Incentives
Net Metering in Texas
Texas has no statewide net metering mandate. Credit for exported solar comes from utility and retail provider buyback plans. Here is how to compare them.
This is the most misunderstood part of Texas solar. There is no state law requiring one-for-one net metering. What you get for exported energy depends entirely on your utility, and in deregulated areas, on the retail electric provider plan you choose.
Three different situations
Which one applies to you depends on who bills you for electricity.
- Deregulated territory (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP): your REP sets the buyback rate. Delivery utility handles the meter.
- Municipal utility (Austin Energy, CPS Energy, Denton, Garland, Lubbock): the city utility sets its own credit structure.
- Electric cooperative: the co-op board sets buyback terms, which range from generous to nominal.
How to compare buyback plans
Read past the headline rate. A plan advertising full retail buyback may carry a higher energy rate on imported power, a monthly fee, or a cap on credited exports.
- Export credit rate in cents per kWh
- Whether credits are monetary or kWh-for-kWh
- Monthly or annual cap on credited export
- Whether excess credits roll over or expire
- Import energy rate and base monthly charge on the same plan
- Contract term and early termination fee
How this changes system sizing
With weak buyback, oversizing an array is a bad investment because exported kWh earn far less than the retail rate you avoid by self-consuming. With strong buyback, sizing to 100% or more of annual usage makes sense.
Our calculator lets you adjust the share of usage you cover, which is the practical way to model this tradeoff before you commit.