Grid & off-grid

Net metering calculator, Kentucky

Enter your exact usage, system size, and rate details to see how Kentucky'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 Kentucky's average peak sun hours. Adjust if you know your local figure.
Defaulted to Kentucky's current average residential rate. Your utility's actual rate may differ.
Kentucky typically credits exports around 35% of retail. 2019 law shifted new interconnections to avoided-cost crediting; older systems grandfathered at retail.
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 Kentucky 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

Kentucky'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 Kentucky's current export credit rate costs you compared to full 1:1 retail crediting.

How net metering works in Kentucky

The 2019 law that split old and new solar owners

Kentucky's legislature passed a law in 2019, Senate Bill 100, that ended full retail net metering for new interconnections while grandfathering existing systems for 25 years. The actual cutoff isn't one statewide date, though: each utility had to bring its own rate case before the Public Service Commission before its new rate took effect, so LG&E and Kentucky Utilities closed their old tariffs years before Duke Energy Kentucky did. Anyone who installed before their own utility's case concluded keeps retail-rate crediting for the remainder of the 25-year term; anyone since is credited at a rate closer to the utility's avoided cost, well below retail.

Utility-set avoided cost, not a single statewide number

Because the post-2019 rate is tied to each utility's own avoided cost calculation, the actual export credit varies by provider rather than following one fixed statewide figure. Checking your specific utility's current tariff, or a recent bill if you already have solar, is the only reliable way to know your exact rate.

Self-consumption is where the value shifted after 2019

With export credits now sitting below retail for new systems, your own self-consumption rate is worth more than what you send to the grid. That makes sizing a system around your actual daytime usage, rather than total annual output, a bigger factor in Kentucky than it was before the law changed.

What interconnection costs on top of the rate change

The 2019 law changed compensation, not the interconnection process itself: your utility still needs to approve and complete an agreement before your system can start earning any credit. The grid interconnection cost estimator breaks down what to expect for application, equipment, and any study fees, and Kentucky's tax credit and rebate estimator can help offset it.

Does the lower export rate make off-grid worth a look?

Even with reduced export credit, staying grid-tied remains far cheaper than a fully off-grid system, since off-grid setups need battery capacity sized for the worst stretch of weather rather than ordinary daily cycling. The grid tie vs off grid comparison tool runs both paths against Kentucky's actual numbers.

Questions

Frequently asked

A 2019 Kentucky law, Senate Bill 100, ended full retail net metering for new interconnections, with each utility bringing its own rate case to the Public Service Commission before its switch took effect. New systems are credited closer to the utility's own avoided cost, well below the roughly 14 cent retail rate, up from around 12 cents a year earlier, while systems that interconnected before their utility's case concluded keep retail-rate crediting for 25 years.

The average residential rate in Kentucky was about 14 cents per kWh as of late 2026, per EIA data, up from around 12 cents a year earlier. A 2019 law ended full retail net metering for new interconnections in favor of a utility-specific avoided-cost rate.

Kentucky's legislature passed Senate Bill 100 in 2019, ending full retail net metering for new solar interconnections. Rather than one statewide cutoff date, each utility brought its own rate case before the Public Service Commission, so the actual transition date differs by provider; LG&E and Kentucky Utilities closed years before Duke Energy Kentucky did. Systems that interconnected before their own utility's case concluded keep retail-rate crediting for 25 years; everything since is compensated at a rate closer to the utility's avoided cost instead.

No. Since the 2019 change, the export rate for new systems is tied to each individual utility's own avoided cost calculation rather than one fixed statewide number. Checking your specific provider's current tariff is the only reliable way to know your exact export rate.

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