Duke Energy Kentucky
Northern Kentucky across the river from Cincinnati, including Covington and Florence. Its Rider NM II export rate was before the Commission in Case No. 2025-00258, so confirm the current figure rather than an older one.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 150K
What they credit you
We confirm it for you
Not yet published hereDuke Kentucky is a investor owned provider, so its terms are set by its own board rather than by any state rule. We have not yet read Duke Kentucky’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 Duke Kentucky territory.
Duke Kentucky has not published a one for one credit that we have been able to verify. Until it does, we assume exporting power to Duke Kentucky is worth well below what you pay to buy it back.
That does not make solar a bad idea in Duke Kentucky 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. Kentucky’s statute puts the standard bidirectional meter on the supplier, but says any additional meters or distribution upgrades needed "shall be installed at the customer-generator’s expense", so ask what your circuit will require before you size anything. Duke Kentucky sets its own limits. Ask Duke Kentucky 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 Duke Kentucky 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 this supplier two things in writing: the current Commission-approved export rate, and how much of its 1% net metering ceiling is already used. The second question decides whether the programme will still exist when your application lands.
Applying to Duke Kentucky
What Duke Kentucky itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- Net metering can close permanently, one utility at a time
- KRS 278.466(1): once net metering reaches "one percent (1%) of a supplier’s single hour peak load during a calendar year, the supplier shall have no further obligation to offer net metering to any new customer-generator at any subsequent time." Ask your supplier how close it is to its 1% before you plan around net metering at all.
- The rate is set by the Commission, not by the statute and not by retail
- Suppliers compensate for all electricity that flows to them "at a rate ... set by the commission using the ratemaking processes under this chapter". It is a docket number, not a law, and it can be reopened.
- The law explicitly permits a solar-only charge
- KRS 278.466(5) lets each supplier recover "all costs necessary to serve its eligible customer-generators, including but not limited to fixed and demand-based costs, without regard for the rate structure for customers who are not eligible customer-generators." If a monthly charge appears that your neighbour does not pay, this is the authority for it.
- Credits are dollars, not kilowatt hours, and they do not come back
- Compensation is "in the form of a dollar-denominated bill credit", carried to the next bill. It is not transferable between customers or premises, and "if an eligible customer-generator closes his or her account, no cash refund for accumulated credits shall be paid."
- Older systems keep one for one for twenty-five years, and it survives a sale
- For facilities in service before the Commission’s initial net metering order, the original tariff terms including "the one-to-one (1:1) kilowatt-hour denominated energy credit" stay in place for twenty-five years "regardless of whether the premises are sold or conveyed". If you are buying a Kentucky house with older solar on it, that is an asset with a date on it. Ask for the interconnection date in writing.
- The extra meter is yours to pay for
- The supplier provides a standard bidirectional meter. "Any additional meter, meters, or distribution upgrades needed to monitor the flow in each direction shall be installed at the customer-generator’s expense."
From Duke Kentucky’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Duke Kentucky net metering questions
- Does Duke Kentucky offer one for one net metering?
- We have not been able to verify a published one for one credit from Duke Kentucky. As a investor owned provider it is not bound by whatever state rule covers the investor owned utilities, so it sets its own terms. Ask Duke Kentucky for the current export rate in writing before you sign anything.
- What does Duke Kentucky pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Duke Kentucky has not published a figure we can verify, so we do not print one. Your installer must confirm the current rate against Duke Kentucky’s own tariff before you commit.
- Do I need a battery with Duke Kentucky?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Duke Kentucky 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 Duke Kentucky territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my Duke Kentucky bill?
- Sign in at duke-energy.com. Open My 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 Duke Kentucky?
- Ask this supplier two things in writing: the current Commission-approved export rate, and how much of its 1% net metering ceiling is already used. The second question decides whether the programme will still exist when your application lands.
Installers serving Duke Kentucky customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
These are real companies operating in Duke Kentucky 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.