South Carolina solar export compensation
What South Carolina pays for exported rooftop solar power, with the source and the date each figure was checked.
Record verified 2026-09-16 · 16 of 17 fields sourced
What does your utility pay?
No single rate — formula based
Solar Choice metering: energy taken from the grid is billed at the utility's time-of-use rates, and net excess is credited. ORS's published residential overview lists $0.0270/kWh (DEC) and $0.0230/kWh (DEP) per kWh produced, as the PSC-approved Solar Choice rates shown in that January 2022 document.
Duke Energy Carolinas (SC) · South Carolina
Former Act 236 2% framework transitioned to PSC-approved Solar Choice tariffs. ORS publishes the rate overviews but has not published a newer edition than the one dated January 2022, so the dollar figures are that document's, not a 2026 rate.
Source: ors.sc.gov · ors.sc.gov
Full Duke Energy Carolinas (SC) detail →South Carolina uses utility-specific Solar Choice tariffs for new customer-generators rather than one statewide export rate. Pre-June 1, 2021 applicants retain legacy net-metering treatment through statutory grandfathering dates; Santee Cooper uses its own Distributed Generation Rider.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | Utility-specific Solar Choice metering for new applications; qualifying pre-June 1, 2021 applicants retain legacy net energy metering. Santee Cooper uses its Distributed Generation Rider and does not provide one-to-one retail net metering. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | No single statewide export rate exists. Santee Cooper's DG-25 rider lists $0.0415/kWh. Dominion Energy South Carolina's residential Solar Choice credits the applicable Rate 5 TOU energy rates and pays remaining November-cycle excess at avoided cost. For Duke, the most recent ORS-published rate overview (dated January 2022) lists $0.0270/kWh for Duke Energy Carolinas and $0.0230/kWh for Duke Energy Progress; those are that document's approved Solar Choice rates, not a current-year figure, and the filed tariffs control. |
| Rate effective | Solar Choice tariffs began June 1, 2021; the cited Dominion residential tariff is effective after the first billing cycle of July 2026; Santee Cooper DG-25 was adopted December 9, 2024. |
| Credit rollover | DEC/DEP excess credit remains on the account and carries to the next year; Dominion carries remaining TOU excess to the following month; Santee Cooper applies a monthly credit below $50 to the next billing month. |
| Credit expiration | Dominion pays accumulated excess at avoided cost during November billing cycles and zeroes the account. Santee Cooper pays a monthly net credit of at least $50 by check and applies a smaller credit to the next month; no statewide expiration rule exists. |
| Annual true-up | No statewide true-up date exists. Dominion uses November billing cycles for annual zero-out/payment; Santee Cooper settles monthly. |
| Residential system cap | 20 kW AC. |
| Commercial system cap | Lesser of 1,000 kW AC or 100% of contract demand; after June 1, 2025, the statute permits the lesser of 5,000 kW AC or 100% of contract demand for qualifying nonresidential time-of-use demand customers. |
| Aggregate program cap | The former Act 236 framework capped net-metering capacity at 2% of the utility's previous five-year average South Carolina retail peak demand. Current Solar Choice capacity limits are utility-specific and PSC-decided, not one statewide number. |
| Program status | No statewide open/full/closed status. The historic 2% cap led to successor Solar Choice tariffs; current capacity status must be checked in each utility tariff or PSC docket. |
| Regulator | The Public Service Commission of South Carolina regulates investor-owned utilities, with the Office of Regulatory Staff representing consumers. Santee Cooper is the South Carolina Public Service Authority. |
| Docket | Generic docket 2019-182-E; Dominion Solar Choice docket 2020-229-E; Duke Energy Carolinas Solar Choice docket 2020-264-E. The cited current Dominion residential tariff identifies PSC Order No. 2026-374. |
| Governing rule | S.C. Code Ann. Sections 58-40-10 and 58-40-20, as amended by Act 236 of 2014 and Act 62 of 2019; current text also reflects 2025 Act 41. |
| Grandfathering | Applicants before May 16, 2019 receive full-retail credit through December 31, 2025; applicants from May 16, 2019 through May 31, 2021 receive full-retail credit through May 31, 2029. Solar Choice applies to new customers from June 1, 2021. |
| Interconnection application | Apply to the serving utility for the applicable tariff and submit the interconnection application/agreement before service or installation approval; Santee Cooper requires an interconnection application accepted by the Authority. |
| Interconnection timeline | No single statewide review timeline was published in the documents reviewed. Tariffs require utility approval or acceptance of the interconnection application/agreement before service. |
| Pending change | Not yet verified |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Duke Energy Carolinas (SC) | Solar Choice metering: energy taken from the grid is billed at the utility's time-of-use rates, and net excess is credited. ORS's published residential overview lists $0.0270/kWh (DEC) and $0.0230/kWh (DEP) per kWh produced, as the PSC-approved Solar Choice rates shown in that January 2022 document. Solar Choice rates approved for customers applying on or after June 1, 2021; the ORS rate overview is dated January 2022. Rates are set by PSC order and should be confirmed against the current filed tariff. Former Act 236 2% framework transitioned to PSC-approved Solar Choice tariffs. ORS publishes the rate overviews but has not published a newer edition than the one dated January 2022, so the dollar figures are that document's, not a 2026 rate. |
|---|---|
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | Residential Solar Choice Rate 5 TOU credits use applicable Rate 5 energy rates; remaining excess is paid during November billing cycles at avoided cost. First billing cycle of July 2026 for the cited residential tariff; available to applicants on or after June 1, 2021. Current cited tariff is Rider to Residential Rate 5 Solar Choice, PSC Order No. 2026-374. Legacy third NEM rider has $0.04146/kWh beginning the first billing cycle of May 2026 and is closed to new participants as of June 1, 2021. |
| Santee Cooper | $0.0415/kWh under Retail Distributed Generation Rider DG-25; exported energy is not credited one-for-one at retail. DG-25 adopted December 9, 2024. Monthly credits below $50 are applied to the next billing month; credits at least $50 are paid by check. |
Sources read for this record
- ors.sc.gov/consumers/electric-natural-gas/solar/south-carolina-energy-freedom-act
- ors.sc.gov/sites/scors/files/Documents/Consumers/Solar/Solar%20Choice%20Rates%20O
- ors.sc.gov/sites/scors/files/Documents/Consumers/Solar/Solar%20Choice%20Rates-%20
- dominionenergy.com/-/media/content/rates-and-tariffs/pdfs/south-carolina/electric/riders/
- dominionenergy.com/-/media/content/rates-and-tariffs/pdfs/south-carolina/electric/riders/
- duke-energy.com/Home/Products/Renewable-Energy/SC-Solar-Net-Metering
- santeecooper.com/programs-incentives/empowersolar/
- santeecooper.com/Rates/_pdfs/Adjustments/DG-25.pdf
- scstatehouse.gov/code/t58c040.php
- scstatehouse.gov/Archives/CodeofLaws2016/t58c040.php
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
- 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
- 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