Two of Vermont’s solar supports carried the same end date, and it has already passed. The net metering window that governed applications from July 2024 closed on June 30, 2026, and the successor rates are not yet settled: the Commission’s 2026 biennial update is still pending. The sales tax exemption on solar equipment was scheduled to lapse on the same day. Anyone quoting you Vermont figures from a page written in the spring is quoting a regime that has since turned over.
Two Deadlines Landed on the Same Day
The Public Utility Commission runs net metering under Rule 5.100 and revisits the compensation numbers on a two-year cycle under Rule 5.128. The version known as NM 2.6 covered certificate of public good applications filed between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2026. The 2026 biennial update that will set compensation for what follows is still before the Commission, so rates for applications filed after June 30, 2026 are not yet settled.
Separately, the exemption from Vermont’s 6% sales tax on solar equipment, at 32 V.S.A. section 9741(15), was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2026. On a typical residential system that exemption is worth well over a thousand dollars, so whether the legislature extended it is not a detail.
Applications filed between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2026 enroll under the NM 2.6 adjustors, and those adjustor values are fixed in your permit at enrollment: a statewide blended 18.3¢ per kilowatt-hour base, less a 4¢ adjustor for rooftop systems up to 15 kW, with Green Mountain Power currently at 15.0¢ for power you consume and 14.3¢ for excess. The positive adjustors pay for 10 years from commissioning, and the blended base itself is reset every 2 years. Rates for applications filed after June 30, 2026 are before the Commission now. Ask your utility which rate applies to an application filed today, and ask the Department of Taxes whether the sales tax exemption still applies. Both answers are free and both change the price.
Program | Status in 2026 | Value | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
Net metering, new applications | Successor rates pending | Set by the 2026 biennial update | Commission Rule 5.128 |
Net metering, NM 2.6 enrollments | Adjustors fixed at enrollment, paid 10 years | Blended 18.3¢ less 4¢ rooftop adjustor; GMP 15.0¢ / 14.3¢ | Commission Rule 5.100 |
Property tax exemption | Active | Systems under 50 kW serving the property | 32 V.S.A. section 3802 |
Sales tax exemption | Expired June 30, 2026 unless extended; verify | 6% off equipment while in force | 32 V.S.A. section 9741(15) |
Federal 25D credit | Ended | $0 for systems you buy and own completed after December 31, 2025 | Public Law 119-21 |
Federal 48E credit | Third-party owners only | Reaches you as lease or PPA pricing | Internal Revenue Code section 48E |
Off-site group net metering | Closed December 31, 2025 | No new projects | Commission Rule 5.100 |
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Your Enrollment Date Fixes Your Adjustors
This is the provision that makes the calendar matter so much in Vermont, and it has a precise shape. The adjustor values that set your compensation are fixed in your permit at enrollment: the zero-or-positive siting and REC adjustors pay for 10 years from commissioning, and a negative REC adjustor, the one that applies if you sell your renewable energy certificates, runs for as long as the system does. The blended base rate underneath those adjustors is different: it moves with each biennial update, for existing systems as well as new ones.
The consequence cuts both ways. A Vermont system enrolled under a generous adjustor vintage keeps that vintage for a decade of production, which is a genuine asset and one to establish from the paperwork if you are buying a house with panels. A system enrolled under a reduced one keeps that too.
It also means the biennial cycle reaches existing owners, but only through the base. When you read that Vermont has reduced net metering compensation repeatedly, the adjustor cuts apply to people joining, while the blended base recalculation applies to everyone. Which side of a cycle boundary your application lands on sets your adjustors; the base moves on its own 2-year clock.
What the Blended Rate and the Adjustors Mean
Vermont does not credit exports at your own utility’s retail rate. It uses a statewide blended residential rate, then applies two adjustors: one reflecting whether you keep or transfer the renewable energy certificates your system generates, and one reflecting siting, which rewards rooftop and previously developed locations over greenfield ones.
For the NM 2.6 vintage, applications filed July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026, the numbers are on record: a statewide blended rate of 18.3¢ per kilowatt-hour, less a 4¢ adjustor for rooftop systems up to 15 kW. On Green Mountain Power that works out to 15.0¢ for power you consume and 14.3¢ for excess. The adjustor behind those figures stays fixed for an NM 2.6 enrollment and pays for 10 years from commissioning, over a base that resets every 2 years; what a new application earns awaits the pending update.
Residential rooftop systems up to 15 kW fall into Category I, the category the siting adjustor treats most favorably. Green Mountain Power holds roughly 84% of the state’s net metering capacity, so for most Vermont households the GMP numbers are the ones that matter, but Burlington Electric and Washington Electric Cooperative customers are on their own figures and they differ materially.
One structural change worth knowing separately: off-site group net metering closed to new projects on December 31, 2025. If you were considering a share in an array somewhere other than your own roof, that route is shut to new entrants.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- You were relying on rates quoted for the NM 2.6 window. That window closed to new certificate applications on June 30, 2026, and the successor rates are still pending before the Commission, so an NM 2.6 quote no longer applies to a new application.
- You wanted an off-site group net metering share. That closed to new projects on December 31, 2025.
- You are expecting a Vermont state income tax credit. There is not one for residential solar. Vermont works through exemptions and the tariff instead.
- You are counting on the 30% federal credit. Section 25D is $0 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21. Third-party owners (the lease or PPA company, not you) can still claim the separate 48E business credit.
- You budgeted for the sales tax exemption without checking it. It carried a June 30, 2026 expiry, and 6% of a system price is not a rounding error.
Why the Retail Rate Does the Heavy Lifting
Set the tariff arguments aside for a moment and look at the number underneath all of them. Vermont households pay around 23.52¢ per kilowatt-hour on the statewide average, among the highest in the country and well above the national average. Every kilowatt-hour a Vermont roof produces and the house consumes displaces power at that price, and no biennial update touches it.
That is why Vermont remains a reasonable place for solar even as the compensation numbers get trimmed. The export side is contested and moves on a two-year clock; the self-consumption side is worth 23.52¢ and is not up for review by anybody. A design that maximizes what the house uses directly is insulated from most of what this page describes.
Vermont also exempts residential systems under 50 kW from property tax assessment under 32 V.S.A. section 3802, where the system is net-metered or off-grid and serves only the property it sits on. That one is structural rather than scheduled, and it does not expire. Our Vermont cost guide covers pricing and the Vermont installer list covers who does the work.
Vermont Solar FAQs
Yes, run statewide by the Public Utility Commission under Rule 5.100, but it does not credit exports at your own utility’s retail rate. Compensation is a statewide blended residential rate adjusted for whether you keep or transfer your renewable energy certificates and for where the system sits, with residential rooftop systems up to 15 kW in Category I. Green Mountain Power holds roughly 84% of the state’s net metering capacity.
The net metering window known as NM 2.6, which covered certificate of public good applications filed from July 1, 2024, closed to new applications. The Commission’s 2026 biennial update, which will set compensation for what follows, is still pending. Separately, Vermont’s sales tax exemption on solar equipment carried a June 30, 2026 expiry. Confirm both with your utility and the Department of Taxes before signing.
Partly. The adjustor values fixed at your enrollment stay with the system: zero-or-positive siting and REC adjustors pay for 10 years from commissioning, and a negative REC adjustor applies for the system’s whole life. The blended base rate they modify is recalculated every 2 years for everyone, so your total credit moves with it. If you are buying a house with an existing array, establish the enrollment vintage from the paperwork, because the adjustors it carries can be worth a great deal.
No. Vermont offers no state income tax credit for residential solar. What it has is a property tax exemption under 32 V.S.A. section 3802 for net-metered or off-grid residential systems under 50 kW serving only the property they sit on, and a sales tax exemption on solar equipment that carried a June 30, 2026 expiry and should be checked with the Department of Taxes.
The export debate obscures the number that matters most. Vermont households pay around 23.52¢ per kilowatt-hour on the statewide average, among the highest in the country, and every unit the roof produces and the house uses displaces power at that price regardless of any tariff review. A design that maximizes direct self-consumption is largely insulated from the biennial adjustments described on this page.
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References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed the Vermont Public Utility Commission’s biennial-update notice and net metering rules, the exemption statutes, federal energy data, and IRS guidance for this page. Sources accessed between June 10 and August 21, 2026.
- Vermont Public Utility Commission. Notice of the 2026 biennial update. The pending proceeding that will set net-metering compensation for applications filed after June 30, 2026 under Commission Rule 5.128. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Vermont Public Utility Commission. Commission Rule 5.100 and the NM 2.6 program terms. The statewide net metering structure, the blended residential rate, the REC and siting adjustors, Category I treatment of rooftop systems up to 15 kW, adjustor values fixed at enrollment (zero-or-positive adjustors paying for 10 years from commissioning, negative REC adjustors in perpetuity, over a blended base that resets biennially), the NM 2.6 window (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026), and the December 31, 2025 closure of off-site group net metering. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Vermont Legislature. 32 V.S.A. section 9741(15). The sales tax exemption on solar equipment and its June 30, 2026 expiry. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Vermont Legislature. 32 V.S.A. section 3802. The property tax exemption for net-metered or off-grid residential systems under 50 kW serving their own property. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Electric Power Monthly. The Vermont statewide average residential price. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions. Guidance on the Public Law 119-21 termination of the Section 25D residential credit for systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025. Accessed August 21, 2026.
