Net Metering Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is Net Metering?
For customers who generate their own electricity, net metering measures the electricity you buy from Clallam County PUD and the excess electricity you produce using your own generating equipment. Your electric meter keeps track of this and records the
amount of energy that flows from the District to you, as well as the amount of energy that flows from you to the District.

2. How does it work?
Basically, net metering is a special metering and billing arrangement between you and Clallam County PUD. The customer is given a new digital meter that measures the in-flow (Delivered) and out-flow
(Received) of energy separately.

3. How will I be billed?
We will continue to read your meter just like we did before, and you will receive electric bills on your normal billing schedule. Every month you will be billed the District’s Basic Customer Charge. Your bill will then show the amount of energy that the District delivered
to you, the amount of energy that the District received from you, and based on those two values we will calculate your net energy purchases. If we deliver more energy to you than we received from you, you will be billed for the difference at our regular electrical rate for your service. If we receive more energy from you than what we had delivered, then we will store the energy balance on your account. If you have an energy balance on your account, then we will subtract from that before we bill you for the energy. Most installations build up an energy balance over the summer that they use up late fall and winter when their energy use is up, and the
solar array generates less energy. Per state law, any balance remaining in March will then become the property of the PUD, the balance will be returned to zero, and a new solar year will start.

4. What are the benefits of Net Metering?
You offset your electrical purchases with your renewable energy generating system whether or not that energy flows onto our grid. The net-metering arrangement is beneficial because it allows you to bank energy credits that you can use to offset electrical costs when you may not generate as much from your solar system.

5. Am I eligible for Net Metering?
All of Clallam County PUD’s electrical customers are eligible for net metering. Feel free to contact us for eligibility questions.

6. What regulation governs Net Metering?
Ch. 80.60 RCW has governed net-metering since 1998. Per the RCW the District originally was required to make net metering available to eligible customer-generators on a first-come, first-served basis until the cumulative generating capacity of net metering systems reached 0.5 percent of the utility’s peak demand during 1996. During the legislative session of 2019 the legislature increased this threshold to 4 percent, but with a sunset date of June 30, 2029.