Solar in Vermont: how the rules work
How Vermont credits the power solar panels send back to the grid, what homes there pay for electricity, and what to check when a home with solar is bought or sold.
How exported power is credited
Power sent to the grid is credited at a set share of the retail rate, below what the home pays for power it buys.
Vermont net-metering 2.0 (PUC Rule 5.100) values excess generation at the statewide blended residential rate and applies negative adjustors to every kWh produced, including on-site use. For systems whose CPG application is filed on or after Aug 1, 2026, the PUC's May 29, 2026 biennial order (Case 26-0291-INV) sets the blended rate at $0.2071/kWh (up from $0.18398). Category I (up to 15 kW) rooftop gets a siting adjustor of -$0.05, worsened from -$0.04. The REC adjustor is $0.00 if RECs are transferred to the utility and -$0.04 if retained. A typical new rooftop system that transfers RECs therefore earns about $0.157 per exported kWh versus GMP's Rate 1 of $0.21457/kWh (0.73 share). A system that keeps its RECs earns about $0.117 (0.55). Adjustors are fixed at the rates in effect at application; under the rule they generally last 10 years, which the 2026 order does not restate. Earlier systems keep the adjustors set when they applied (e.g. -$0.04 siting for 2024-Jul 2026). Pre-2017 NEM 1.0 systems are on legacy terms. GMP's customer charge is about $0.626/day. On Sept 9, 2026 the PUC opened a rulemaking (Case 26-1786-RULE) to revise Rule 5.100, starting with the compensation framework (matching compensation to value, timing and location, and cost shift); the first workshop is Oct 2, 2026 and no completion date is set.
What changes for a home with solar
A savings estimate that assumes full retail credit for exported power overstates the value of that power for systems on the current rules. Power used in the home still offsets the full retail rate.
Older systems are often grandfathered on earlier, better terms for a set number of years. Which rules a particular system is on depends on its interconnection date, stated in the note above.
Electricity here costs about 23.9¢ per kWh (2026) and has risen about 2.3% a year over the last decade. A lease or PPA escalator above that pace makes the solar payment rise faster than utility rates have.
When a home with solar is sold in Vermont
- Owned outright: proof it is paid off, the warranties, and the utility’s interconnection or net-metering agreement, which has to move into the buyer’s name.
- Loan: a payoff letter, and whether the buyer can assume the loan. Many solar loans are secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing that title will find.
- Lease or PPA: the transfer process and how long approval takes, the buyer’s credit check, the current payment or rate and its yearly increase, and a buyout quote.
- Every case: whether the export-credit terms above stay with the home after the sale, and the last 12 months of production from the monitoring app.
Have the solar contract for a Vermont home?
Upload it and get a letter-graded report card: price, production, payment changes, value and transfer terms, measured against Vermont’s rates and rules.
Grade a solar contractSources
- www.revermont.org/wp-content/uploads/2026_Biennial_Final_final_v2.pdf (2026-05-29)
- puc.vermont.gov/document/2026-biennial-update-net-metering-program (2026-05-29)
- greenmountainpower.com/rates/
- puc.vermont.gov/sites/psbnew/files/documents/order-opening-nm-rulemaking-and-notice-of-wor (2026-09-09)
- Electricity prices: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B (2026) and EIA state annual averages 2014–2024
- Installed price: EnergySage marketplace, September 2026