Eversource (MA) solar export rate
What Eversource (MA) pays for power exported from rooftop solar in Massachusetts, with the source and the date it was checked.
No single rate — formula based
Formula varies by customer/facility: standard solar generally 100% of applicable basic-service + distribution + transmission + transition kWh charges; new solar generally 60% market credit; qualifying public-entity cases can receive 100%.
Eversource (MA) · Massachusetts
Eversource identifies its Massachusetts Net Metering Tariff, Schedule Z, and interconnection application as the governing documents; Eversource serves regulated Massachusetts customers covered by the DPU program.
Source: eversource.com · mass.gov
Full Eversource (MA) detail →Massachusetts rules that apply to Eversource (MA)
The state framework sets the default. Where Eversource (MA) pays something different, the utility tariff governs and is what the card above reports.
| Compensation mechanism | Retail-style net metering credits under 220 CMR 18.00 and utility tariffs. Standard solar credits are generally 100% of the applicable basic service, distribution, transmission, and transition kWh charges; new solar and qualifying cap-exempt serving-on-site-load facilities generally receive 60% market net metering credits, while qualifying municipal/governmental facilities can receive 100% market credits. SMART incentive payments are separate from net metering; a facility cannot generate SMART alternative on-bill credits and net metering credits simultaneously. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For ordinary qualifying solar, the standard credit is 100% × excess kWh × (basic service + distribution + transmission + transition charges); for new solar and qualifying cap-exempt serving-on-site-load facilities, the market credit is generally 60% × excess kWh × those same charges. Qualifying municipal/governmental new-solar facilities receive 100% of those charges. Rates vary by utility, rate class, ISO-NE load zone, and time of use. |
| Rate effective | The applicable utility tariff and current utility rate schedule in effect for each billing period; the cited National Grid net-metering tariff is M.D.P.U. No. 1625 effective March 1, 2026, and the Unitil Schedule NM is the utility tariff governing its credits. Credit inputs change with approved basic-service and delivery rates. |
| Credit rollover | Unused net metering credits carry forward from billing period to billing period; DPU says credits generally never expire. A cap-exempt facility serving on-site load is instead subject to the annual cash-out/carry-over rule described below. |
| Credit expiration | Credits generally never expire. The principal exception is a cap-exempt facility serving on-site load, for which credits are cashed out or carried over at the end of the annual April-through-March period at the utility's avoided-cost rate. |
| Annual true-up | No annual true-up for ordinary net-metered facilities; balances roll forward. For a cap-exempt facility serving on-site load, the annual reconciliation/cash-out occurs at the end of March for the April-through-March period. |
| Aggregate program cap | General-program caps are utility-territory-specific and split into private (7% of highest historical peak load) and public (8%) allocations. As of December 2024: Eversource 408.24 MW private / 466.56 MW public; National Grid Massachusetts Electric 359.191 / 410.504 MW; National Grid Nantucket 4.069 / 4.650 MW; Unitil 7.167 / 8.191 MW. Cap-exempt facilities are excluded from aggregate-cap calculations. |
| Program status | The DPU guide publishes the general-program caps as of December 2024 but does not state that all four utility territories' caps are reached. New non-cap-exempt projects must obtain a MassACA cap allocation; cap-exempt facilities can net meter even when the relevant cap is full. MassACA is the live source for current connected/requested capacity and remaining space. |
| Grandfathering | A solar facility that is not a new solar facility generally receives standard credits for 25 years from the date it was first authorized to interconnect; after 25 years it receives market credits. Facilities with cap allocations under the pre-September 26, 2016 regime and granted by January 8, 2017 have the statutory historical treatment described in the utility tariffs; nameplate cap-exempt facilities are not subject to the same cap-allocation requirement. |
| Regulator | Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) |
| Governing rule | G.L. c. 164, §§ 138-140; 220 CMR 18.00; and each DPU-approved utility net-metering tariff. The current National Grid provision is M.D.P.U. No. 1625; Unitil uses Schedule NM; Eversource provides its DPU-approved Massachusetts Net Metering Tariff. |
| Pending change | D.P.U. 25-117 remains open and created a limited-time process allowing accrued net metering/AOBC balances to be transferred through December 31, 2026; the DPU guide says the same allocation limits apply. D.P.U. 23-140 remains open as the net-metering rulemaking, and D.P.U. 25-175 is an open utility filing to implement SMART 3.0 and revised SMART tariffs. No DPU move to statewide net billing replacing net metering was verified; the current rules continue to provide net-metering credits. |
Other Massachusetts utilities
- National Grid (MA)Formula basedFormula varies by customer/facility: standard solar generally 100% of applicable basic-service
- Unitil (Fitchburg)Formula basedFormula varies by customer/facility: standard solar generally 100% of applicable basic-service
- MA municipal light plantsUnverifiedNot set by the DPU statewide net-metering tariff; each municipal light plant sets its own custo