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Net Metering Program
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Duke Energy Progress net metering in South Carolina

The Pee Dee and the northeast, including Florence, Sumter and Darlington.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
170K

What they credit you

2.3 cents in 2022, under the same $30 floor

Published terms

The same solar choice structure as Duke Energy Carolinas with its own numbers: the Office of Regulatory Staff put the export credit at 2.30 cents per kWh 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

Installers serving Duke Progress 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 Duke Progress 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 Duke Progress bill

An average South Carolina 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$163.28
$163.28
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 41633 kilowatt hours. A 1,050 kilowatt hour month against 1,343 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 293 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $163.28 to $0.00 at 15.55 cents per kilowatt hour.

South Carolina average household use, 1,050 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 15.55¢ 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.

Duke Progress requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in Duke Progress territory.

Duke Progress 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 Progress 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 Progress sets its own limits. Ask Duke Progress 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 Progress 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

January 2022 figure, reset annually in the fuel case. Ask for the current export credit in writing.

What Duke Progress 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
Rider RSC (SC), Residential Solar Choice, governs this for both Duke utilities and states a rule rather than a number: the monthly minimum bill "shall be no less than the Basic Facilities Charge from the Customer’s rate schedule and riders plus, if applicable, any additional minimum bill provisions specified in the Customer’s rate schedule and riders." That resolves to $30.00, which the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff records for the Duke solar choice rates, with Duke Energy Progress customers paying an additional $15.37 above the basic facilities charge to reach it. The rider then puts your solar credit out of reach of it: "Bill credits for net excess energy are not included in the calculation of the minimum bill charge. Bill credits will reduce a Customer’s total bill after the minimum bill charge has been applied." The minimum is calculated first and the credit is spent on whatever remains. Note too that the rider moves you onto Schedule R-STOU, a time-of-use rate, caps the system at 20 kW AC, and conveys every renewable energy certificate to Duke. Exported energy is credited at 2.62 cents a kilowatt hour.

Rider RSC (SC), Residential Solar Choice, South Carolina First Revised Leaf No. 136, effective for service rendered on and after 1 January 2023, PSCSC Docket 2020-264-E, Order 2021-390; the $30.00 figure from the SC Office of Regulatory Staff Solar Choice Rates Overview, as of 1 January 2022 · checked 2026-09-30 · source

Applying to Duke Progress

What Duke Progress 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 you pay $15.37 extra to reach it
ORS, January 2022: the $30.00 minimum monthly bill replaced the basic facilities charge, and Duke Energy Progress customers pay an additional $15.37 a month to meet it.
What an exported kilowatt hour was worth in 2022
ORS gave $0.0230 per kWh for Duke Energy Progress, lower than its sister company’s 2.70 cents. Both are January 2022 figures and both reset annually.

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

Duke Progress net metering questions

Does Duke Progress offer one for one net metering?
No. The same solar choice structure as Duke Energy Carolinas with its own numbers: the Office of Regulatory Staff put the export credit at 2.30 cents per kWh in January 2022, under a $30 monthly minimum bill.
What does Duke Progress pay for power sent back to the grid?
2.3 cents in 2022, under the same $30 floor. Monthly credits carry forward; a credit is applied at the end of each year.
Do I need a battery with Duke Progress?
Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Duke Progress 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 Progress territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
How do I find my Duke Progress 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 Progress?
January 2022 figure, reset annually in the fuel case. Ask for the current export credit in writing.