The history of net metering comes out of the fact that for many years, smart meters for electricity were very expensive, and not widely deployed.  As such, net metering was a natural solution to the billing problem.  A user who over-produced for their needs would just run the meter backwards during sunny days, and forwards at night, creating a net metering situation.<p>It&#x27;s only with Smart Meters that the utilities can accurately measure per-house production and consumption separately.  It&#x27;s certainly possible to create new billing plans that take advantage of the Smart Meters, but with the capital nature of solar investments, there&#x27;s a lot of legacy installs to deal with, and those people get angry when they deal they signed up for is changed without grandfathering them into the old way.