Net metering is available to Douglas Electric Cooperative members who own and operate a facility that generates electricity from a renewable source such as hydro, wind, and/or solar. Solar systems are the most common type of homeowner installed renewable power source. Net Metering facilities are intended to offset or meet all of your own electrical requirements and must have a maximum generating capacity of 25kw to participate.
How it Works
Net Metering measures the difference between the electricity you buy from Douglas Electric and the electricity you generate using your renewable generating equipment. If the facility generates more electricity than you use, Douglas credits you its avoided costs for wholesale electric power, as found in the Net Metering Rate Schedulse. You can find the most recent Net Metering Rate Schedule on the Rate Information Page.
Rate info
Resources
- Net Metering Agreement (PDF)
- Net Metering Policy (PDF)
- Net Metering Rate Schedules (PDF)
- Oregon DOE Approved Solar Contractor Listing
- Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program: Homeowners
- Federal Residential Clean Energy Credit
Is Your Home Suited For Rooftop Solar?
Why Do DEC Solar Incentives/Rebates Differ From Investor Owned Utilities?
1. Size Matters
Douglas Electric Cooperative is a small utility with roughly 8,000 member-owners. The cost of operating the cooperative — including any incentive programs — is shared directly among those same members.
Larger Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) have far broader customer bases. For example, Pacific Power serves nearly 2 million customers, allowing them to spread incentive costs across a vastly larger pool of ratepayers. This scale makes offering solar rebates far more affordable for them than it is for a small cooperative like DEC.
2. Energy Trust of Oregon Funding
Oregon’s major IOUs — Pacific Power, Portland General Electric, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas, and Avista — all collect a dedicated charge from their customers to fund the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO).
ETO’s 2025 planned revenue is approximately $320 million, which provides a substantial funding source for solar incentives and rebates.
Electric cooperatives cannot participate in Energy Trust, so we do not have access to this large pool of incentive dollars.
3. Bonneville Power Administration Program Structure
As a BPA-supplied public power utility, DEC receives incentives from the Bonneville Power Administration — but only for measures that reduce electric consumption.
Currently, BPA does not offer incentives for residential or commercial solar installations. Because our rebate offerings must align with BPA’s programs, we simply do not have solar incentives available at this time.
4. Member Equity and Fairness
Any rebate or incentive offered to one member must be paid for by other members.
A typical 5 kW solar system in Oregon costs around $13,000 before incentives. If DEC were direclty subsiduze solar, it would mean that members who cannot afford solar would be helping pay for systems owned by those who can.
DEC strives to maintain fairness across all member-owners, and broad-based solar subsidies can be challenging to justify from an equity standpoint.