Sawnee EMC
North Georgia, including Forsyth, Cherokee, Dawson, Lumpkin and parts of Fulton and Gwinnett.
- Type
- Cooperative
- Accounts
- 195K
What they credit you
We confirm it for you
Not yet published hereSawnee EMC is a cooperative provider, so its terms are set by its own board rather than by any state rule. We have not yet read Sawnee EMC’s own tariff, and we will not print a number we have not verified. Your installer confirms the current terms in writing before you sign. If they will not, walk away.
Battery backup is mandatory
in Sawnee EMC territory.
Sawnee EMC has not published a one for one credit that we have been able to verify. Until it does, we assume exporting power to Sawnee EMC is worth well below what you pay to buy it back.
That does not make solar a bad idea in Sawnee EMC territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.
Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Georgia’s Distributed Generation Act defines an eligible residential system as 10 kW or less, and Georgia Power applies that limit to the inverter nameplate at the service point. Some cooperatives allow more: Walton EMC sets its residential limit at 50 kW. Sawnee EMC sets its own limits. Ask Sawnee EMC what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.
A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.
So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in Sawnee EMC territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.
Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement
What your installer should be telling you
Ask Sawnee for the current seasonal credit rates in writing before you sign anything. Their own document reserves the right to change them at any time.
What Sawnee EMC bills you anyway
In a month when your production covers everything you use, the energy charge can reach zero. This does not. It is the floor under every bill, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.
- The charge
- $28.85 a month
- How it is set
- Schedule H-26 sets the minimum monthly charge as the base charge plus $1.00 per kVA of installed transformer capacity in excess of 25 kVA. For a typical home that is the $28.85 base charge.
checked 2026-09-05 · source
Applying to Sawnee EMC
What Sawnee EMC itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- The rate can change at any time, and the rider says so
- NEM-18 states: "The rates as quoted herein may be adjusted at any time at the sole discretion of the Cooperative, to reflect the prevailing conditions." Whatever you are quoted is not a commitment for the life of the system.
- The floor is the base charge, $28.85 a month
- Schedule H-26 sets a single phase Base Charge of $28.85 a month, and defines the minimum monthly charge as that base charge plus $1.00 per kVA of installed transformer capacity above 25 kVA. An ordinary house is under 25 kVA, so the floor is $28.85.
- Retail energy is cheap here, which cuts both ways
- H-26 charges 7.67 cents for the first 500 kWh and 7.36 cents for the next 500. Low retail rates mean the amount solar can save you is smaller to begin with.
- There is a 0.2 percent ceiling on the whole programme
- NEM-18 caps total interconnected capacity at "0.2 percent (0.2%) of the Cooperative’s most recent annual peak demand in the previous year, except at the sole discretion of the Cooperative."
- Residential systems are capped at 10 kW AC
- Or more "as may be allowed under the Distributed Generation Interconnection Procedure", which is a case by case decision rather than a right.
From Sawnee EMC’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Sawnee EMC net metering questions
- Does Sawnee EMC offer one for one net metering?
- We have not been able to verify a published one for one credit from Sawnee EMC. As a cooperative provider it is not bound by whatever state rule covers the investor owned utilities, so it sets its own terms. Ask Sawnee EMC for the current export rate in writing before you sign anything.
- What does Sawnee EMC pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Sawnee EMC has not published a figure we can verify, so we do not print one. Your installer must confirm the current rate against Sawnee EMC’s own tariff before you commit.
- Do I need a battery with Sawnee EMC?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Sawnee EMC does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in Sawnee EMC territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my Sawnee EMC bill?
- Sign in at sawnee.coop. Open Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
- What is the catch with Sawnee EMC?
- Ask Sawnee for the current seasonal credit rates in writing before you sign anything. Their own document reserves the right to change them at any time.
Installers serving Sawnee EMC customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
These are real companies operating in Sawnee EMC territory, ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.
Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.
Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.