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Net Metering Program
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DTE Energy net metering in Michigan

Southeast Michigan, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron and the Thumb. The largest utility in the state and the first to move new customers off net metering.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
2.3M

What they credit you

Retail in, outflow rate out

Published terms

Under the distributed generation program, consumption is billed at the retail rate and exports are credited at a lower outflow rate, counted separately rather than netted.

Month to month
Outflow credits applied against the bill.

Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source

Installers serving DTE customers

Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.

Not sure which to choose?

These are real companies operating in DTE territory. Bold Energy is listed first because it is the company we introduce first. That order is our choice, not a score. The other companies are 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.

What this looks like on a DTE bill

An average Michigan household, against a system sized to cover its year. The energy charge is the part that goes to zero. The fixed monthly charge underneath it is the part that never does, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

Meter readingkWh
Energy charge$142.08
$142.08
We have read this provider’s own tariff. What it still bills you at zero is set out below, with the sheet it came from. The energy line above uses the statewide average. See what they still bill
DirectionReading…

Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41754 kilowatt hours. A 618 kilowatt hour month against 790 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 172 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $142.08 to $0.00 at 22.99 cents per kilowatt hour.

Michigan average household use, 618 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 22.99¢ 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.

DTE requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in DTE territory.

DTE does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.

That does not make solar a bad idea in DTE 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. Michigan bills what you consume at retail and credits what you export at a lower outflow rate, so the kilowatt hour your panels make and your house uses at the same moment is the one worth most. Sizing and load shifting matter more here than array size. DTE sets its own limits. Ask DTE 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 DTE 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

Get the current outflow rate in cents per kWh in writing, and check how much of this utility’s distributed generation cap remains.

What DTE 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
$8.50 a month
How it is set
Rate D1 sets the delivery Service Charge at $8.50 a month, with distribution at 8.907¢ per kWh on top of what you use. Every DTE residential schedule carries the same $8.50 — standard, time-of-use, overnight and the low-income rate — so it is the figure whatever plan you are on. The sheet notes that Commission surcharges apply to actual consumption and not to the minimum charge.

M.P.S.C. No. 1, Sheet No. D-1.00, effective 6 February 2025 (Case No. U-21534) · checked 2026-09-18 · source

Applying to DTE

What DTE itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.

Inflow and outflow are counted separately, and that is deliberate
A smart meter sums power flowing to the grid and from the grid. Consumption is billed at the retail rate; exports are credited at the utility’s outflow rate, which is lower. The two are not netted against each other.
Self consumption never touches either total
Energy your panels produce and your house uses in the same moment does not flow either way, so it is worth the full retail rate. Under an inflow-outflow arrangement that is the most valuable kilowatt hour you can make.
Net metering itself ended under PA 342 of 2016
Existing net metering customers were grandfathered for ten years. New applicants enrol in the distributed generation program instead.
The cap has moved, upward
The program was capped at 1% of each utility’s peak load. Public Act 235 of 2023 raised the aggregate distributed generation cap to 10% of average in-state peak load, and Consumers agreed to double its own from 1% to 2%.
Ask for the outflow rate as a number
The whole economics of a Michigan system sits in the gap between the retail rate you pay and the outflow rate you are paid. A quote that does not state the outflow rate is not a quote you can check.

From DTE’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source

DTE net metering questions

Does DTE offer one for one net metering?
No. Under the distributed generation program, consumption is billed at the retail rate and exports are credited at a lower outflow rate, counted separately rather than netted.
What does DTE pay for power sent back to the grid?
Retail in, outflow rate out. Outflow credits applied against the bill.
Do I need a battery with DTE?
Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because DTE 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 DTE territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
How do I find my DTE bill?
Sign in at dteenergy.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 DTE?
Get the current outflow rate in cents per kWh in writing, and check how much of this utility’s distributed generation cap remains.