Net metering policies allow distributed generation customers to sell excess electricity to a utility at a retail rate and receive credit on their utility bill. This credit offsets the customer’s electricity consumption during other times of the day or year, which reduces the amount of electricity the customer purchases from a utility.
https://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/net-metering-policy-ove...
ccc
Net Metering
photo of a residential wind turbine
Southwest Windpower's 1.8-kW Skystream wind turbine in a residential application. Photo from Southwest Windpower, NREL 14936

Net metering programs are designed to allow the electric meters of customers with generating facilities to "turn backwards" when their generators are producing more energy than the customers' demand. Net metering allows customers to use their generation to offset their consumption over the entire billing period, not just instantaneously. This offset would enable customers with generating facilities to receive retail prices for more of the electricity they generate
https://windexchange.energy.gov/small-wind-guidebook#grid

Net metering is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid. For example, if a residential customer has a PV system on their roof, it may generate more electricity than the home uses during daylight hours.
If the home is net-metered, the electricity meter will run backwards to provide a credit against what electricity is consumed at night or other periods when the home's electricity use exceeds the system's output. Customers are only billed for their "net" energy use. On average, only 20-40% of a solar energy system’s output ever goes into the grid, and this exported solar electricity serves nearby customers’ loads.
https://www.seia.org/initiatives/net-metering#:~:text=Net me...