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Net Metering Program
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Seattle City Light net metering in Washington

Seattle and several neighboring cities. A municipal utility, covered by Chapter 80.60 RCW like the investor owned companies.

Type
Municipal
Accounts
480K

What they credit you

One for one in kWh, zeroed each April

Published terms

In a billing period of net use you are billed for the net electricity at your rate. When the system sends more than the house uses, you pay the Base Service Charge and the net excess kilowatt hours are credited on the next bill, one for one.

Month to month
Kilowatt hour credits carry from bill to bill through the net metering year.
Once a year
The net metering year begins on 1 April. Credits still in the account at the first scheduled meter reading of the new year are set to zero, with no payment.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-07 · source

Installers serving Seattle City Light 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 Seattle City Light 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 Seattle City Light bill

An average Washington 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$142.39
$142.39
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 41660 kilowatt hours. A 955 kilowatt hour month against 1,221 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 266 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $142.39 to $0.00 at 14.91 cents per kilowatt hour.

Washington average household use, 955 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 14.91¢ 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.

What your installer should be telling you

A system on City Light’s Network System, the downtown grid, may not export electricity at any time. City Light says it has begun planning the next phase of net metering and aims to give at least six months’ notice of any change.

What Seattle City Light 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
$0.3945 a day, about $12.00 a month inside Seattle
How it is set
City Light bills a Base Service Charge by the day, “billed regardless of your energy usage”: $0.3945 inside Seattle and in Renton, about $12.00 a month, and between $0.4197 and $0.4262 a day in Burien, SeaTac, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Normandy Park, Tukwila and unincorporated King County, about $12.77 to $12.96 a month. Those are the rates in effect since 1 January 2026, and the time-of-use rate introduced in May 2026 carries the same daily charge. The 4% Rate Stabilization Account surcharge that had applied since January 2024 was removed on 1 April 2026. Energy on the flat rate is 13.38 cents a kilowatt hour in Seattle and up to 14.65 cents in the suburban areas. The City Council adopted a further 9.5% increase in each of 2027 and 2028 on 21 July 2026.

Seattle City Light residential rates, flat-rate and time-of-use schedules by jurisdiction, in effect since 1 January 2026 under Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 21.49; Rate Stabilization Account surcharge removed 1 April 2026 · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to Seattle City Light

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

One for one, in kilowatt hours
Under RCW 80.60.030(3), when the system sends more than the house takes in a billing period, you pay the customer charges and the excess kilowatt hours are credited on the next bill, to offset what you use later.
On 31 March the leftover is granted to the utility
RCW 80.60.030(5): any remaining unused kilowatt hour credits accumulated during the previous year "shall be granted to the electric utility, without any compensation to the customer-generator".
Net metering has an end date
RCW 80.60.020(1)(a) requires a utility to offer net metering only until the earlier of 30 June 2029 or the date net metered capacity reaches 4% of its 1996 peak demand. After that, each utility may adopt its own tariff for new customers.
100 kW, and one extra meter
A net metering system may be up to 100 kW AC. On request, credits can be shared with one additional meter on the same or a contiguous parcel, billed to the same customer.
The rule reaches public utility districts too
Chapter 80.60 RCW applies to the public utility districts and city light departments as well as the investor owned utilities.

From Seattle City Light’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-07 · source

Seattle City Light net metering questions

Does Seattle City Light offer one for one net metering?
Yes. In a billing period of net use you are billed for the net electricity at your rate. When the system sends more than the house uses, you pay the Base Service Charge and the net excess kilowatt hours are credited on the next bill, one for one. Kilowatt hour credits carry from bill to bill through the net metering year.
What does Seattle City Light pay for power sent back to the grid?
One for one in kWh, zeroed each April. The net metering year begins on 1 April. Credits still in the account at the first scheduled meter reading of the new year are set to zero, with no payment.
Do I need a battery with Seattle City Light?
Not for the economics. Seattle City Light credits exports at the retail rate, so power you send out during the day comes back at the same value after dark without storage. A battery is still worth considering for outages during hurricane season, but it is an upgrade here rather than a requirement.
How do I find my Seattle City Light bill?
Sign in at seattle.gov/city-light. 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 Seattle City Light?
A system on City Light’s Network System, the downtown grid, may not export electricity at any time. City Light says it has begun planning the next phase of net metering and aims to give at least six months’ notice of any change.