Scrapped netting scheme: Solar panel energy bills could rise by up to €1,000 per year

After the net metering scheme is abolished in 2027, solar power pushed back onto the grid will be worth hardly anything. The first company to publish its rates for 2027 will only offer a net of 0.25 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), AD reports based on data from energy comparator Keuze.nl. Households with roofs full of solar panels will see their energy bills increase by as much as 1,000 euros per year.

According to Keuze.nl, Greenchoice was the first energy company to announce its rates for 2027. Its feed-in costs for pushing solar power back onto the grid will drop from the current 15.2 cents to 5.2 cents per kWh on 1 January 2027. Its feed-in compensation, the amount solar power owners receive for the power they push onto the grid, will drop to approximately 5.4 cents. The bottom line is a net positive of 0.25 cents per kWh.

“If you return 3,200 kWh per year with 12 panels, so your roof is full, then your solar panels will only yield 8 euros per year,” Geert Wirken of Keuze.nl told the newspaper. Under current regulations this year, that 3,200 kWH would be worth 1,000 euros. That means the household in this example will see its energy bill increase by over 80 euros per month.

Solar panel owners can limit the financial damage by using much more solar power themselves at the time it is generated. Currently, the around 3 million households with solar panels on their roofs immediately consume around 30 percent of the solar energy they generate.

Last year, a majority in parliament instructed the government to ensure that it never costs citizens money to supply green power to the grid. The 0.25 cents per kWh barely meets that condition.