Con Edison: how it credits the solar power you send to the grid
1:1 net metering, with a Customer Benefit Contribution charge of $1.84 per kW of panels each month (2025 rate) for systems connected since 2022.
Checked November 12, 2026. Utilities change these rules; check the current tariff before you sign.
How it works
Exported power earns the full retail price, kWh for kWh.
Exports offset bought power kWh for kWh within the month, and extra credits carry forward.
The Customer Benefit Contribution keeps solar homes paying toward public benefit programs; for a 10 kW system it was $18.40 a month in 2025, and it can't be paid with solar credits.
Systems connected in 2026 lock in New York's net metering for 20 years.
Fixed solar charge. Customer Benefit Contribution: $1.84 per kW DC each month (2025). Solar credits can't pay it.
What it means for a typical New York home
An average New York home uses about 7,032 kWh a year. A 5 kW system costs about $12,850 at the 2026 median price and makes about 6,455 kWh in its first year, of which we assume about 3,873 kWh goes out to the grid because no one is home to use it.
| First-year savings | Payback | 25-year savings, after the price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| With Con Edison's credit and monthly charge | $1,593 | 8 years | $35,231 |
| Without the monthly charge | $1,703 | 8 years | $39,002 |
The monthly charge costs a typical system about $3,771 over 25 years. Uses New York's average electricity price; Con Edison's own prices may be higher or lower. Paid in cash, no federal credit, prices rising 2.5% a year, one inverter replacement.
Also in New York: National Grid (New York) (full retail credit), PSEG Long Island (full retail credit).
All 55 utilities · Solar in New York · Lease and PPA terms by company
Sources: NYSERDA: 2025 Customer Benefit Contribution rates; Palmetto: New York utility guide; U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), final 2025 data: Annual State Historical Spreadsheets (Form EIA-861, released October 7, 2026) and Electric Power Annual (October 21, 2026); EnergySage: median quoted price, first half of 2026.