Solar + battery installation in British Columbia

Net metering: BC Hydro self-generation (Rate Schedule 2289)

BC Hydro closed its net metering rate (Rate Schedule 1289) to new customers on 1 July 2026 and replaced it with the self-generation rate, Rate Schedule 2289. Under the new rate your panels still power your home first, and your generation is still netted against what you use inside each billing period. What changed is what happens to a monthly surplus: instead of banking those extra kilowatt-hours to offset later bills, BC Hydro now converts them into a bill credit at a flat 10 cents per kWh, applied against energy charges only, for systems up to 100 kW. Ten cents sits below the residential energy rate, so a kilowatt-hour you use yourself is now worth more than one you export, and sizing to your own daytime load matters more in BC than it used to. If you already have net metering you are not moved right away, but the protection is not ten more years from the rate change: you stay on Rate Schedule 1289 until ten years have passed from your own initial net metering service start date, so a system connected in 2018 moves over in 2028. FortisBC serves the southern Interior under its own tariff and runs a separate net metering program, so this change does not apply to FortisBC customers.