Washington still gives new solar customers one-for-one retail credit, which is now unusual. It also wrote two expiry conditions into the law that created it, and the state’s largest utility has already passed one of them. What keeps net metering open for a Puget Sound Energy customer today is a company commitment rather than a statutory right, and the difference matters when you are signing for twenty-five years.
A Right With Two Expiry Conditions
The Washington stack and its clocks:
Program | What it is worth | Status |
|---|---|---|
Sales and use tax exemption | Roughly 9% off the invoice (RCW 82.08.962 and 82.12.962), storage included when part of the same project | Authorized through 2029 |
Net metering | 1:1 retail credit at your utility’s own rate | Statutory until a utility reaches 4% of its 1996 peak or June 30, 2029, whichever comes first |
Puget Sound Energy | Same 1:1 crediting under Schedule 150 | Voluntary continuation past the trigger; notice promised before any close |
Washington state credit or rebate | None | No state income tax for a credit to attach to; no statewide rebate |
Federal 25D credit | $0 | Ended for systems you buy and own whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025 |
Chapter 80.60 of the Revised Code of Washington requires utilities to offer kilowatt-hour-for-kilowatt-hour retail credits to new customer-generators, but only until whichever of two things happens first.
Condition | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|
Capacity trigger | Cumulative net metered capacity reaches 4% of the utility’s 1996 peak demand | Puget Sound Energy has passed its threshold |
Date trigger | June 30, 2029 | Roughly three years away |
A 1996 baseline is the detail people miss. The ceiling is not 4% of today’s demand; it is 4% of what the utility’s peak was thirty years ago, which is a much smaller number and is why a large utility can reach it while rooftop solar is still a modest share of the system.
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Ask whether your utility schedule is open
Puget Sound Energy Is Continuing Voluntarily
Having passed its threshold, PSE has not closed the door. Its Schedule 150 net metering tariff is available to customers applying to interconnect until December 31, 2025, or when a new net metering rate schedule becomes available, whichever is later, and the company has said it will keep the schedule open until a successor is in place and give notice before closing it to new applicants, with time for those in progress to finish.
Read that tariff language carefully, because it is doing a lot of work. “Whichever is later” is what keeps Schedule 150 open now that the first date has passed. Customers already approved under Schedule 150 stay on it. What is not guaranteed is how long the window stays open for someone who has not applied yet.
This is not a warning that Washington is about to end net metering, and it is not a reason to be rushed by a salesperson. It is a reason to treat the interconnection application as the thing to get filed, rather than as paperwork that follows a decision at leisure. Ask PSE directly whether Schedule 150 is open to new applicants today, and get the answer dated.
Unused Credits Are Surrendered Every March 31
The other provision worth knowing sits at RCW 80.60.030. Any credit remaining in your account is granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation. Not carried, not paid, not settled.
As annual reset dates go, March 31 is a reasonable one for this climate. Washington generation is heavily concentrated in the summer and the heating load falls in winter, so a March reset arrives after the winter has drawn down whatever the summer banked. Washington sets that date for you, and it happens to be the favorable one.
The design implication is the familiar one. A system sized above your annual consumption produces power that is credited at retail, then surrendered for nothing the following March. Annual usage is the ceiling worth building to.
The Sales Tax Exemption Is the Real Money
Washington has no personal income tax, so there is no state solar tax credit and there cannot be one in the usual form. What the state does instead is remove the sales tax, and in a state where combined state and local rates commonly run near 9%, that is the largest single incentive available to a Washington homeowner.
Under RCW 82.08.962 and its use tax companion at 82.12.962, residential solar systems under 100 kW are fully exempt from state and local sales and use tax. The exemption covers panels, inverters, racking and wiring, and batteries installed as part of the same project. Current authorization runs through 2029.
Because it comes off the invoice rather than arriving later as a refund, it is easy to miss when comparing proposals. Check that every quote you are holding is presenting the exempt price, and that any battery in the design is included in the same project rather than sold separately.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- You are expecting a Washington state solar tax credit. There is no personal income tax here, so there is no return for a credit to reduce. The sales tax exemption is the state’s contribution.
- 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.
- You are planning to bank credit for more than a year. Anything unused is granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation.
- You assumed retail net metering is permanent. The statutory obligation runs until a utility hits 4% of its 1996 peak or until June 30, 2029, whichever comes first, and one large utility has already passed the capacity trigger.
- You are buying a battery separately from the array. The sales tax exemption covers storage installed as part of the same project, which is a reason to keep it in one contract.
Getting the Application In Is the Whole Task
Washington is a good state for rooftop solar right now, and its strengths are dated rather than permanent. Retail credit at your utility’s own rate (the statewide residential average is 14.09¢), a full sales tax exemption, and a March reset that suits the climate all favor a homeowner acting in the next couple of years rather than the next ten.
None of that argues for a hurried decision or a system larger than your house needs. It argues for treating the interconnection application as a step with its own timing, and for confirming with your utility that its schedule is open before you sign an installation contract. Our Washington cost guide covers pricing and the Washington installer list covers who does the work.
Washington Solar FAQs
Yes, and at one-for-one retail value, which is increasingly rare. Chapter 80.60 of the Revised Code of Washington requires utilities to offer kilowatt-hour-for-kilowatt-hour retail credits to new customer-generators at your utility’s own retail rate; the statewide residential average is about 14.09¢. The obligation runs until a utility reaches 4% of its 1996 peak demand or until June 30, 2029, whichever comes first.
PSE has passed the 4% capacity threshold but has not closed its Schedule 150 net metering tariff. The tariff is available to customers applying until December 31, 2025 or when a new net metering rate schedule becomes available, whichever is later, and PSE has said it will keep it open until a successor exists and give notice before closing. Customers already approved stay on it. Ask PSE directly and get the answer dated.
Yes. Under RCW 80.60.030 any credit remaining in your account is granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation. As reset dates go it suits the climate, since a March reset follows the winter that draws down what the summer banked, but it does mean building beyond your annual consumption produces power you eventually surrender for nothing.
There is no state income tax in Washington, so no credit is possible in the usual form. Instead, residential systems under 100 kW are fully exempt from state and local sales and use tax under RCW 82.08.962 and 82.12.962, covering panels, inverters, racking, wiring and batteries installed as part of the same project. Current authorization runs through 2029. With combined rates often near 9%, this is the largest incentive available here.
It is the capacity trigger that ends a utility’s statutory obligation to offer retail net metering to new customers, set at 4% of that utility’s 1996 peak demand. The ceiling refers to what peak demand was thirty years ago rather than today’s much larger figure, which is why a large utility can reach it while rooftop solar remains a small share of the system.
The application date is the thing to move on. Enter your ZIP code to see what Washington installers are quoting.
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References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed chapter 80.60 RCW and the March 31 credit rule, Puget Sound Energy’s Schedule 150, the sales and use tax exemption statutes, federal energy data, and IRS guidance for this page. Sources accessed between June 10 and August 21, 2026.
- Washington State Legislature. Chapter 80.60 RCW. The obligation to offer kilowatt-hour-for-kilowatt-hour retail credits until cumulative capacity reaches 4% of the utility’s 1996 peak demand or June 30, 2029, whichever comes first. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Washington State Legislature. RCW 80.60.030. Unused credits granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Puget Sound Energy. Electric Schedule 150 and customer-connected solar guidance. Availability of the tariff to applicants until December 31, 2025 or a new net metering rate schedule, whichever is later; notice before closing; continuation of existing customers. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.962 and 82.12.962. The sales and use tax exemption for residential systems under 100 kW, storage included when installed as part of the same project, authorized through 2029. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Electric Power Monthly. The Washington statewide average residential price used for scale. 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.
