Grid & off-grid

Net metering calculator, Texas

Model your solar bill in Texas's deregulated market, where your Retail Electric Provider, not a statewide mandate, decides what your solar exports are worth.

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 Texas's average peak sun hours. Adjust if you know your local figure.
Defaulted to Texas's current average residential rate. Your utility's actual rate may differ.
Texas typically credits exports around 50% of retail. No statewide mandate. Buyback rates depend entirely on the retail electric provider chosen in the deregulated ERCOT market.
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 Texas 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. Since REP buyback plans range from near-zero to full retail match, check your specific plan's rate before locking in the export credit level below. Select a season to model a specific month rather than only an annual average.

Step 2

Confirm your rate, tier, and export credit

A typical Texas residential rate and a 50% export credit are filled in by default, a rough midpoint since REP plans vary so widely. Swap in your own REP's actual buyback rate and fixed monthly fee if you have a recent bill showing them.

Step 3

Compare the result to a full retail scenario

Run the net billing vs net metering comparison tool to see how much a below-retail REP plan costs you compared to a retail-match plan's full 1:1 crediting.

How net metering works in Texas

No statewide mandate, because Texas is a deregulated market

Texas deregulated its electricity market in 2002, separating who delivers power from who sells it. In roughly 85% of the state, your Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU), such as Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, or TNMP, handles the physical wires and meter, but has no say in solar compensation. Your Retail Electric Provider (REP), a company you choose and can switch, sets the buyback terms, if it offers any at all. There's no statewide requirement that any REP pay anything for your exports.

Buyback rates vary enormously by provider and plan type

REP solar buyback plans generally fall into three types: retail-match plans that credit exports at your full consumption rate, effectively 1:1 net metering; fixed-rate plans paying a set amount per kWh regardless of market conditions; and real-time wholesale plans tied to ERCOT's fluctuating market price, which can spike during summer heat waves but drop sharply in winter. Rates across these plans have ranged from roughly 3 cents to full retail match, a wide enough spread that the REP you choose can be worth $500 to $1,000 a year in either direction, and the time-of-use rate savings calculator can help model a real-time wholesale plan's hour-by-hour swings.

Austin and San Antonio run entirely separate systems

Austin Energy and CPS Energy are municipal utilities outside the deregulated market, so residents there don't choose a REP at all. Austin Energy runs a Value of Solar tariff, crediting exports at 9.91 cents/kWh through a second dedicated meter, rising to 12.88 cents/kWh on October 1, 2026. CPS Energy in San Antonio credits exports at its own avoided-cost rate, tied to current wholesale electricity prices. The Retail Electric Provider (REP) lays out the same rules from the regulator's side.

Credits usually only offset part of your bill

A detail many Texas solar owners miss: buyback credits typically only offset the energy supply portion of your bill, not the separate TDU delivery charges and base fees that still apply regardless of your credit balance. Even a strong buyback rate doesn't fully zero out a bill the way full retail net metering might elsewhere, which is why a self-consumption battery can add real value in Texas even with a generous REP. The net billing vs net metering comparison tool can help you understand that structural difference in dollar terms.

Interconnection and the off-grid comparison

Whichever REP or municipal utility serves you, connecting a system still requires your TDU's standard interconnection and bidirectional meter installation, and the grid interconnection cost estimator covers what to expect there. Given how much buyback terms can vary, self-consumption remains the most reliable value driver in Texas, the grid tie vs off grid comparison tool shows why staying grid-tied still beats going fully off-grid despite how much buyback terms vary from one REP to the next.

Questions

Frequently asked

Texas has no statewide net metering mandate. Your Retail Electric Provider (REP) sets buyback terms, ranging from retail-match plans (effectively 1:1) to fixed-rate or real-time wholesale plans. Municipal utilities like Austin Energy and CPS Energy run their own separate structures.

The average residential rate in Texas was about 15.9 to 16.4 cents per kWh as of mid-2026, per EIA data. There's no statewide net metering mandate; your Retail Electric Provider (REP) sets whatever buyback terms it chooses to offer.

Your Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU), like Oncor or CenterPoint, owns the physical wires and meter and is assigned by your address; you can't choose it. Your Retail Electric Provider (REP) sells you electricity, handles billing, and sets your solar buyback rate; you choose your REP and can switch at any time, subject to any contract terms.

Both are municipal utilities outside the deregulated REP market, so residents can't choose a provider. Austin Energy runs a Value of Solar tariff, crediting exports at 9.91 cents/kWh, rising to 12.88 cents/kWh on October 1, 2026. CPS Energy in San Antonio credits exports at its own avoided-cost rate, tied to current wholesale prices.

Related tools

Compare Texas's policy to other structures

Grid tie vs off grid comparison Net billing vs net metering Buy all sell all vs net metering Avoided cost rate calculator Grid export cap calculator Grid interconnection cost estimator Grid tie with battery backup comparison All grid and off-grid tools