Net Metering by State

What your electric utility actually pays for exported solar power.

California solar export compensation

What California 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

California retired retail-rate net metering for new systems on April 14, 2023 and replaced it with the Net Billing Tariff, which the utilities market as the Solar Billing Plan. The NBT severs the link between the retail rate and the export rate: imports are billed at the customer's retail rate and exports are credited at a separate, hour-by-hour avoided cost value published by the CPUC. Midday exports earn far less than they did under NEM 2.0, while late afternoon and evening exports can earn more than the retail rate, which is why the tariff is designed to favour pairing solar with storage. Roughly 70% of NBT customers had paired batteries by the end of 2024.

Program details

Compensation mechanismNet billing. The CPUC calls it the Net Billing Tariff (D.22-12-056); PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E market it as the Solar Billing Plan. Imports and exports are measured on separate meter channels and are never netted against each other. Retail-rate net metering (NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0) is closed to new interconnection requests.
cpuc.ca.gov
Export rateNo single statewide export rate. Compensation is set by the CPUC Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC) and varies by month, hour, and weekday versus weekend/holiday. PG&E's published 2026 weekday credit values peak at $1.04281 per kWh, and PG&E describes the export rate as ranging from two cents to over two dollars per kWh depending on month and time of day. A residential ACC Plus adder (Energy Export Bonus Credit) applies on top for nine years from Permission to Operate: $0.00880/kWh for 2026 interconnections, and $0.03600/kWh for residential low-income (CARE/FERA or disadvantaged-community) customers. The adder declines 20% annually and sunsets after 2027.
pge.com · pge.com · pge.com
Rate effective2026-vintage Avoided Cost Calculator values plus the 2026 ACC Plus adder. Values are locked for a customer by the calendar year of their completed interconnection application. The ACC itself is updated on the CPUC's two-year cycle in the IDER proceeding, R.14-10-003.
pge.com
Credit rolloverYes. Export credits accrue monthly and roll over within the customer's 12-month Relevant Period. Credits still unused at true-up carry forward into the customer's next Relevant Period rather than being cashed out.
pge.com
Credit expirationCredits do not expire at true-up. Under Ordering Paragraph 5(b) of Resolution E-5301, the utilities were directed to carry forward any excess generation or delivery credits remaining at the end of a Relevant Period to the customer's next Relevant Period.
docs.cpuc.ca.gov
Annual true-upAnnual, on the customer's own 12-month Relevant Period. Billing is monthly, so the annual true-up settles a running balance rather than presenting a single large annual bill.
cpuc.ca.gov
Residential system capEstimated annual production may be up to 150% of the customer's most recent 12 months of usage. A customer with no usage history, or who attests to a recent usage increase, may instead size to 150% of estimated or projected usage, by executing the NBT Oversized Generating Facility Attestation. The added load must materialise within 12 months of Permission to Operate.
pge.com
Commercial system capNon-residential facilities follow the same oversizing path. Facilities larger than 1 MW carry interconnection, network, and distribution upgrade costs under Electric Rule 21.
pge.com
Aggregate program capNot yet verified
Program statusOpen. Electric Schedule NBT sets no enrollment cap. The NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 tariffs that preceded it are closed: NEM 2.0 stopped accepting new interconnection requests after April 14, 2023.
pge.com
RegulatorCalifornia Public Utilities Commission. The tariff applies in the territories of the large investor-owned utilities: PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric. The small IOUs have separately approved tariffs.
cpuc.ca.gov
DocketR.20-08-020, the NEM Revisit Rulemaking. Decision D.22-12-056 adopted the Net Billing Tariff; Resolution E-5301 approved the IOUs' filed tariffs and directed the export rate calculation and publication changes. D.23-11-068 ordered an evaluation of the tariff.
cpuc.ca.gov
Governing ruleCPUC Decision D.22-12-056 plus each utility's filed NBT tariff schedule (PG&E Electric Schedule NBT). NBT customers must also take service on an electrification time-of-use rate: E-ELEC at PG&E, TOU-D-PRIME at SCE, EV-TOU-5 at SDG&E.
cpuc.ca.gov
GrandfatheringNEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 customers keep their tariff for 20 years from the date they interconnected, under D.14-03-041. NBT customers get a nine-year legacy period instead, running from the Permission to Operate date. Customers who move from NEM to NBT are not eligible for the NBT legacy period or the ACC Plus adder.
pge.com
Interconnection applicationA complete interconnection application is filed with the utility. The export compensation schedule is fixed to the Avoided Cost Calculator vintage adopted as of January 1 of the calendar year the application is completed. The nine-year lock-in is available to applications submitted on or after April 15, 2023 and no later than December 31, 2027; customers applying after that window are paid at the most recently adopted ACC values instead.
pge.com
Interconnection timelineCustomers who applied on or after April 15, 2023 were billed temporarily on NEM 2.0 until the utility's billing system was updated to handle NBT, then transitioned at the end of their Relevant Period. The nine-year legacy period is measured from the Permission to Operate date, not the application date.
cpuc.ca.gov
Pending changeThe CPUC's 2026 Avoided Cost Calculator update was issued as a staff proposal, proposing to shift reliability-risk capacity value allocation between weekdays and weekends, which would change the export rate shape. NBT customers may exit their nine-year rate lock-in early, but may not re-enter it once they do.
docs.cpuc.ca.gov

Rates by utility

State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)Hourly ACC value + ACC Plus adder
2026 vintage; ACC Plus $0.00880/kWh residential, $0.03600/kWh low income
Schedule NBT. The ACC delivery component is averaged across climate zones by simple average; generation does not vary by zone. Values published at pge.com/energyexportcredit.
pge.com
Southern California Edison (SCE)Hourly ACC value + ACC Plus adder
2026 vintage
ACC Plus adder available to residential customers interconnecting before the end of 2027. Required electrification rate is TOU-D-PRIME.
cpuc.ca.gov
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)Hourly ACC value
2026 vintage
SDG&E customers are excluded from the ACC Plus adder because SDG&E's higher retail rates already make its solar more valuable. Required electrification rate is EV-TOU-5.
cpuc.ca.gov

Sources read for this record

Keep reading