This is the side-by-side comparison. For the news question see is net metering going away in BC?, for how the new schedule works in detail see Rate Schedule 2289 explained, and for how long legacy customers keep 1289 see the grandfathering guide.
Two BC Hydro rate schedules govern a home that generates its own electricity. One closed to new customers on 1 July 2026 and the other opened the same day, so nobody gets to choose between them: this is a comparison between what an existing customer has and what a new one gets.
Verified 27 July 2026 against BCUC Order G-64-26, the RS 1289 tariff sheet and BC Hydro’s self-generation rate pages. Where a source is silent, this page says so rather than filling the gap.
The one-line difference
The names matter. You will see this comparison written as net metering vs net billing, which is the industry’s shorthand rather than BC Hydro’s: the schedules are named Net Metering Service and Self-Generation Service. The second is technology-neutral: it never mentions solar, and applies the same way to wind or micro-hydro behind the meter.
RS 1289 is closed, not repealed: it remains in force for every customer already on it. The rate that replaced it is covered in full on our RS 2289 pillar page.
The full comparison
| RS 1289 — Net Metering Service | RS 2289 — Self-Generation Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Closed to new customers on 1 July 2026. Still in force for everyone already on it. | Open. The rate for every new self-generating customer from 1 July 2026. |
| Who can join | Nobody new. Availability required a customer who “has had their Net Metering Application for Service under this Rate Schedule accepted by BC Hydro in writing and has received Interconnection Approval”. | Residential and general service customers who generate part of their own electricity and stay connected to the grid. |
| What an exported kWh is worth | A kilowatt-hour, banked. Any balance left at the anniversary date was cashed out at an Energy Price recalculated each 1 January from prior-year daily average Mid-Columbia market prices. | 10¢, in dollars, on the bill. |
| When it is settled | Once a year, at the customer’s anniversary date. | Every billing cycle, with an instantaneous netting interval. |
| How long it lasts | 10 years from the initial net metering service start date. | No end date published. The 10¢ price is fixed until a review, and there is no per-customer lock-in. |
| Size limit | “Has a nameplate rating of not more than 100 kilowatts” | A net injection limit of 100 kilowatts per phase, measured after the customer’s own load is served. |
| Transferable on sale? | No. A new occupant does not inherit the transition period — a Panel finding, not an inference from the tariff. | Nothing to transfer. It is the open rate, so a new owner takes service on it like any other self-generating customer. |
Two rows are routinely misread. The size limits are not the same measurement: RS 1289 capped the generating facility’s nameplate rating, a fact about the equipment; RS 2289 caps net injection per phase, what reaches the grid once the house has taken what it needs. A bare “100 kW cap” is wrong under at least one of them.
And the ten-year clock is per customer, not one date: it runs from the initial net metering service start date, so two neighbours who installed a year apart come off RS 1289 a year apart.
What each row means in practice
The unit of credit changed from energy to money. Under RS 1289 a banked kilowatt-hour was worth whatever a kilowatt-hour cost on the day you used it, so the credit tracked the retail rate automatically. Under RS 2289 it is 10¢ and stays 10¢ until the Commission reviews it. Energy you consume on site still offsets the retail rate under both; what changed is the value of the exported kilowatt-hour.
The gap between those numbers is the thing to look at. On the tiered residential rate, energy costs 11.87¢ per kWh in Tier 1 and 14.08¢ in Tier 2, against 10¢ for an export: a kilowatt-hour kept in the house is worth 1.87¢ more than the same kilowatt-hour exported in Tier 1, and 4.08¢ more in Tier 2.
The bank is the difference a household actually feels. On this coast an array runs a large surplus from May to August and very little in December; RS 1289’s annual reckoning let the first pay for the second. RS 2289 settles every cycle, so December is a separate arithmetic problem. Nothing about the array changed; the accounting period did.
Sizing logic changed direction. Under annual netting the sensible target was total yearly consumption, because timing did not matter. Under RS 2289 timing is the whole game: the marginal panel on an already-large array mostly exports, earning 10¢ rather than displacing 11.87¢ or 14.08¢. It still pays, and it pays less than the first panel did.
Grandfathering is a term, not a guarantee in perpetuity. The Commission granted 10 years, not the twenty BC Hydro applied for, so material still saying twenty is quoting the application rather than the decision. What ends the ten years, early or otherwise, is its own subject.
Which one you are on, and how to check
Four rules decide it, and they are all published:
- Interconnected before 1 July 2026 → RS 1289. The schedule required an accepted Net Metering Application and Interconnection Approval; if both predate the closure, you are on it.
- Interconnected on or after 1 July 2026 → RS 2289. There is no longer a route onto net metering.
- A solar rebate moves you. BC Hydro’s wording: “If you received a solar rebate, you will be moved to the new self-generation rate (Rate Schedule 2289) when it begins.”
- The move is one-way. The rule is absolute: “Once an Eligible Customer begins receiving service under Rate Schedule 2289, they cannot under any circumstances revert to or receive service under Rate Schedule 1289.”
The third rule has an exception with a gap in it. A customer who received a rebate before the BCUC decision was given “a one-time opportunity to repay your rebate and remain on the net metering rate (Rate Schedule 1289) for up to 10 years from the initial net metering service start date.” No deadline for that option has been published: BC Hydro’s page states it in the future tense with no date attached. Do not assume the window is open; do not assume it has closed. Ask in writing.
Your acceptance letter and your interconnection approval are the record. Between them they show which schedule you were put on and when the ten-year clock started. If you cannot find them, ask BC Hydro in writing and keep the reply.
Related reading: is net metering gone in BC? and the BC rebates and laws guide.
Sources: the RS 1289 tariff sheet, BC Hydro’s self-generation rate pages and BCUC Order G-64-26, all read 27 July 2026. Figures stated before GST and rider adjustments. Rate schedules change; confirm anything you intend to act on with BC Hydro directly. General information, not financial advice.
Which schedule suits which situation
Neither schedule is universally better — they reward completely different system designs, which is exactly why a system built for one can disappoint on the other.
If you are on RS 1289
Your incentive is to generate as much as possible, because every exported kilowatt-hour is worth a purchased one. Oversized arrays make sense. Batteries add outage protection and comfort but do relatively little for the economics, since the grid is already acting as a perfect, lossless battery for you.
Your priority is protecting that position for as long as it lasts. Understand precisely what would end it early before you change anything about the system.
If you are on RS 2289
Your incentive is to consume what you generate. The array is sized nearer your actual load, storage does real economic work by moving midday surplus into the evening, and flexible loads are worth scheduling into daylight.
A system designed for 1289 and then placed on 2289 will underperform its projections, because it was optimised to export a surplus that is now worth far less. That is the single most important thing for anyone comparing older case studies or payback figures against a current quote.
A note on comparing quotes
If you are collecting proposals, check which schedule each one assumes. A payback calculation built on 1289 export values applied to a new installation will be optimistic, and not always deliberately — spreadsheets outlive the rules they were built under.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out which schedule I am on?
Your BC Hydro account and your original interconnection paperwork will show it. The decisive fact is the date your self-generation was approved: approvals before 1 July 2026 sit on the legacy schedule, later ones on the current schedule. If the paperwork has gone missing, BC Hydro can confirm the position against your account.
Can I switch from 2289 to 1289?
No. The legacy schedule is closed to new customers, and it is not something you can opt into. Its remaining participants are those who were already approved before it closed.
If I move house, does the schedule come with me?
No — a legacy position attaches to the installation and account, not to you personally. Moving to a new property means the new property’s own arrangement applies. What happens to the position at the property you leave is covered in the grandfathering guide.
Which schedule gives a better return?
For a system already designed around exporting surplus, the legacy schedule is clearly more generous, because exports are worth full retail value. For a system designed today, the comparison is less useful than it looks: you cannot choose the legacy schedule, so the practical question is how to design well for the current one — a smaller array relative to consumption, storage doing real work, and flexible loads timed to daylight.