Maryland Net Metering 2026: How PEPCO and BGE Customers Earn Bill Credits for Solar Energy

If you have solar panels on your home in Maryland, your utility is buying electricity from you. That is the simple version of net metering, and it is the single most valuable benefit of going solar in our state. Even now, in 2026, with the federal tax credit gone for new residential systems.

But "the utility buys electricity from you" hides a lot of detail. PEPCO does it differently from BGE. The April true-up date matters. The 2025 rule change about credit rollover changed the math for almost every Maryland homeowner. Here is how net metering actually works in 2026 for residential solar customers in Maryland and DC.

What Net Metering Actually Is

When your solar panels produce more electricity than your home is using in any given moment, say midday on a sunny April Saturday when nobody is home, that electricity flows backwards through your meter to the grid. Your meter literally spins in reverse, or in modern smart meters, registers the export as a separate line item.

Maryland law requires investor-owned utilities (PEPCO, BGE, Potomac Edison, Delmarva) to credit you for those exported kilowatt-hours at the full retail rate. The retail rate is what you pay them per kilowatt-hour for electricity. So a kilowatt-hour you send out at 1pm is worth the same as a kilowatt-hour you pull from the grid at 8pm. This 1:1 retail-rate net metering is one of the most generous policies in the country, and it is the structural reason rooftop solar pencils out in our state.

How the Credit Shows Up on Your PEPCO or BGE Bill

Your monthly utility bill changes the moment your system passes Permission to Operate. Instead of one number for kilowatt-hours used, you start seeing two:

• Energy delivered: kWh the utility sent to your home
• Energy received: kWh your solar system sent back to the grid

The difference is your net consumption. If you used 850 kWh and exported 600 kWh, you get billed for 250 kWh. If you used 500 kWh and exported 700 kWh, you get billed for 0 kWh and carry a 200 kWh credit forward to the next month.

Both PEPCO and BGE show this clearly on the bill, usually on page two. PEPCO calls the credit "NEM Banked Credit" or "NEM Carryover." BGE calls it "Net Energy Metering Credit." Same idea, different label.

What you still pay every month, even with zero net consumption, is the fixed customer charge, which runs about $9 on PEPCO residential and about $10 on BGE residential, plus any minor riders. There is no way around the fixed charge while you remain a grid-connected customer, but it is small.

The April True-Up: What It Was, and What Changed in 2025

Historically, Maryland net metering had an annual reconciliation date in April. If you had banked credits left over at that point, the utility would pay you out at a much lower wholesale rate (sometimes one-third the retail rate) and reset your balance to zero.

That changed in 2025. Maryland law now lets net-metered solar customers roll forward unused credits indefinitely rather than cash out in April. You can still elect to cash out if you want, but the default for almost every residential customer is to keep the credits in your account.

Why this matters: a typical 8 kW system on a Montgomery County or Baltimore County roof produces about 11,000 kWh per year, with 60 to 65 percent of that coming between April and September. By August, most homeowners have built up a substantial credit balance. Under the old rules, much of that summer credit would be wasted at the April true-up if winter usage did not fully draw it down. Under the new rules, those credits keep working in your favor year after year.

PEPCO vs BGE: What Is Actually Different

Most of the rules are identical. They are both regulated investor-owned utilities under the Maryland Public Service Commission, and the net metering tariff is largely standardized. But there are a few practical differences worth knowing:

Sizing Your System for Net Metering

Maryland regulations cap residential net-metered systems at the customer's annual usage. Practically, this means we look at your last 12 months of electric bills and design a system that produces between 90% and 110% of that annual kWh number.

Going beyond 110% is not impossible, but the excess production above your annual usage typically does not earn full credit value. For most DMV homeowners, the right design is one that zeroes out the energy charge on your bill across a full year, not one that overproduces.

The exception is if you are planning ahead for an EV, a heat pump replacing oil heat, or a future home addition. In those cases, oversizing slightly today is often cheaper than adding panels later.

What Net Metering Does Not Cover

Two things to keep in mind:

1. Net metering covers energy charges, not delivery or fixed charges. A typical PEPCO bill is roughly 50% generation and 50% delivery and fixed costs. Net metering eliminates the generation portion. You will still see a $25 to $40 monthly bill for delivery on most homes even with zero net usage.
2. Net metering does not include SRECs. Solar Renewable Energy Credits are a separate program. Every megawatt-hour your system produces also generates one SREC, which you can sell into the Maryland market for $40 to $80 each. SRECs and net metering credits are independent income streams, and most Maryland homeowners benefit from both.

Why Net Metering Matters More in 2026

With the federal residential tax credit gone for cash and loan purchases as of January 1, 2026, the long-term economics of going solar depend more than ever on the value of the electricity you are not buying from the utility. Net metering is what makes that value real.

Maryland's combination of full-retail-rate credits, indefinite rollover, and rising utility rates (PEPCO and BGE have both filed for further base-rate increases in 2026) means that rooftop solar still pays back in 9 to 12 years for most homeowners, even without the 30% federal credit.

Bottom Line

If you are a Maryland or DC homeowner with rooftop solar, net metering is the engine that makes the system worth owning. Read your bill, understand the difference between energy delivered and energy received, and check your banked credit balance every month. If something looks off, for example you are seeing energy charges in months when your production should have covered usage, that is usually a metering issue worth flagging to your utility.