Placer County, Calif. – Pioneer Community Energy (Pioneer) provided either checks or credits to 3,406 of its solar customers who generated more electricity than they used over the past year in its first Net Energy Metering (NEM) cash-out.

Pioneer mailed checks totaling $174,521 to 1,996 customers with kilowatt hour (kWh) balances above $25. An additional 1,410 customers with kWh balances below $25 received credits to their accounts totaling $15,587.

“Pioneer Community Energy made a commitment to support solar when we started providing electricity in 2018,” said Peter Gilbert, Lincoln Vice Mayor and Pioneer Board member. “Providing compensation for surplus generation is part of our program.”

Under Pioneer’s NEM program, Pioneer reviews solar generation and usage for the previous 12 months during the March-April billing cycle. Customers with a net surplus, those who generated more electricity than they used during those 12 months, receive payment for the extra energy generated by the kilowatt hour. Pioneer pays its customers $0.005 more per kWh than PG&E.

More than 17,000 Pioneer customers have solar, but only 17.5% of those customers generate more energy than they use over the year.