Happy New Year, friends! From our holler to yours, we hope everyone had a healthy, joyous holiday season. 

In this moment of reflection, it may come as no surprise that the Solar Holler team is happy to be turning the page to 2026. Last year was a wild one for solar and we’re ready for calmer waters. Syonara 2025. Sorry, not sorry.

Unfortunately for our neighbors across the region, 2026 promises more utility bill increases. Already Appalachian families are paying about 30% more for power than we were 5 years ago. We feel it every month, with every cold snap or heat wave. And yet, with energy demand skyrocketing like never before, it’s a pretty safe bet that our rates will keep climbing– likely faster than they have in the last 5 years.

AEP is already slated to collect $76 Million more from West Virginians this year. They’re asking for more from Ohioans and Kentuckyans too, despite quarterly profits of nearly a billion dollars. So our resolution in 2026 is to keep delivering energy savings to Appalachian families and businesses just as we always have, through whatever creative and innovative ways our talented team can dream up.

Our first move is to ensure as many West Virginia AEP customers as possible are grandfathered into full one-to-one net metering rates before the value drops by 27%. Technically, the clock runs out on submitting your interconnection application on February 28, 2026, so we’ve got a little more time. We’d been pushing folks to get into the queue as early as possible to stay out of the fray– leave nothing to chance. But the truth is, this policy change creates a massive loss in savings for those who miss the boat. We want to take advantage of the full runway in front of us, and we’ve still got folks banging on the door to be let in, so we’re exercising those creative muscles right out the gate this year.

By shuffling our installation calendar and shaking up our process a bit (which, by the way, means asking customers to do a little more leg work than usual) we’re confident that we can meet that February 28th deadline for anyone who commits by January 23, 2026. And, we’re willing to offer some contingencies in the extremely unlikely event that we’re wrong. 

So how does that work? 

Sign your solar contract by January 23, 2026 and we’ll get you in before the net metering policy changes. You might have to send us some pictures of your roofline or attic space, but nothing too crazy. If for some reason we still don’t get you across the finish line, you can cancel your contract with no penalty and no questions asked. You could also opt for a solar lease and we’ll honor whatever monthly savings we originally promised, whether we miss the deadline or not. 

This is such a pivotal moment for energy independence in Southern West Virginia. We want to make solar an easy yes. Give us a holler to see if it can work for you.