The basics: Solar power systems are usually designed so that the owner produces more energy in the daytime then they use in order to balance out the electricity used during non sunlight hours. This is the fundamental benefit of net metering - you generate extra in the daytime, energy that is delivered to other nearby users, that you can use it at night. It is a lot like using the big electricity grid for a battery.

However, the grid is not a battery. It is a large, dynamic network full of human beings and machines working very hard to keep the system consistent when the demands of it are constantly changing. Come February you ought appreciate the grid more than most any other item in your life. We have to constantly add new material (fuel) and constantly adjust settings, unlike a battery that just sits there once you install it the first time.

The argument comes down to this - are homeowners who receive the exact same cost for the energy they put into the net that they pay for energy that they take from the net - actually getting a subsidy that is unfair? Homeowners with solar power generally do not install batteries - which means they are still dependent upon the power grid at night. That is a true and real service that needs to be accounted for. A $0 electricity bill does not mean zero services were delivered.

There is a debate. The default argument from the utilities will be that solar power generator. Only get paid the same price as other generators - the wholesale electricity price. This argument is where the utilities have to start when negotiating because it's their job to protect the revenue stream, their investors and the broader grid. It can be seen clearly in Germany that the utilities will lose to solar power in the longterm - see the chart here of the old vs new daytime electricity rates. Daytime power will eventually go to zero and we will have to figure out how to manage this in a very complex electricity grid. We are not yet at the stage where we can use the utilities because of economics.

The utilities argument is Florida on many levels. First off, solar power generates significant benefits for the broader grid. Arguably - the benefits are greater than the cost of net metering by almost 75%. That means not only should you get paid for your kilowatt hours that you pay - you should get almost double that amount for providing the service of distributed power generation. Secondly - lots of hard theory folks like to argue that solar power people get significant handouts. This is the giant pile of coal calling a little tiny teapot the problem. The IMF says fossil fuels receives $5.3 trillion a year in benefits - a year. These costs include such things as direct tax subsidies through the costs of health care due to air pollution and climate change effects.