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If you've heard the term "net metering" and wondered what it really means, now is a good time to pay attention. Net metering is the billing arrangement that lets solar homeowners send excess electricity back to the grid and receive a full credit in return. Under PSE's current program, that credit equals the full retail rate you'd otherwise pay for electricity. It is what lets you run your meter backwards with solar — and it is the policy that has made rooftop solar financially viable for many Bainbridge homeowners.
That program is now in transition. PSE officially closed Schedule 150 — the current 1:1 net metering program — to new applicants as of December 31, 2025, though it remains in place while a replacement rate structure is developed. What comes next in Kitsap County hasn't been finalized, but one possibility is that we go the way of California: back in 2023, California utilities reduced what they paid solar customers to less than the retail rate.
The good news for existing solar owners — and for those who can get panels installed before a new rate structure is approved — you're expected to be grandfathered in under current terms. For everyone else, the case for battery storage is growing: as PSE moves toward time-of-use pricing, a battery lets you use your own solar energy when grid power is most expensive, regardless of what net metering pays.
The Bainbridge Solar Collective will be tracking this policy process closely and will keep you informed as PSE develops and the UTC reviews a new rate structure.
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