Grid & off-grid

Net metering calculator, Indiana

Enter your exact usage, system size, and rate details to see how Indiana's net metering policy affects your solar bill, with precise controls for season, tiered rates, and fixed fees.

Your numbers

1 Project details Optional
Shown on your exported report. Leave blank to skip.
2 Your usage and system
Find this on a recent utility bill, usually labeled kWh used.
Use your quoted or planned system size. Panel count times panel wattage divided by 1,000 gives a rough figure.
Solar production swings seasonally; pick a specific month type to see how your bill shifts.
Most utilities charge a flat customer or connection fee regardless of usage.
3 Your location and rate
Defaulted to Indiana's statewide average. Adjust if you know your local figure.
Defaulted to Indiana's current average residential rate. Your utility's actual rate may differ.
Indiana typically credits exports around 45% of retail. Excess credited near wholesale for new systems; legacy full retail net metering customers grandfathered until 2032.
Some utilities charge progressively higher per-kWh rates as monthly usage climbs into higher tiers.
Accounts for inverter loss, wiring loss, dust, and temperature derate combined.
Informational only. A monthly cycle means unused export credit does not carry to the next bill; annual and rolling cycles do.

How it works

Three steps to your Indiana solar bill estimate

Step 1

Enter your usage, system size, and season

Pull your monthly kWh from a recent bill and enter your planned or quoted system size in kW. If you only know your panel count, multiply it by each panel's wattage and divide by 1,000 to get a kW figure first. Select a season to model a specific month rather than only an annual average.

Step 2

Confirm your rate, tier, and export credit

Indiana's typical residential rate and export credit level are filled in by default. Swap in your utility's actual tariff numbers, tier bracket, and fixed monthly fee if you have a recent bill or interconnection agreement showing them.

Step 3

Compare the result to a full retail scenario

Run the net billing vs net metering comparison tool to see exactly how much Indiana's current export credit rate costs you compared to full 1:1 retail crediting.

How net metering works in Indiana

SEA 309 phased out full retail net metering starting in 2017

Senate Enrolled Act 309 set in motion the phase-out of full retail net metering at Indiana's five largest investor-owned utilities: AES Indiana, CenterPoint Energy (formerly Vectren), Duke Energy Indiana, Indiana Michigan Power, and NIPSCO. New customers at these utilities are enrolled in the Excess Distributed Generation (EDG) program instead, credited using a formula tied to the prior year's average wholesale electricity price plus 25%, a rate that resets annually and typically lands well below retail.

CenterPoint was first, and the rest followed on different timelines

CenterPoint Energy, then still branded Vectren, was the first Indiana utility to end its net metering program under a case decided by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, doing so in 2021. The other four investor-owned utilities transitioned on their own separate schedules under the same law, so the exact cutoff date for full retail crediting differs depending on which utility serves your address.

Grandfathering length depends heavily on your install date

Systems connected before 2018 keep full retail credit through mid-2047. Systems connected between 2018 and each utility's individual cutoff date keep it only through mid-2032, a full 15-year difference in how long the better rate lasts. If you're evaluating an existing system, confirming its exact interconnection date matters more in Indiana than in most states, and Indiana's tax credit and rebate estimator can help you see what a new system would net out to under EDG.

Self-consumption becomes more important under EDG

Since EDG credits typically sit well below retail, sizing a new system around your own self-consumption rate, rather than maximizing total output, captures more value than an oversized system built to export heavily. The grid tie with battery backup comparison tool shows how storing surplus for later use changes that math.

Interconnection and the off-grid comparison

Regardless of which of Indiana's five investor-owned utilities you're with, connecting a new system still requires their standard interconnection review. And even under EDG's reduced rate, staying grid-tied remains dramatically cheaper than building a fully off-grid system; the grid tie vs off grid comparison tool shows how much cheaper.

Questions

Frequently asked

SEA 309 (2017) phased out full retail net metering at Indiana's five biggest investor-owned utilities. New customers get the Excess Distributed Generation rate instead, set at the prior year's average wholesale price plus 25%, typically well below the roughly 18.1 cent retail rate.

The average residential rate in Indiana is about 18.1 cents per kWh. SEA 309 phased out full retail net metering at Indiana's five largest investor-owned utilities in favor of the lower Excess Distributed Generation rate.

The Excess Distributed Generation rate is set as the prior year's average wholesale electricity price plus 25%, a formula that resets annually rather than staying fixed. This typically lands the export credit well below the retail rate, which is why self-consumption matters more for new Indiana systems than it did under the old net metering program.

It depends on when your system connected. Systems installed before 2018 keep full retail credit through mid-2047. Systems installed between 2018 and each utility's individual transition date keep it only through mid-2032, a 15-year difference based purely on install timing.

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