If Green Mountain Power is your utility, two Vermont-specific choices decide your payback. First, net metering credits your solar at the statewide blended residential rate, about 18.4 cents per kWh, and you can add or subtract 3 cents by transferring or keeping your renewable energy certificates. MySolarFY’s analysis, as of July 2026, estimates a typical 8 kW GMP rooftop near Burlington produces about 9,800 kWh a year and earns credits worth roughly $1,500 a year if you keep your RECs, or about $2,100 a year if you transfer them to GMP. Second, GMP is one of the few US utilities that pays you to add a battery: up to $10,500 in Bring Your Own Device incentives, or a leased two-Powerwall system for $55 a month. These dollar estimates use the last cleanly verified blended rate, from the 2024 order; Vermont’s May 2026 biennial update may have adjusted it, so confirm GMP’s current tariff.
Green Mountain Power, or GMP, is Vermont’s largest electric utility, serving roughly 70 percent of the state’s homes and businesses, and it runs the interconnection that lets a home solar system switch on. Vermont gives you solid net metering on your GMP bill, credited at a statewide blended residential rate, and it layers on a choice most states do not have: you decide whether to keep or transfer your renewable energy certificates, which moves your credit up or down by about 3 cents per kWh. What Vermont does not give you is a state solar tax credit, and the 30 percent federal homeowner credit ended after December 31, 2025, so on a GMP account the payback rests on net metering, your electric rate, and Green Mountain Power’s unusually generous battery programs. This page covers GMP’s 2026 rate, exactly how green mountain power net metering and the REC choice work, what a typical GMP home can earn, the BYOD and leased-Powerwall battery incentives, and how you connect. For the wider state picture, start at our Vermont solar hub.
Updated for 2026 with GMP’s current Rate 1 pricing, Vermont’s net-metering blended rate and REC adjustor, the GMP battery programs, and an original earnings estimate for a GMP home.
Green Mountain Power in Vermont at a glance
Green Mountain Power is the regulated electric utility for most of Vermont, from Burlington and Chittenden County across the central and southern parts of the state. It is also the interconnection authority for rooftop solar in its territory, which means it reviews your application, sets the bidirectional meter, and grants the permission to operate that lets your system run.
| Detail | What to know |
|---|---|
| Service territory | Most of Vermont, roughly 70 percent of the state’s customers, centered on Burlington and Chittenden County and reaching across central and southern Vermont (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026) |
| Distinct from | Vermont’s other providers, including Vermont Electric Cooperative, Burlington Electric Department, Stowe Electric, and Washington Electric Cooperative, each with its own rates and rules |
| 2026 residential rate (Rate 1) | A $0.626 per day customer charge plus about 21.457 cents per kWh for energy; Vermont’s all-in residential average is about 24.56 cents per kWh (GMP rates, as of 2026; EIA, April 2026) |
| Net metering credit | Statewide blended residential rate, about 18.4 cents per kWh, plus or minus a 3 cent REC adjustor, monthly rollover (DSIRE Vermont, as of 2026) |
| Credit expiry | Unused net-metering credits expire after 12 months; they do not offset the fixed daily customer charge (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026) |
| Battery programs | Bring Your Own Device pays $850 to $950 per kW up to $10,500; a leased two-Powerwall system is $55 per month or $5,500 (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026) |
- Vermont residential electricity rate: about 24.56 cents per kWh, as of April 2026 (EIA).
- GMP net-metering blended residential rate: about 18.4 cents per kWh, set in the 2024 biennial update (Vermont PUC, Rule 5.127).
- REC adjustor: plus 3 cents per kWh if you transfer your certificates to GMP, minus 3 cents if you keep them, as of 2026 (30 V.S.A. 8010).
- Typical 8 kW system near Burlington: about 9,800 kWh per year (NREL PVWatts v8, ZIP 05401).
- GMP battery incentive: up to $10,500 through Bring Your Own Device, as of 2026 (Green Mountain Power).
What is Green Mountain Power’s electricity rate in 2026?
Your GMP rate is what your solar offsets first, and Vermont’s rates run above the national average. Green Mountain Power’s residential Rate 1 combines a fixed customer charge of $0.626 per day with an energy charge of about 21.457 cents per kWh (GMP rates, as of 2026). Add delivery and the other line items and Vermont’s all-in residential average lands near 24.56 cents per kWh (EIA, as of April 2026), well above the roughly 16 to 17 cent national average, which is the core reason home solar pencils out here: every kWh your panels make is a kWh you are not buying at that rate.
One detail matters for solar buyers: the fixed customer charge never goes away. Because $0.626 a day, about $19 a month, is a fixed connection charge, a GMP bill almost never hits exactly zero even in a strong solar month. Net-metering credits offset your energy use, not the fixed charge, so the realistic goal is to zero out the energy portion of the bill, not the whole bill. The simplest way to see your own energy rate is to divide the energy charge on your GMP statement by the kWh you used that month.
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How does Green Mountain Power net metering work in 2026?
GMP net metering credits the power you export at Vermont’s statewide blended residential rate, not GMP’s full retail rate. When your panels make more than your home is using, the surplus is credited to your account and rolls forward month to month. Vermont values that credit at a single statewide blended residential rate, defined by Public Utility Commission Rule 5.127, which was set to about 18.4 cents per kWh (precisely $0.18398) in the 2024 biennial update order (DSIRE Vermont Net Metering, as of 2026; Vermont PUC Case 24-0248-INV). Vermont is one of the states where GMP, along with Stowe Electric and Washington Electric Cooperative, uses this statewide blended rate for excess generation rather than its own retail rate.
Two GMP-specific rules shape how much that credit is really worth. First, unused net-metering credits expire after 12 months, so a big banked surplus you never use is lost rather than paid out in cash, unlike Pennsylvania, which cashes surplus at a true-up (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026). Second, credits offset only your energy use, never the fixed daily customer charge. Together these mean the value comes from sizing a system to your own annual use, not from banking export credits you cannot spend. For the plain-English basics of how the meter math works, see our explainer on how net metering works.
Note: Vermont resets its net-metering terms every two years, and it just did. The Vermont Public Utility Commission runs a biennial update to the net-metering rules, and it issued its 2026 order in Case 26-0291-INV on May 29, 2026, adjusting compensation on the regular cycle (Vermont PUC, as of 2026). Because the blended rate and the adjustors reset on this schedule, confirm the current blended residential rate and the REC and siting adjustor values on GMP’s filed net-metering tariff before you size a system, rather than assuming a figure from an older page.
Should you transfer or keep your RECs with GMP?
This is the Vermont choice most homeowners have never heard of, and it swings your credit by about 6 cents per kWh. Every unit of solar you generate creates a renewable energy certificate, or REC, and Vermont lets you decide what happens to it. If you transfer your RECs to Green Mountain Power, your net-metering credit gets a REC adjustor of plus 3 cents per kWh. If you keep your RECs, that adjustor is minus 3 cents per kWh, so keeping them lowers your bill credit even though you now hold the certificates (30 V.S.A. 8010; Vermont PUC Rule 5.100, as of 2026). That is a 6 cent per kWh swing between the two choices, which is real money over a system’s life.
| Component | Value per kWh | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Energy value: statewide blended residential rate | About +18.4 cents | DSIRE VT / VT PUC Rule 5.127 |
| REC adjustor if you transfer RECs to GMP | +3 cents | 30 V.S.A. 8010 |
| REC adjustor if you keep RECs | Minus 3 cents | 30 V.S.A. 8010 |
| Siting adjustor (varies by site type) | Set per biennial order; confirm on GMP’s tariff | VT PUC Rule 5.100 |
Keeping your RECs only makes sense in a narrow set of cases. For most homeowners who just want the lowest bill, transferring the RECs to GMP is the simpler, higher-credit choice. Keeping them only makes sense if you have a specific reason to own or retire the certificates yourself, for example to make a verifiable clean-energy claim, and are willing to accept a lower net-metering credit for it. A separate siting adjustor also applies and depends on your site type, so ask your installer to model both REC options and your siting category against GMP’s current tariff before you decide.
What can a typical GMP solar home earn per year?
Is solar worth it on a Green Mountain Power account in 2026? For most GMP homeowners, yes. Vermont’s high retail rate of about 24.56 cents per kWh, full net-metering credit, and GMP’s battery incentives mean a well-sized system pays for itself, typically in about 14 to 17 years on a cash purchase before any battery incentive, and keeps producing for a decade or more after that.
A typical 8 kW GMP home near Burlington earns roughly $1,500 to $2,100 a year from net metering, depending on the REC choice, and pays back in about 14 to 17 years on a cash purchase, based on our estimate at about $3.10 per watt and no federal homeowner credit, since Section 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. Because Vermont has no state solar tax credit, your rate, your production, and the REC choice do most of the work. Here is an original SolarFY estimate for a GMP home near Burlington, using real local production figures and the verified Vermont net-metering components. Treat it as an illustration, not a quote.
| System size | Est. annual production | If you transfer RECs (~21.4 cents/kWh) | If you keep RECs (~15.4 cents/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 kW | ~6,110 kWh | ~$1,305 | ~$940 |
| 8 kW | ~9,770 kWh | ~$2,090 | ~$1,505 |
| 10 kW | ~12,220 kWh | ~$2,615 | ~$1,880 |
How we calculated this (inputs and assumptions): production uses NREL PVWatts v8 modeled for Burlington ZIP 05401, where a 6 kW system models at about 7,329 kWh per year (1,221.5 kWh per kW), scaled linearly by system size (our data and methodology). The value multiplies production by the verified Vermont net-metering components: the statewide blended residential rate of about 18.4 cents per kWh (DSIRE VT, Vermont PUC Rule 5.127, as of 2026) plus 3 cents per kWh if you transfer your RECs to GMP or minus 3 cents if you keep them (30 V.S.A. 8010). It assumes a standard residential rooftop and does not add a positive or negative siting adjustor, which varies by site; it also assumes you use or roll your credits within 12 months, since unused credits expire. The 18.4 cent blended rate is the last cleanly verified primary value, set in the 2024 biennial update; Vermont’s May 2026 biennial order (Case 26-0291-INV) may have adjusted it, so treat these dollar figures as illustrative pending Green Mountain Power’s current filed tariff. At a typical cash price near $3.10 per watt, and with no federal homeowner credit available because Section 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, that value points to a simple payback in the range of about 14 to 17 years, before financing or any battery incentive. Your actual numbers depend on roof, shading, usage, your siting category, and GMP’s current tariff, so run your address through the eligibility check.
Green Mountain Power’s battery programs: the real GMP advantage
This is where a GMP account stands apart: Green Mountain Power actively pays you to add a home battery. Most US utilities offer nothing for storage; GMP runs two well-known programs that can meaningfully change the math on a solar-plus-battery system, and the battery also gives you backup power during Vermont’s frequent storm outages.
| Program | What you get or pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bring Your Own Device (you own the battery) | An incentive of $850 per kW enrolled for a 3-hour battery, or $950 per kW for a 4-hour battery, plus $100 per kW to retrofit an existing solar system in certain areas, up to a maximum of $10,500 per home. In return, GMP can draw on your battery during peak events. | GMP BYOD, 2026 |
| Leased storage (GMP owns the battery) | A two-battery Powerwall system for $55 per month, or $5,500 upfront, on a ten-year lease, with GMP maintaining it and sharing the stored energy at peak. | GMP leased storage, 2026 |
Read the $10,500 as a ceiling, not a flat payout. The Bring Your Own Device incentive is paid per kW of enrolled discharge power, so a single home battery earns a few thousand dollars, and only a larger multi-battery setup reaches the $10,500 cap (GMP BYOD, as of 2026). The trade in both programs is the same: you let GMP use some of your stored energy during peak demand in exchange for the incentive or the low lease price. If you want to understand battery sizing and chemistry before you enroll, see our guide to the best solar batteries for home backup. Confirm the current per-kW rate, the cap, and the lease terms directly with Green Mountain Power, since program details change.
What does Vermont not offer a Green Mountain Power solar owner?
Vermont pairs decent net metering and standout battery programs with a thin state incentive stack, so it pays to be clear about what is not there. On a GMP account in 2026, the state itself hands you very little beyond the net-metering credit:
- No state solar income-tax credit. Vermont has no personal income-tax credit for residential solar, so there is no state credit here that a homeowner can claim (DSIRE Vermont, as of 2026).
- Net-metering credits expire after 12 months. Unlike Pennsylvania, which cashes leftover surplus at a true-up, Vermont lets unused GMP credits expire, so a big banked surplus is simply lost (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026).
- Credits do not offset the fixed customer charge. The $0.626 per day connection charge stays on your bill even in a strong solar month, so a GMP solar bill is rarely exactly zero.
- Keeping your RECs lowers your credit. The REC adjustor is minus 3 cents per kWh if you keep your certificates, so owning your RECs comes at a real cost to your bill credit (30 V.S.A. 8010, as of 2026).
So on a GMP account the payback comes from the bill you offset, the right REC choice, and the battery incentives, which is why sizing the system correctly and modeling both REC options matter most.
What happened to the federal solar tax credit for GMP customers?
The federal homeowner credit is gone, and Vermont has no state credit to replace it. The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit, Section 25D, ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so a Green Mountain Power customer who buys solar with cash or a loan in 2026 cannot claim it (IRS, as of January 1, 2026). This is the single biggest thing outdated solar pages still get wrong, and it matters more in Vermont precisely because there is no state credit to fall back on. For the full timeline, see our explainer on what the end of the federal solar tax credit means in 2026.
One federal exception remains, and it is not yours to claim. A separate commercial credit, Section 48E, can apply to third-party-owned systems, meaning a solar lease or power purchase agreement, where the company that owns the equipment claims the credit, not you, though it may pass some of that value through as a lower monthly payment. On a leased system you do not file for a federal credit yourself. The 25D homeowner credit, by contrast, ended after December 31, 2025, so do not let a sales pitch tell a 2026 cash or loan buyer otherwise. MySolarFY does not provide tax advice; confirm your own situation with a tax professional.
How do you connect solar to Green Mountain Power?
Connecting a home system in GMP territory follows Vermont’s interconnection process, and the step that matters most is that you cannot switch on until your project is approved and GMP grants permission to operate. Most Vermont residential systems also need a Certificate of Public Good from the state before construction (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026). The general path is:
- Certificate of Public Good and net-metering application. You or your installer file for the state Certificate of Public Good and the GMP net-metering agreement, with the system design and inverter data, before installation.
- Utility and state review. GMP and the state review the package. Standard residential systems move faster than large or grid-constrained projects.
- Install and inspect. A licensed contractor installs the system and it passes your local electrical inspection.
- Meter set and permission to operate. GMP installs a bidirectional meter that measures both the power you draw and the power you export, then grants permission to operate. Your system only starts banking net-metering credits once it is approved to run.
A licensed installer normally manages this whole process, including the Certificate of Public Good and the interconnection paperwork.
How to choose a solar installer in GMP territory
Vermont has a healthy base of licensed solar installers, so you can compare several. Rather than chasing a “best installer” list, screen any company against objective criteria:
- NABCEP certification, the industry’s professional standard for PV installers.
- A company that is properly licensed and insured to work in Vermont.
- A clear workmanship and equipment warranty in writing.
- Real experience with GMP interconnection, the Certificate of Public Good, and the REC choice, so your paperwork and credit are set up correctly from day one.
- Experience enrolling batteries in GMP’s Bring Your Own Device program if you want storage, plus a written production estimate that sizes the system to your usage.
For how solar pays in neighboring states, see how the credits work under New Hampshire net metering and Maine’s net energy billing in 2026. MySolarFY matches you with licensed installers that serve your area so you can compare real local quotes side by side, with no obligation. Learn more about how MySolarFY works.
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Frequently asked questions
How does Green Mountain Power net metering work in 2026? GMP credits the solar you export at Vermont’s statewide blended residential rate, about 18.4 cents per kWh, set in the 2024 biennial update under Public Utility Commission Rule 5.127 (DSIRE Vermont, as of 2026). Credits roll forward month to month but expire if unused after 12 months, and they offset your energy use, not the fixed daily customer charge. A Vermont-specific twist is the REC choice: transferring your renewable energy certificates to GMP adds about 3 cents per kWh, while keeping them subtracts about 3 cents. Vermont resets these values every two years, so confirm the current blended rate and adjustors on GMP’s filed tariff before you size a system.
Should I transfer or keep my RECs with GMP? For most homeowners who want the lowest bill, transferring your renewable energy certificates to Green Mountain Power is the better choice, because it adds about 3 cents per kWh to your net-metering credit, while keeping them subtracts about 3 cents, a 6 cent per kWh swing (30 V.S.A. 8010, as of 2026). Keeping your RECs only makes sense if you have a specific reason to own or retire the certificates yourself, such as making a verifiable clean-energy claim, and are willing to accept a lower bill credit for it. Ask your installer to model both options against GMP’s current tariff.
How much does GMP pay for a home battery through Bring Your Own Device? Green Mountain Power’s Bring Your Own Device program pays an incentive of $850 per kW for a battery that discharges over three hours, or $950 per kW for a four-hour battery, plus $100 per kW to retrofit an existing solar system in certain areas, up to a maximum of $10,500 per home (GMP BYOD, as of 2026). The $10,500 is a ceiling, not a flat payout: the incentive is paid per kW of enrolled discharge power, so a single home battery earns a few thousand dollars and only a larger multi-battery setup reaches the cap. In exchange, GMP can draw on your battery during peak demand.
What does the GMP leased Powerwall cost? Green Mountain Power leases a two-battery Powerwall system for $55 per month, or $5,500 as a one-time upfront payment, on a ten-year lease, with GMP maintaining the equipment (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026). In return you agree to let GMP share the stored energy during peak demand events. The lease is a way to get backup power and battery benefits without owning the hardware, which is a different path from the Bring Your Own Device program, where you own the battery and collect the per-kW incentive.
Do GMP net-metering credits expire? Yes. Unused net-metering credits on a Green Mountain Power account expire after 12 months, so a large banked surplus you never use is lost rather than paid out in cash (Green Mountain Power, as of 2026). This is different from states like Pennsylvania that cash out leftover surplus at an annual true-up. The practical takeaway is to size your system close to your yearly usage so you spend your summer credits on winter bills rather than banking a surplus that expires. Credits also offset only your energy use, never the fixed daily customer charge, so a GMP solar bill is rarely exactly zero.
Did the federal solar tax credit end for GMP customers? Yes. The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit, Section 25D, ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a Green Mountain Power customer who installs solar in 2026 with cash or a loan cannot claim it (IRS, as of January 1, 2026). A separate commercial credit, Section 48E, can apply to third-party-owned lease or power purchase agreement systems, but the company that owns the equipment claims it, not the homeowner. Vermont has no state solar tax credit to replace it, so net metering and the GMP battery programs are what pay GMP homeowners now. MySolarFY does not provide tax advice; confirm your situation with a tax professional.
Is Vermont net metering changing for GMP customers? Vermont updates its net-metering rules on a two-year cycle, and the Public Utility Commission issued its 2026 biennial update order in Case 26-0291-INV on May 29, 2026, adjusting compensation on that regular schedule (Vermont PUC, as of 2026). Full-retail-style net metering itself is not going away for homeowners, but the blended rate and the REC and siting adjustors reset with each update, and new-system terms can differ from those of older grandfathered systems. Because the values change, confirm the current blended rate and adjustors on GMP’s filed net-metering tariff before you install, rather than relying on a figure from an older page.
Written and reviewed by the SolarFY Editor, our in-house solar research desk, following our data and methodology, in July 2026. Figures were verified against the linked Vermont Public Utility Commission, Green Mountain Power, DSIRE, Vermont statutes, IRS, EIA, and NREL PVWatts sources, and cross-checked with our fact-checker, as of July 2026. Green Mountain Power’s rates, the Vermont net-metering blended rate and REC and siting adjustors, and the battery-program terms reset over time, including through Vermont’s biennial net-metering update, so confirm current figures with Green Mountain Power and the linked primary sources before you decide. MySolarFY does not provide tax or financial advice; consult a licensed professional about your own situation. Learn more about how MySolarFY works.
MySolarFY is a free service that matches homeowners with licensed solar installers. We are not an installer, financing company, tax advisor, or government program. “No up-front cost” refers to qualifying lease or PPA financing, where eligible homeowners may have no out-of-pocket cost at installation. Lease and PPA terms typically run 20 to 25 years, may include an annual price escalator, and total payments may exceed the cost of a cash purchase; on a lease or PPA the incentives and any renewable energy certificates go to the company that owns the system, not the homeowner. Homeowners do not get the federal residential credit (Section 25D) that ended after December 31, 2025. Solar panels are not free and monthly payments apply. Eligibility, savings, incentives, and rates vary and are not guaranteed. See our full disclaimer.