Duke Energy Carolinas
The Upstate and the northwest, including Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson and Rock Hill. A separate South Carolina tariff from the same company’s North Carolina one. Do not carry a North Carolina figure across the state line.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 600K
What they credit you
Low single digit cents, under a $30 floor
Published termsSolar choice metering bills you on a time of use rate and credits exports at a per-kWh figure reset each year in the fuel case. The Office of Regulatory Staff put that figure at 2.70 cents for Duke Energy Carolinas in January 2022, under a $30 monthly minimum bill.
- Month to month
- Monthly credits carry forward; a credit is applied at the end of each year.
Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Battery backup is mandatory
in Duke Carolinas territory.
Duke Carolinas 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 Duke Carolinas 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. South Carolina’s solar choice tariffs bill you on a time of use rate, which changes the sizing question: solar produces off-peak, and the expensive hours are in the evening, so a system sized only against annual kilowatt hours can still leave a bill. Duke Carolinas sets its own limits. Ask Duke Carolinas 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 Carolinas 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
The 2.70 cent figure is the January 2022 value from the state’s own consumer advocate and is reset annually in the fuel case. Ask Duke for the current export credit and the current minimum bill before you sign.
What Duke Carolinas 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
- $30.00 a month
- How it is set
- The Office of Regulatory Staff records a minimum monthly bill of $30.00 for the Duke solar choice rates as of 1 January 2022, replacing the basic facilities charge. Duke Energy Carolinas customers pay an additional $16.91, and Duke Energy Progress customers an additional $15.37, to reach it.
checked 2026-09-05 · source
Applying to Duke Carolinas
What Duke Carolinas itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- Three groups, three deals, and one of them has already ended
- The Office of Regulatory Staff sets it out plainly: applications before 16 May 2019 kept the full retail rate "until December 31, 2025"; applications between 16 May 2019 and 31 May 2021 keep it "until May 31, 2029"; from 1 June 2021 solar choice metering applies. The first group’s protection has expired.
- Solar choice means a time of use rate on everything you buy
- The ORS is blunt about the consequence: "Solar typically produces electricity during off-peak hours ... Consumers with solar may produce enough electricity to cover their usage during on-peak times, but still end up paying a bill because of the higher price to use electricity in the evenings."
- The export credit is reset every year in the fuel case
- The ORS: "This per kWh credit amount is determined in the company’s annual fuel case." Whatever figure an installer quotes you is this year’s, not the life of the system.
- The rates are available for ten years, not forever
- The Commission approved these rates for consumers applying on or after 1 June 2021, "available to consumers for the next ten years".
- The minimum bill is $30, and it replaced something smaller
- ORS, January 2022: "Minimum monthly bill of $30.00 as of January 1, 2022. Previously, consumers had to pay the basic facilities charge." For Duke Energy Carolinas that meant an extra $16.91 a month to reach the floor.
- What an exported kilowatt hour was worth in 2022
- ORS gave $0.0270 per kWh for Duke Energy Carolinas and $0.0230 for Duke Energy Progress. Those are January 2022 figures from an annual fuel case, four years old. Ask for the current one; the order of magnitude is the useful part.
- Credits are settled once a year
- ORS: "Consumers will receive a credit on their bill at the end of each year." A credit, not a cheque.
From Duke Carolinas’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Duke Carolinas net metering questions
- Does Duke Carolinas offer one for one net metering?
- No. Solar choice metering bills you on a time of use rate and credits exports at a per-kWh figure reset each year in the fuel case. The Office of Regulatory Staff put that figure at 2.70 cents for Duke Energy Carolinas in January 2022, under a $30 monthly minimum bill.
- What does Duke Carolinas pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Low single digit cents, under a $30 floor. Monthly credits carry forward; a credit is applied at the end of each year.
- Do I need a battery with Duke Carolinas?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Duke Carolinas 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 Carolinas territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my Duke Carolinas bill?
- Sign in at duke-energy.com. Open My Account, then Billing & Payment. Open View 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 Carolinas?
- The 2.70 cent figure is the January 2022 value from the state’s own consumer advocate and is reset annually in the fuel case. Ask Duke for the current export credit and the current minimum bill before you sign.
Installers serving Duke Carolinas customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
These are real companies operating in Duke Carolinas 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.