Kentucky solar export compensation
What Kentucky 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
$0.07089 per kWh residential under NMS-2
LG&E · Kentucky
Dollar-denominated credit for excess customer generation accumulated over the billing period; utility-specific NMS-2 tariff.
Source: psc.ky.gov
Full LG&E detail →Kentucky's post-2020 net-metering framework uses utility-specific, dollar-denominated bill credits for exported electricity rather than a single statewide export rate. Eligible facilities are generally limited to 45 kW, credits carry forward by billing period but are not cash-refunded at account closure, and preexisting customers retain the applicable legacy one-to-one kWh credit for 25 years. The Kentucky Public Service Commission sets utility-specific rates through ratemaking proceedings; current published examples are LG&E $0.07089/kWh, KU $0.07534/kWh, Duke Energy Kentucky $0.065427/kWh, and Kentucky Power $0.09746/kWh residential.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | Utility-specific net metering with dollar-denominated bill credits for exported generation under KRS 278.465-.468; the PSC sets the compensation rate in a utility-initiated ratemaking proceeding. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | There is no single statewide export rate. Current published utility examples are LG&E $0.07089/kWh residential, KU $0.07534/kWh residential, Duke Energy Kentucky $0.065427/kWh for both residential and non-residential customers, and Kentucky Power $0.09746/kWh residential and $0.09657/kWh commercial under NMS II. |
| Rate effective | Rates are utility- and tariff-specific. LG&E/KU's 2023-00404 NMS-2 rates were ordered August 30, 2024; Duke Energy Kentucky's current single ACEGC rate was ordered June 1, 2026; Kentucky Power's NMS II rates were set in the May 14, 2021 order. |
| Credit rollover | Yes. Excess dollar-denominated bill credits carry forward to the customer's next bill, subject to the utility tariff; they are not transferable between customers or premises. |
| Credit expiration | There is no annual statewide expiration date stated. If the customer closes the account, accumulated credits end with the account and no cash refund is paid; utility tariffs also state credits are not transferable between customers or locations. |
| Annual true-up | No annual true-up date is prescribed in the statewide statute; compensation and netting occur each billing period, with unused credits carried to the next bill. |
| Residential system cap | 45 kW rated capacity for an eligible electric generating facility; the statute does not create a separate residential cap. |
| Commercial system cap | 45 kW rated capacity for an eligible electric generating facility; the statute does not create a separate commercial cap. |
| Aggregate program cap | 1% of each retail electric supplier's single-hour peak load during a calendar year; once reached, the supplier has no further obligation to offer net metering to new customer-generators, subject to the statute and PSC-approved tariff implementation. |
| Program status | Utility-specific and threshold-based, not a single statewide closed program. The current LG&E/KU tariff states the companies cease offering NMS-2 to new customer-generators after the combined NMS-1/NMS-2 capacity reaches 1% of single-hour peak load and PSC approval is received; Duke's tariff framework uses the same 1% supplier threshold. |
| Regulator | Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC), which has jurisdiction over the retail suppliers' net-metering tariffs and sets utility-specific compensation through ratemaking proceedings. |
| Docket | Key implementation and rate dockets read: 2019-00256 (implementation discussion), 2020-00174 (Kentucky Power), 2020-00349 and 2020-00350 (KU/LG&E), 2023-00404 (KU/LG&E rate update), 2023-00413 (Duke), and 2025-00258 (Duke rate update). |
| Governing rule | KRS 278.465 through KRS 278.468, as amended effective January 1, 2020, plus each utility's PSC-approved net-metering and interconnection tariff. |
| Grandfathering | Yes. For an eligible facility in service before the effective date of the initial PSC net-metering order, the tariff provisions in place when service began, including the one-to-one kWh credit, remain at the premises for 25 years, subject to the statutory conditions and the utility tariff. |
| Interconnection application | Application is utility-specific. The KU/LG&E interconnection tariff requires a Level 1 or Level 2 Application for Interconnection and Net Metering; Level 1 is for qualifying certified inverter-based systems, while Level 2 applies when Level 1 conditions are not met and may require technical documentation and fees. |
| Interconnection timeline | No single statewide review timeline is stated. Under the KU/LG&E tariff, the company must notify a Level 1 applicant within 20 business days whether the request is approved or denied; time awaiting additional information is excluded. |
| Pending change | Yes. KU and LG&E filed a joint petition for reconsideration of the February 16, 2026 rate-case orders in Cases 2025-00113 and 2025-00114; the filing seeks changes to several issues while identifying the NMS-2 rates as retained at their current levels in the final orders. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) | $0.07089 per kWh residential under NMS-2 Ordered August 30, 2024; retained at current level in the 2026 LG&E rate-case order Dollar-denominated credit for excess customer generation accumulated over the billing period; utility-specific NMS-2 tariff. |
|---|---|
| Kentucky Utilities (KU) | $0.07534 per kWh residential under NMS-2 Ordered August 30, 2024; retained at current level in the 2026 KU rate-case order Dollar-denominated credit for excess customer generation accumulated over the billing period; utility-specific NMS-2 tariff. |
| Duke Energy Kentucky | $0.065427 per kWh for residential and non-residential Rider NM-II customers PSC Order entered June 1, 2026; tariff sheets required within 40 days Single Avoided Cost Excess Generation Credit (ACEGC) approved for both customer classes and updated every two years starting in 2028. |
| Kentucky Power (AEP) | $0.09746 per kWh residential; $0.09657 per kWh commercial under NMS II PSC Order entered May 14, 2021 NMS II dollar-denominated avoided-cost export rates; NMS I legacy customers retain the prior one-to-one credit under the statute. |
Sources read for this record
- apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49545
- apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49546
- apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=38587
- psc.ky.gov/pscscf/2023%20Cases/2023-00404/20240830_PSC_ORDER.pdf
- psc.ky.gov/pscscf/2023%20Cases/2023-00413/20241011_PSC_ORDER.pdf
- psc.ky.gov/pscscf/2025%20Cases/2025-00258/20260601_PSC_ORDER.pdf
- psc.ky.gov/order_vault/Orders_2021/202000174_05142021.pdf
- psc.ky.gov/pscecf/2025-00113/rick.lovekamp%40lge-ku.com/11252025033423/11-2025_PS
- psc.ky.gov/pscecf/2025-00114/rick.lovekamp%40lge-ku.com/10202025040331/10-2025_KU
- psc.ky.gov/pscecf/2025-00114/l.ingram%40skofirm.com/03112026045304/Jt_Petition_fo
Keep reading
- Every state we track
- How these figures are sourced and dated
- Alabama — Rate PAE 2026 payment options are time-of-day: 5.17¢/kWh weekday 10 a.
- Arizona — Set per utility, not statewide. APS: $0.05554/kWh. TEP: $0.0513/kWh, w
- Arkansas — There is no single statewide export number. Non-legacy exports are cre
- 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
- Iowa — There is no single statewide dollar rate. Under the current inflow-out
- Kansas — There is no single statewide dollar rate. For systems operating under
- Louisiana — Avoided-cost export rates effective in 2026 are $0.0386407/kWh for Ent
- Maine — There is no single statewide export price. The kWh Credit Program prov
- 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 Hampshire — There is no single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate: for small customer-g
- New Jersey — One-for-one retail-rate credit against delivered electricity during th
- New Mexico — There is no single statewide fixed export number in the cited rule. Ex
- 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
- Oklahoma — There is no single statewide dollar export rate. Net excess is credite
- 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
- Rhode Island — There is no single statewide dollar headline rate. Renewable net-meter
- 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
- Vermont — The statewide blended residential base credit is $0.2071/kWh effective
- 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