Alabama solar export compensation
What Alabama pays for exported rooftop solar power, with the source and the date each figure was checked.
Record verified 2026-09-16 · 17 of 17 fields sourced
What does your utility pay?
Fixed export rate
Rate PAE (up to 100 kW): tariff-option payments of 3.45¢/kWh to 5.47¢/kWh depending on option, season, and hour; Rate CPE (>100 kW AC qualifying facilities): primary-distribution avoided-cost schedule of 3.830¢/kWh to 4.638¢/kWh by period.
Alabama Power · Alabama
This is purchase/alternate-energy compensation, not a statewide retail-rate net-metering mandate. Rate PAE credits may carry forward and amounts due may be paid by check on request or termination.
Source: alabamapower.com · alabamapower.com
Full Alabama Power detail →Alabama has no statewide net-metering mandate: the Alabama Public Service Commission expressly declined to adopt the PURPA net-metering standard in Docket 30066. Alabama Power instead uses Commission-approved purchase tariffs, principally Rate PAE for customer generators up to 100 kW and Rate CPE for qualifying facilities over 100 kW, with avoided-cost or tariff-option payments rather than a uniform statewide retail-credit rule. TVA-served local power companies are outside APSC jurisdiction and TVA's public solar FAQ describes avoided-cost sales under Dispersed Power Production, not a uniform Alabama retail net-metering rate.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | No statewide net-metering service is required. Alabama Power Rate PAE purchases alternate energy from eligible customer generators not more than 100 kW under time-of-day, time-advantage, or residential-demand payment options; Rate CPE covers certified qualifying facilities over 100 kW and pays the tariff's avoided-cost schedule. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | Rate PAE 2026 payment options are time-of-day: 5.17¢/kWh weekday 10 a.m.–9 p.m. June–September and 3.85¢/kWh otherwise; 3.84¢/kWh weekday 7 a.m.–9 p.m. October–May and 3.66¢/kWh otherwise; time-advantage: 5.47¢/kWh, 4.02¢/kWh, 4.37¢/kWh, 3.84¢/kWh, or 3.45¢/kWh by period; residential-demand: 4.64¢/kWh or 3.83¢/kWh April–October and 4.38¢/kWh or 3.86¢/kWh November–March. Rate CPE separately publishes avoided-cost prices of 4.638¢/kWh, 3.830¢/kWh, 4.384¢/kWh, and 3.860¢/kWh at primary distribution voltage. |
| Rate effective | Rate PAE and Rate CPE both state EFFECTIVE DATE April 2026 Billings; the PAE tariff is Revision Forty-Seventh and CPE is Revision Ninth. |
| Credit rollover | Under Rate PAE, statements are monthly and if customer credits for energy delivered exceed Company charges, the account is credited and credits may be carried forward. Rate CPE pays monthly for delivered energy under its schedule rather than providing statewide net-metering credits. |
| Credit expiration | No statewide credit-expiration rule exists because the APSC did not adopt a statewide net-metering standard. Under Rate PAE, the Company provides a check for any amount due upon customer request or termination; the service term is no more than one year and renews automatically. |
| Annual true-up | No annual statewide true-up date is published. Rate PAE renders statements monthly and allows payment by check upon customer request or termination of service. |
| Residential system cap | No separate statewide residential net-metering cap is published. Alabama Power Rate PAE applies to any Customer with a facility of not more than 100 kW for the customer's own use; the tariff does not create a separate residential size tier. |
| Commercial system cap | No separate statewide commercial net-metering cap is published. Alabama Power Rate PAE applies to any Customer with a facility of not more than 100 kW; Rate CPE applies to certified qualifying facilities greater than 100 kW AC. |
| Aggregate program cap | No statewide aggregate net-metering cap is stated: the APSC order says the PURPA net-metering standard was not adopted. The Alabama Power purchase tariffs instead state individual facility eligibility and do not publish an aggregate enrollment ceiling. |
| Program status | There is no statewide net-metering cap to report because the APSC did not adopt the statewide net-metering standard. Rate PAE is available on any Alabama Power distribution line, subject to its individual eligibility terms. |
| Regulator | Alabama Public Service Commission regulates Alabama Power Company, the state's only electric investor-owned utility; cooperatives and municipal systems are exempt from state regulation, and APSC does not regulate TVA. |
| Docket | APSC Docket 30066 is the Commission proceeding in which the statewide PURPA net-metering standard was considered and not adopted. Rate PAE prints Docket # 18005, but its approval-date line contains an unreplaced blank ('March __, 2026'); no additional decision number is published in that tariff. |
| Governing rule | The governing statewide decision is the APSC Order in Docket 30066: the Commission adopted staff findings and ordered that the PURPA §111(d)(11) net-metering standard was not adopted. Alabama Power customer-generator compensation is governed by its APSC-filed Rate PAE and Rate CPE tariffs. |
| Grandfathering | No statewide net-metering grandfathering rule is published because the APSC did not adopt the statewide net-metering standard. Rate PAE service instead has a one-year term that renews automatically until customer termination under the tariff. |
| Interconnection application | For Alabama Power Rate PAE interconnection, the customer is responsible for interconnection facilities, improvements, upgrades, and study fees; the tariff directs applicants to Alabama Power's Other Pricing Options Index for the interconnection application and agreement process. Rate CPE requires an interconnection application and executed generation interconnection agreement before delivery. |
| Interconnection timeline | No fixed statewide interconnection timeline is published in the cited Alabama Power purchase tariffs. Rate CPE requires the qualifying facility to apply and complete a generation interconnection agreement before delivering energy; Rate PAE directs applicants to obtain the application and agreement from Alabama Power. |
| Pending change | No separate pending statewide net-metering change is identified in the cited APSC order or current Alabama Power tariffs. The current Rate PAE tariff is effective for April 2026 billings, while its printed approval date remains 'March __, 2026' and therefore does not publish a day-specific decision date. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Alabama Power | Rate PAE (up to 100 kW): tariff-option payments of 3.45¢/kWh to 5.47¢/kWh depending on option, season, and hour; Rate CPE (>100 kW AC qualifying facilities): primary-distribution avoided-cost schedule of 3.830¢/kWh to 4.638¢/kWh by period. April 2026 billings for the cited PAE Revision Forty-Seventh and CPE Revision Ninth tariffs. This is purchase/alternate-energy compensation, not a statewide retail-rate net-metering mandate. Rate PAE credits may carry forward and amounts due may be paid by check on request or termination. |
|---|---|
| TVA-served local power companies | No uniform Alabama retail net-metering rate is published by TVA in the cited FAQ. TVA says its Dispersed Power Production program may allow a qualified facility producing up to 80MW to sell part or all of its output to TVA for TVA's avoided costs only; customers must contact their local power company. FAQ retrieved 2026-09-16; no single local-power-company tariff is asserted. TVA and participating local power companies offer Green Connect for residential solar, but the cited TVA material does not establish a uniform export-credit rate or statewide rollover rule for Alabama distributors. |
Sources read for this record
- pscpublicaccess.alabama.gov/pscpublicaccess/viewfile.aspx?id=2b008d37-e1e0-4313-871a-84728f16b6e4
- psc.alabama.gov/electricity/
- alabamapower.com/content/dam/alabama-power/pdfs-docs/Rates/RATE%20PAE.pdf
- alabamapower.com/content/dam/alabama-power/pdfs-docs/Rates/CPE.pdf
- alabamapower.com/content/dam/alabama-power/pdfs-docs/Rates/CPE-Attachment-B.pdf
- edt.tva.gov/manuals/Solar%20Calculator%20FAQs.pdf
Keep reading
- Every state we track
- How these figures are sourced and dated
- Arizona — Set per utility, not statewide. APS: $0.05554/kWh. TEP: $0.0513/kWh, w
- California — No single statewide export rate. Compensation is set by the CPUC Avoid
- Colorado — No single statewide dollar export rate. Under ordinary net metering, m
- Connecticut — Netting export rate is a formula, not a single statewide dollar figure
- Florida — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh export rate. Monthly net exports ar
- Georgia — 3.2188¢/kWh solar avoided cost for 2026, plus 4¢/kWh adder for RNR-Ins
- Hawaii — Hawaiian Electric Smart Renewable Energy Export rates for 2024-2026, i
- Illinois — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For new residential and small
- Indiana — Utility-specific EDG rates, not one statewide rate; the verified utili
- Louisiana — Avoided-cost export rates effective in 2026 are $0.0386407/kWh for Ent
- Maryland — No single statewide export price: for the annual-accrual option, net e
- Massachusetts — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For ordinary qualifying solar
- Michigan — Utility- and rate-schedule-specific, not one statewide flat rate. DTE'
- Minnesota — There is no single statewide dollar export rate. Xcel's latest posted
- Missouri — Utility-specific avoided-fuel-cost/cogeneration rate, not a single sta
- Nevada — Tier 4 exports are credited at 75% of the applicable retail rate; Nort
- New Jersey — One-for-one retail-rate credit against delivered electricity during th
- New York — No single statewide $/kWh rate. The Value Stack is calculated from uti
- North Carolina — No single statewide export rate exists. For the current DEC NMB and RS
- Ohio — No single statewide dollar rate. Under the standard utility tariff, ex
- Oregon — Full retail rate for each rate component on the bill that uses kWh as
- Pennsylvania — No single statewide dollar rate: full retail kWh rate for monthly offs
- South Carolina — No single statewide export rate exists. Santee Cooper's DG-25 rider li
- Tennessee — NESolar Connect publishes seasonal base rates of $0.07363/kWh summer,
- Texas — No statewide rate. Published municipal examples include Austin Energy
- Utah — Schedule 137: 4.855 cents/kWh for exports in June through September; 4
- Virginia — No single statewide rate exists. APCo Rider N.M.S. II lists total avoi
- Washington — Applicable retail energy rate / kWh credit under the customer's utilit
- Wisconsin — Utility-specific. 2026 examples are WEPCO CGS-NM residential/secondary