take Gross Generation and subtract Imported Energy. This is your Self-Consumption.
- Multiply your Self-Consumption by your Distribution Service rate.
- Multiply your Self-Consumption by your Electricity Service rate.
- Multiply your Self-Consumption by any applicable Fuel Cost Adjustment rate that may be in effect.
- Take the results from Numbers 2-4, and add them together along with the credit for your Exported Energy. This is the total value you received from net metering.
Instructions for downloading your MGE data are available in My Account by clicking on the “Electric Use History” tab.
MGE does not know your Gross Generation because it is not recorded by MGE’s meter. However, you still receive value for your Gross Generation even if there is not an explicit credit on your bill. Your bill includes a credit for your Exported Energy, and your Self-Consumption reduces your Imported Energy which, in turn, reduces your bill.
Potentially. If your MGE account also includes natural gas service, then it is possible for your credit to reduce your natural gas bill. This would happen if your credit is large enough to offset the electric portion of your bill.
No. MGE’s net metering program requires that any generation system enrolled in net metering be interconnected behind the meter it is being netted against.
MGE’s bi-directional meters have two channels for recording energy (kWh). Channel 1 records all Imported Energy. Channel 2 records all Exported Energy.
More specifically, at any point in time, energy is either flowing in or out of your home. The meter records which way the energy is flowing and the net amount of energy at that moment in time. If the energy is flowing into your home, then this amount is recorded in Channel 1; otherwise, it’s recorded in Channel 2.
For example, if your system has a Gross Generation of 6 kWh at that instant and your home has a Gross Consumption of 5 kWh, then the meter would record 1 kWh in Channel 2 as Exported Energy for that instant.
The next instant might have 5 kWh of Gross Generation and 6 kWh of Gross Consumption resulting in 1 kWh in Channel 1 as Imported Energy. Your bill will contain a credit for the 1 kWh from the first instant and a charge for the 1 kWh from the second instant. This charge and credit will most likely cancel one another out, but the information will still be itemized and displayed on your bill.
Understanding how the meter works is important for reconciling your bill with the information that your system may tell you. MGE’s meter only knows either the Exported Energy or Imported Energy in every instant. This means MGE does not know the Gross Generation or the Gross Consumption, which may differ from Exported Energy and energy from the grid.
You can look at the Watt Disk Emulator on your meter to determine which direction the power is flowing. Additionally, you can check your IN/OUT kWh reads. IN is Imported Energy; OUT is Exported Energy.
Questions?
If you have additional questions, please contact MGE’s Home Energy Line at (608) 252-7117 Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or email Ask the Experts at AskExperts@mge.com.