The net metering scheme, the salderingsregeling, allows small consumers with solar panels to set off the electricity they feed into the grid against the electricity they take from it, so that only the balance is charged, including energy tax and VAT. The scheme ends on 1 January 2027.
Statutory basis
Net metering was laid down in the Electricity Act 1998 and continued in the Energiewet. The Act terminating the net metering scheme provides that offsetting ceases as of 1 January 2027. From that date suppliers must pay a reasonable fee for all electricity fed in, with a statutory floor of fifty per cent of the base supply rate excluding taxes until 2030. The ACM supervises both the fee and any processing charges suppliers levy.
How it works in practice
Until the end of 2026 the position is unchanged: annual offsetting against consumption, with any surplus remunerated at the feed-in rate. From 2027 the economics shift towards self-consumption. Batteries, heat pumps, smart charging and shifting consumption to daylight hours become the way to protect the return, and the payback calculation of an installation sold on the basis of full offsetting no longer holds.
Where it goes wrong
Disputes are already arising from sales pitches. Installations sold with a payback calculation that assumes offsetting for the whole life of the panels may involve misleading information, which opens the routes of error and non-conformity under the Civil Code. On the supply side, contracts that promise fixed feed-in terms beyond 2026 need a change-in-law clause; without one, the supplier carries a risk it did not price. Owners’ associations and landlords with collective installations face the further question of how the new fee is allocated between the participants.
Related terms
Supply licence, guarantee of origin and Energy Act.
Do you have a dispute about a solar installation or a supply contract that assumes offsetting? Our energy lawyers assess the contract and the claim.
