Utilities · Solar in California
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E): how it credits the solar power you send to the grid
Hourly export credits averaging about 3.9 cents per kWh, plus an “ACC Plus” adder of about 1 cent for 2026 applicants, locked for 9 years. Requires the E-ELEC rate plan.
Checked November 12, 2026. Utilities change these rules; check the current tariff before you sign.
How it works
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) credits exported power at 4.9 cents per kWh, about 16% of California's average electricity price.
Under California's net billing tariff, each hour's exports earn a credit set by the state's avoided cost calculator, so a kWh sent out on a September evening is worth many times one sent out at noon in April.
Credits pile up month to month and are settled once a year on PG&E's True-Up Statement; unused export credits roll into the next year.
Because every kWh you use yourself saves the full E-ELEC price, a battery or shifting laundry and car charging to the sunny hours does more here than a bigger array.
Already have solar? Customers who applied before April 15, 2023 stay on NEM 1.0 or 2.0 retail credits for 20 years from the date their system was connected.
Tip: Read your yearly statement with our true-up guide. Read it.
What it means for a typical California home
An average California home uses about 5,928 kWh a year. A 3 kW system costs about $7,710 at the 2026 median price and makes about 5,031 kWh in its first year, of which we assume about 3,019 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 PG&E's credit | $779 | 10 years | $14,571 |
| If every exported kWh earned the full price | $1,577 | 5 years | $40,104 |
The difference, about $25,533 over 25 years, is what PG&E's rules cost a typical system compared with full net metering. Using more of the power at home, while the sun is up, closes some of that gap. Uses California's average electricity price; PG&E'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 California: Southern California Edison (SCE) (6.6¢), SDG&E (3.7¢), LADWP (full retail credit), SMUD (9.6¢).
All 55 utilities · Solar in California · Lease and PPA terms by company
Sources: NRG Clean Power: NEM 3.0 export credits by utility; 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.