California pays 30 to 35¢ for grid power and 4 to 8¢ for the solar you export. That gap is the whole story: on the big three utilities, batteries went from upgrade to prerequisite, while LADWP customers still enjoy the retail-rate deal the rest of the state lost. EcoGen America maps which rules govern your meter before anyone designs your system.
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Since April 2023, new solar customers on PG&E, SCE and SDG&E sit on the Net Billing Tariff: exports are priced hourly at roughly 4 to 8¢ while retail power costs 30 to 35. The gap is why a battery is no longer optional equipment on those utilities; storing your own power beats selling it by a factor of five.
But California is not one market. LADWP customers in Los Angeles still earn retail-rate net metering credits, the deal the rest of the state lost, and SMUD in Sacramento runs its own programs outside CPUC rules entirely.
Two more wrinkles: your export rate locks to your interconnection vintage for nine years, and households already on NEM 2.0 keep their 20-year legacy terms unless an expansion triggers a new interconnection, a mistake no one should make casually.
EcoGen America starts where the money starts, with who runs your meter, then models the battery math honestly and matches you with installers who design for the tariff you are actually on.
Every installer we list designs for the Net Billing Tariff or your municipal alternative, not for the net-metering world that ended in 2023.
Built-in checks for solar-only quotes on NBT utilities, dead SGIP promises, and designs that would break a NEM 2.0 legacy lock.
PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, LADWP and SMUD each run different rules. We model the one on your meter, including the ACC Plus adder where it exists.
Your information goes only to the installers you choose to hear from. Nothing is resold.
EcoGen is 100% free for homeowners. We earn a small referral fee from installers only when you choose to proceed with a project through our platform.
This fee comes from the installer’s marketing budget and does not increase your system price. In fact, our pre-negotiated rates often save you money compared to going direct.
The Net Billing Tariff prices what you buy and what you sell on different planets. Everything about a smart California system design follows from this one table.
Utility | What You Pay for Grid Power | What Your Exports Earn | The Design Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
PG&E | 30 to 35¢/kWh | ~4 to 8¢, hourly, plus the ACC Plus adder on early years | Battery, sized to evening usage |
SCE | 30 to 35¢/kWh | ~4 to 8¢, hourly, plus ACC Plus | Battery, sized to evening usage |
SDG&E | Among the state’s highest | ~4 to 8¢, hourly, no ACC Plus adder | Battery, and the tightest math of the three |
LADWP | LA municipal rates | Full retail-rate credit, still | Solar alone still works here |
SMUD | Sacramento municipal rates | Own program, outside CPUC rules | Check SMUD’s current terms first |
The corollary most quotes skip: on the big three, a solar-only system exports its best afternoon production at the worst price. If a proposal has no battery and no self-consumption story, it was designed for 2022.
CPUC utility or municipal? The answer changes everything downstream, from export rates to whether a battery is essential or optional.
On PG&E, SCE and SDG&E, design battery-first: store the afternoon, spend it in the evening, export only what is left.
Your export rate locks to your interconnection date for nine years, and NEM 2.0 households risk their 20-year legacy terms by expanding carelessly. Timing is part of the design.
Free 15-minute call. We identify your tariff, your adder eligibility and your honest payback.
The 2023 export cut applied to CPUC-regulated utilities. Californians on municipal power live under different rules, and some of them are better.
California solar is not dead; it is bifurcated. Know which side of the line your meter sits on before comparing any two quotes. The full program map is in our California incentives guide.
California Contract Checks
Post-2023 California rewards buyers who interrogate the design, not the brochure. Four questions do most of the work.
NBT on an IOU, retail NEM at LADWP, SMUD's own program, or a NEM 2.0 legacy: the savings model is meaningless until the tariff is named.
On the big three, no battery needs explaining. With one, the size should map to your evening load, not to the biggest unit on the truck.
The federal residential credit is gone, most residential SGIP categories are closed, and lease providers claiming the commercial credit are not obligated to pass the full value through.
California leases dominate post-25D, and escalators plus transfer terms decide whether they age well. The contract, not the pitch, is the product.
Four questions, any quote, any utility. California installers worth hiring answer them without friction.
Vetted for CSLB licensing, storage design competence, warranties and complaint history.
The highest rates in the continental U.S. keep most California roofs viable. These are the exceptions, and they are bigger than the sales industry admits.
What still cannot hurt you: your property taxes. California”s 100% exclusion means a solar system adds no assessed value, statewide. Run your own scenario in our worth-it breakdown.
See how it stacks against real California pricing, battery math included.
15 minutes with an independent advisor. We name your tariff, test the battery sizing and price the whole thing honestly.
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Yes, but the design changed. Retail power at 30 to 35¢ is the highest in the continental U.S., so offsetting your own usage still pays powerfully; exporting does not.
On PG&E, SCE and SDG&E that means battery-first design and a 7-to-10-year payback on the pair. On LADWP, solar alone still works the old way.
Roughly 4 to 8¢/kWh, priced hourly through the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator, with an adder boosting early years for PG&E and SCE customers but not SDG&E.
Whatever rate applies at your interconnection locks to your system for nine years, which makes your connection date part of the economics.
Carefully. Your legacy terms, roughly 30-to-35¢ credits for 20 years from interconnection, survive only as long as you avoid changes that trigger a new interconnection agreement.
Batteries can usually be added without losing the lock; system expansions are where people get burned. Get tariff-literate advice before signing anything.
Yes. LADWP is municipal, outside CPUC jurisdiction, and still credits exports at the retail rate, which is why LA is now the best rooftop-solar deal among major California cities.
SMUD in Sacramento is similarly independent but runs different terms; check directly.
No. The state’s 100% property tax exclusion means the added value of a residential solar system is not assessed, anywhere in California.
That exclusion and the federal lease-side commercial credit are the last broad incentives standing after the 2026 changes.