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Edesur’s notice did not specify how many customers would be affected.
Photo Credit: iStock
Households and businesses in the Dominican Republic that invested fairly early in rooftop solar are now facing a new cost for sending surplus electricity back to the grid.
National utility Edesur says that beginning Nov. 1, some customers in its net-metering program will start paying a distribution network usage fee on the electricity they send back to the grid.
According to pv magazine, the first customers affected will be self-generation users on the BTS-1 residential and BTS-2 commercial low-voltage tariffs who joined net metering before October 2021.
The change was issued in January by the regulatory body of the electricity sector in the Dominican Republic. As pv magazine described, “The charge will be calculated by multiplying the electricity injected into the grid, measured in [kilowatt-hours], by 25% of the energy component of the customer’s applicable tariff.”
In other words, the rule does not add 25% to a customer’s entire electric bill or apply to all electricity produced by a rooftop solar system: It applies only to power exported to the grid.
Customers affected by the change would see the new grid usage fee added to any other fees on their usual bill.
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For families and neighborhood businesses that installed panels expecting savings under earlier net-metering rules, the change could reduce the value of every surplus kilowatt-hour they send back. 
That, in turn, could make rooftop solar less effective at delivering steady bill relief and cleaner local energy, which helped drive those early investments.
This is not the first distributed-solar fee introduced in the country. Meanwhile, Edesur’s notice did not specify how many customers could ultimately be affected.
The utility is preparing to apply the new rules on Nov. 1 to a certain set of BTS-1 and BTS-2 customers, according to pv magazine. Meanwhile, households and businesses in the Dominican Republic may have a harder time sorting out what rooftop solar will actually save them.
Solar savings can shift quickly when policy, financing, or local programs change:
• In Rajasthan, India, developers said land sale costs could slow solar and wind growth.
• For homeowners, zero-dollar-down solar deals can raise fresh questions about savings after contracts end.
• In the UK, one free solar panel scheme started cutting local energy bills.
• In New Hampshire, officials proposed plug-and-play solar access to give more residents bill control.
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© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.

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