ComEd Net Metering
ComEd Net metering allows you to benefit from your solar system all day long and year round.
With ComEd net metering, ComEd gives you a credit for any exported electricity so that you benefit from all the electricity your solar system produces. Residential solar systems typically export at least 50% of the energy they produce to the grid, because solar production often exceeds household use during many afternoons (of course, just the opposite is true at night).
Big News: ComEd Net Metering is Changing in 2025
ComEd Currently Offers 1-to-1 Net Metering
Not all net metering is the same. ComEd currently offers the most generous type of net metering – what we refer to as 1-to-1 net metering. This means that you’ll receive the full value of every kilowatt-hour that your system exports to the grid. Each time your system sends a kilowatt-hour of energy to the grid, you’ll get to offset an entire kilowatt-hour at a later time.
Net Metering Will be Less Valuable in 2025
Starting in 2025, though, ComEd’s net metering will not be quite as beneficial to customers. In fact, the new net metering will reduce the value of exported energy by around 30%. Instead of receiving the full value of each kWh exported (supply, delivery, and taxes), you’ll only receive credit for the supply and taxes portions of your bill.
Go Solar Earlier to Get Today’s Net Metering
By going solar sooner, you will save around $3,500 more with the current net metering arrangement than if you wait. Plus, once you have today’s net metering, you’ll be grandfathered in for the life of your system.
There is some uncertainty about the stage a solar system needs to be in before the end of 2024 to qualify for 2024 net metering. The safest thing to do is to sign up for solar by this summer to ensure you’ll be able to benefit from ComEd’s 1-to-1 net metering and maximize your solar savings.
How ComEd Net Metering Works
Net metering allows you to get credit for excess energy you produce during the day, which you can use to offset the cost of energy at times your system isn’t producing enough to cover your usage, such as at night. It doesn’t stop there, though. Net metering also helps with seasonality. The chart below shows an example of a home’s solar production and energy usage over the course of a year:
From March to September, this system produces more every month than this customer uses, which is fairly typical for homes in Illinois. With net metering, customers can carry over credits not only from day to night, but also from season to season. In the case above, the homeowner will be using credits built up over the summer throughout the winter (until the following spring).
How ComEd Net Metering Works
Net metering allows you to get credit for excess energy you produce during the day, which you can use to offset the cost of energy at times your system isn’t producing enough to cover your usage, such as at night. It doesn’t stop there, though. Net metering also helps with seasonality. The chart below shows an example of a home’s solar production and energy usage over the course of a year:
From March to September, this system produces more every month than this customer uses, which is fairly typical for homes in Illinois and Wisconsin. With net metering, customers can carry over credits not only from day to night, but also from season to season. In the case above, the homeowner will be using credits built up over the summer throughout the winter (until the following spring).
Understanding Your ComEd Bill with Net Metering
Understanding your ComEd bill when you have net metering can be a little confusing. Let’s take a look.
Before we start with the bill, though, it is important to understand that energy you produce with solar and consume in the same moment does not appear on your ComEd bill. This energy does not flow through your utility meter, but your bill only reports on energy that flows through that meter. Therefore, you can’t use your ComEd bill alone to determine how much total energy you consumed or your solar system produced.
With that out of the way, let’s look at how net metering affects your bill.
This sample bill shows a “Total Usage” of 297 kWh for March 2024, meaning you drew 297 kWh from the grid.
Remember, this is not your total electricity usage. It is your total usage from the grid. You use energy from the grid whenever your system does not produce enough for your needs in the moment. For example: at night.
You can offset the cost of your grid usage by exporting energy to the grid at other times (more on this when we look at the next page).
You can can potentially eliminate your ‘supply’ charges fully with net metering, but you’ll continue to pay a fixed delivery charge on your bill each month for the convenience of being connected to the grid (which is necessary for net metering).
When your solar system produces more energy than your home consumes, it sends excess energy to the grid. In this month your system exported 819 kWh.
Since you exported 819 kWh but only used 297 kWh from the grid, you ‘net’ usage was negative 522 kWh. That means you have 522 kWh to roll over for future use.
In this case, you already had a 439 kWh credit from the previous month. When you add this month’s 522 kWh, you have 961 kWh ‘in the bank’.
Your net metering credits will reduce the cost of the Supply, Delivery, and Taxes & Fees portions of your bill. In this case, you had enough credits to eliminate all the avoidable costs of electricity, leaving you only with a $16.33 charge for connection and tax. Thanks to your solar system and net metering, you completely offset your energy costs.
How to Enroll in ComEd Net Metering
Certasun will handle all the details and costs of your grid interconnection, which includes your ComEd net metering application.
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