Florida net metering: compare your utility's terms
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Read the name on your power bill before using a solar savings forecast. Florida utilities do not all value exports in the same way. Power used in the home, monthly credits and leftover annual credits can have different values. This guide compares the rules, not a promised return or a fixed export price.
Investor-owned utilities: the shared rule
FPL, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric (TECO) are investor-owned utilities. Their net-metering framework comes from FPSC Rule 25-6.065. Under that framework, credits offset energy use and can carry forward. Unused annual credits use the as-available tariff basis, rather than a promise of retail cash value.
Municipal utilities and cooperatives have their own terms. Do not apply an investor-owned utility's credit model to every Florida account. Confirm your account's tariff, system eligibility and any charges that remain.
FPL, Duke Energy Florida and TECO
FPL banks unused monthly kWh. It settles the remaining balance on the December bill using its average annual generation-cost rate. That does not remove every utility charge. Ask for a forecast with the remaining bill items shown.
Duke's FPSC-filed rules describe monthly energy offsets, carried credits and annual surplus valued through its as-available tariff. The linked filing is historical. Check Duke's live tariff for your account; we could not directly retrieve its current PDF. No current payment month or cents-per-kWh amount is asserted here.
TECO describes export credits based on the current retail energy rate. Its bill shows power delivered and received. Use the IOU rule's annual-surplus framework separately from the monthly credit. Ask the installer to distinguish grid exchanges from total panel output.
OUC: check dates and the account holder
OUC's table lists full retail eligibility through June 30, 2045 for qualifying completed/paid applications received on or before June 30, 2025. Newer accounts get a retail-credit grace period through October 31, 2026. The Community Solar Energy rate then applies through June 30, 2030, followed by the Retail Levelized Fuel rate.
OUC says settlement moves to the same billing period beginning November 1, 2026. A change in account holder can affect the rate. Ask OUC to confirm your status in writing. Its optional battery rebate requires giving up full retail export-rate eligibility. Compare that trade-off before choosing it.
JEA, GRU and Tallahassee: different city rules
JEA credits exports at its fuel rate. Credits above the bill accrue through the calendar year. Any remaining balance is paid under its distributed-generation policy. This is not a full retail payment for every unit the panels make.
Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) lists its fuel-adjustment rate for exports under the current program. Ask GRU to confirm any legacy agreement on an existing system. Keep its utility engineering review separate from the building permit.
City of Tallahassee Utilities describes retail-value net metering with monthly carryforward. Unused credits expire at the account's net-metering anniversary. They do not roll into another year or produce a check. A forecast should show that reset.
LCEC: the cooperative's own rider
Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) deducts received energy from delivered energy during the bill period. Excess kWh credits carry through the calendar year. The annual remainder uses the prior year's calculated avoided purchase-power cost. Minimum charges can still apply. Check the rider for your account before treating a large export total as cash income.
Questions homeowners ask
The meter and the inverter can measure different things. Solar power used inside the home need not pass out through the utility meter. An app may show all panel output, while the bill records power sent to or received from the grid. A difference between those totals does not by itself show a fault or missing credit. First check what each screen calls production, use and export.
Ask the installer to explain those labels with your own records. Use matching dates when comparing a bill with an app report. Keep the power used at home separate from exports in the savings forecast. The first can avoid a purchase, while the second follows your utility's credit rules. TECO's bill guide and FPL's FAQ explain this distinction. Do not multiply every unit in the app by a retail price and call the result a payment.
No. A monthly energy credit and an annual settlement can use different rules. Some programs let a credit offset later energy use. Any balance left at the annual reset may then receive another value or expire. The timing also differs: a calendar-year reset is not the same as an account anniversary. Read both parts of the tariff before deciding how much extra capacity to buy.
Tallahassee says unused credits expire at the net-metering anniversary without a check. LCEC's rider instead describes a calendar-year balance paid at its calculated avoided purchase-power cost for the prior year. These are distinct mechanisms. Ask the bidder to show a month-by-month balance and the final reset. Keep fixed or minimum charges visible. A system that makes more annual power is not automatically the system that gives your home the best net savings.
Do not carry the credit assumptions across unchanged. JEA and GRU publish their own export terms. JEA names its fuel rate, while GRU's current program names its fuel-adjustment rate. That differs from assuming all exported units offset retail energy purchases. A useful forecast needs the account's own tariff and a split between power used at home and power sent to the grid.
Ask the bidder to name the source for the rate it used. Check the account holder and any existing solar agreement with the utility. Then ask for the remaining grid bill as well as the solar payment. If a battery is proposed, ask how its losses, cost and operating plan affect the result. Do not count the same unit as both a home-use saving and an export credit. This page gives no guaranteed savings amount.
Get the utility agreement, account details and equipment records before relying on the seller's bill. Ask the utility what happens when the account changes hands. The panels stay with the roof only under the terms of the sale and any equipment contract; the old bill alone does not tell you your rights or future credit rate. Review the ownership or lease papers as a separate task.
OUC says a new or transferred account can receive a different export rate. FPL also describes an application and agreement process for a home with an existing system. Ask whether any equipment changes require more documents. Keep the utility's written reply with the sale records and have the appropriate adviser review unclear contract duties. Use your own expected power use in the forecast. A previous owner's low bill is not a promise of the same result for you.
Ask for a clear split between home use, grid purchases and exports. The quote should name the utility and tariff used for each value. It should explain credit rollover, the reset date and the value of any balance left over. Ask which fixed or minimum charges remain. A single annual production total does not answer these questions. Keep the equipment price and any loan or lease payment beside the bill forecast.
Use the same home usage assumptions when comparing bids. Ask what changes if the export rate or your use changes. Have the bidder state what it leaves out, such as upkeep or replacement costs. Check the utility's current terms yourself before signing. Always verify the contractor's licence at myfloridalicense.com. A quote referral does not certify the model, the contractor or the promised savings. Keep copies of the assumptions so you can review them later.
Plan your next step
This guide explains sources, not the outcome of your case. It is not legal, tax or engineering advice. Confirm the rules with the authority for your home. Always verify the contractor’s licence at myfloridalicense.com before signing.