Net metering in Nova Scotia explained

This is a Nova Scotia guide. Rates, utilities and programs differ in other provinces; your advisor confirms what applies to your home and your province.

If you are looking at solar for a Nova Scotia home, net metering is the single most important thing to understand. It is the arrangement that lets a home with solar panels stay connected to the grid, use the grid as a kind of seasonal bank and get credit for the power it does not use right away. Here is how it works today, in plain language.

The name has changed: the Self-Generating Option

Since April 22, 2022, new NS Power customers who install solar connect under what NS Power calls the Self-Generating Option. It allows a home or business to install a generator, such as solar panels, or a battery with a capacity of 27 kW or less that shares the same meter as the home. Customers who joined before that date stay on what NS Power calls Legacy Net Metering. Larger systems fall under a separate commercial program.

How surplus is banked

A grid-connected solar system powers your home first. When the panels produce more than the house is using, the surplus flows out to the grid and your meter records it. Under the Self-Generating Option, that surplus is banked as kilowatt-hours. When the panels produce less than you need, at night or on a dark January afternoon, the banked kilowatt-hours offset the energy you draw on later bills.

Your monthly base charge still applies, whatever your panels produce. If you are on a time-of-day rate, NS Power tracks the credits within each time period.

The January 1 anniversary

Every self-generating customer has an anniversary date of January 1. On that date, any surplus kilowatt-hours still in the bank are applied against energy you were billed for during the calendar year, as a credit. Surplus beyond what you were billed for during the year is not purchased by NS Power. In other words, the arrangement rewards a system sized to your own use, not an oversized one.

Why the seasons matter here

Nova Scotia has long summer days and short winter ones. A typical home system produces well above the home's needs from late spring to early fall and well below them in the heart of winter. Banking is what makes that pattern workable: the kilowatt-hours you build up in summer help cover the darker months.

How systems are sized

Because the option is designed to offset your own consumption, systems are sized to your home's yearly electricity use. Your installer will ask for your NS Power usage history, usually twelve months of bills or the data in your online account, and design the array around that number. If you are planning to add a heat pump or an electric vehicle, say so: it changes the target.

Who handles the paperwork

According to NS Power, there is no fee and no separate application for the Self-Generating Option itself. Your installer submits the electrical plans to NS Power's inspection services, the work is inspected, and NS Power installs a bi-directional meter at no cost if your home needs one. Do not sign with anyone who expects you to manage the connection yourself.

What net metering does not do

• It does not send you a cheque. Banked kilowatt-hours reduce the energy you pay for; any surplus beyond your yearly billed energy is not paid out.
• It does not remove the base charge. Every connected customer pays it.
• It does not keep the lights on in an outage. A standard grid-connected system shuts down when the grid does, for the safety of line crews. Backup is what a battery is for.

Has the program been at risk?

In early 2022, a monthly charge on new net metering customers was proposed. The province intervened to stop it and, in April 2022, amended the law to protect net metering customers from new special charges. Rules can still change in future, which is one more reason to read the current terms on NS Power's site before you sign.

What to ask before you sign

Ask the installer to show you the proposed system size next to your actual yearly usage, to explain how banking and the January 1 anniversary apply to your home, and to confirm that they handle the electrical plans and inspection. If the answers are vague, keep looking.