California
Net metering in California, provider by provider.
Every provider in the state, and every figure below read from the published tariff or interconnection document rather than a comparison site. Some credit you the full retail rate for the power you send back. Most do not, and that difference is the whole reason this page exists.
Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41786 kilowatt hours. A 503 kilowatt hour month against 643 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 140 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $174.74 to $0.00 at 34.74 cents per kilowatt hour.
California average household use, 503 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 34.74¢ per kWh. Your utility still bills a fixed monthly customer charge that no system offsets, so this is the energy part of the bill, which is the part that goes away.
Solar buyback rates in California, utility by utility
Exports are credited at an hourly value from the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator rather than netted against consumption, and that value is lowest at exactly the hours a rooftop produces most.
Credits you the full retail rate
Credits you at retail, with a condition
- Pacific Gas and ElectricInvestor owned/5.5M accountsNet billed, below retailHourly avoided-cost credit on exports, no retail netting
- Southern California EdisonInvestor owned/5.2M accountsNet billed, below retailHourly avoided-cost export price, plus an adder closing after 2027
- San Diego Gas and ElectricInvestor owned/1.5M accountsNet billed, below retailHourly avoided cost credit, with no bonus adder
California net metering rules
Net billing since 2023, not net metering.
- Who it binds
- The three large investor owned utilities, PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric. The municipal utilities, including LADWP and SMUD, set their own terms and are not covered by the Net Billing Tariff.
- What happens to a surplus
- Export credits carry from month to month and, at each utility, into the next annual period for as long as you stay on the tariff.
- How big a system you may build
- Set by the utility’s interconnection rules and by the tariff rather than a single statutory kilowatt figure.
CPUC Net Billing Tariff (Decision 22-12-056), effective 15 April 2023 — checked 2026-09-05
What actually happens after you pick
Most sites in this business hand your number to a sales team and disappear. We do the preparation first, so the company that turns up already knows your situation.
You see your real terms
Your provider page shows what that specific utility credits you, when it trues up, and where the catch is. Sourced and dated, not a sales page.
You choose the company
Companies serving your territory in California, with the reviews, years trading and BBB grade we found for each. You pick. Not a call center, not an auction.
We set the whole thing up
We call you, go through your bill and your last twelve months of use, work out what your utility owes you, and get the program paperwork in order.
They arrive prepared
The company you chose turns up to a job that is already understood, with your figures in hand. No cold pitch on your doorstep.
Solar installers in California
Every company we list for at least one California utility. Each profile shows the utilities it covers and what each one pays for the power you export.
Net metering in California: the questions people ask
- Does California have net metering?
- Exports are credited at an hourly value from the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator rather than netted against consumption, and that value is lowest at exactly the hours a rooftop produces most.
- What is the solar buyback rate in California?
- It is set utility by utility, not by the state. How the 5 providers we list in California credit the power you export: 1 at the full retail rate; 3 at the retail rate, with a condition; 1 at a rate below retail. Each one’s own page gives its figure and the date we read it.
- Is solar worth it in California in 2026?
- It depends mostly on what your utility pays for the power you export, because the 30% federal credit ended for systems completed after 31 December 2025. California homes use about 503 kWh a month at an average of 34.74 cents per kWh, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Where exports are credited at the full retail rate, each kilowatt hour your panels send back is worth about that much; where they are credited below retail, size the system to what you use while the sun is up. Check your own utility on this page before you get a quote for solar panels.
- Is there a solar tax credit in California in 2026?
- Not a federal one. The 30% federal credit, IRC Section 25D, ended for systems completed after 31 December 2025, and a deposit paid in 2025 does not preserve it. Anyone still quoting it is working from an old script. Any incentive left in California comes from the state or your utility, and what your utility pays for exported power is now most of the financial case.
- Which providers does the California rule cover?
- The three large investor owned utilities, PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric. The municipal utilities, including LADWP and SMUD, set their own terms and are not covered by the Net Billing Tariff.
- What happens to credits you do not use in California?
- Export credits carry from month to month and, at each utility, into the next annual period for as long as you stay on the tariff. An annual true up. If you exported more kilowatt hours than you imported over the year, the surplus is compensated at a Net Surplus Compensation rate based on the utility’s daytime market price; customers of a community choice aggregator get none from the utility.
- How big a solar system can you install in California?
- Set by the utility’s interconnection rules and by the tariff rather than a single statutory kilowatt figure.
- Which electricity providers does this cover in California?
- We have read the published terms of 5 providers in California: Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Each has its own page with the figures taken from its own tariff or from the state’s own order.
Source: CPUC Net Billing Tariff (Decision 22-12-056), effective 15 April 2023, checked 2026-09-05.
Not sure which one you are on?
It is the name at the top of your bill. Find it on the schedule and we will show you what it pays.
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