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That does make sense, but then it’s not net metering anymore and would require a smarter meter. It’s also less attractive to homeowners because they get paid a lot less. (Prices are low when the sun is shining due to competition from utility-scale solar.) Charging batteries starts looking like a better alternative.

A decentralized power system is going to have a lot of battery backup and that might even be more important than the solar panels?

This is what they’ll do. But that’s simply not what net-metering means. Net-metering means (essentially) buying at the same price that the utility sells.

Because they have signed 40 year contracts so that the people that built the power plant could get financing