How Florida electric companies handle home solar

Last checked: 2026-10-18 · Reviewed by Terra Green Solar

If Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy Florida or Tampa Electric serves your home, a state rule sets the basics. Each month, the solar power you send to the grid is netted against the power you use, and any extra becomes a credit on your next bill. Credits can roll forward for up to 12 months; at the end of each calendar year, the utility pays you for what is left, at a rate based on the energy costs it avoids. City-owned utilities, such as OUC, and electric co-ops set their own rules.

The rule behind it

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) sets these terms in Rule 25-6.065 of the Florida Administrative Code, in its current form since April 7, 2008. It applies to the state's investor-owned utilities, which the PSC lists as FPL, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric and Florida Public Utilities (PSC news release, July 22, 2024). State law requires each of them to have a standard interconnection agreement and a net metering program (section 366.91(5), Florida Statutes).

How the monthly bill works

Under subsection (8) of the rule:

The meter. At no extra cost to you, the utility installs metering that measures the difference between the power it supplies and the power your system sends to the grid.
Read monthly. The meter is read every month, on the same cycle as your usual rate schedule.
Used more than you sent? You pay for the difference under your usual rate schedule.
Sent more than you used? The extra is credited against your energy use on the next month's bill. The PSC describes it as a kilowatt-hour credit (PSC).
Credits roll forward. They can be used in later months, for up to 12 months.
Some charges stay. You still pay the customer charge, and a demand charge if your rate has one, whether or not your system sent power to the grid. Check your utility's rate schedule for a minimum bill too.

The year-end payout (true-up)

At the end of each calendar year, the utility pays you for unused credits, at an average annual rate based on its COG-1 tariff for "as-available" energy. If you leave the utility's system, unused credits are paid at that same kind of rate (Rule 25-6.065).

Another PSC rule, Rule 25-17.0825, sets the rate in an as-available energy tariff at the utility's avoided energy cost, less the extra costs of buying that energy. Avoided energy cost includes the fuel, variable operating costs and power purchases the utility did not need because it took that power.

Timing and form vary by utility: FPL, for example, says kWh still banked at the December meter reading become a credit on your December bill (FPL).

Connecting to the grid: three tiers by size

Before a system runs connected to the grid, you and the utility sign an interconnection agreement. The rule sorts systems into tiers by "gross power rating": the AC nameplate rating, which for an inverter system is the panels' total DC rating times 0.85. To qualify for the rule's expedited interconnection, the rating cannot exceed 90% of your utility distribution service rating (Rule 25-6.065(4)).

Tier 1: 10 kW or less. No fees beyond what other customers pay, application fees included, and no liability insurance requirement, though the utility may recommend it. An inverter-based Tier 1 system does not have to pay for a manual disconnect switch.
Tier 2: more than 10 kW, up to 100 kW. The utility may charge an application fee the PSC has approved. The agreement requires liability insurance, or proof of self-insurance, of no more than $1 million (Rule 25-6.065).
Tier 3: more than 100 kW, up to 2 MW. As for Tier 2, but the insurance cap is $2 million. If the utility finds a study is needed, it may charge a PSC-approved study fee and require the extra review, testing or equipment the study identifies (Rule 25-6.065).

The rule also requires local code officials to approve the system before it runs connected to the grid, and you to tell the utility at least 10 days before first switching it on. The utility must sign the agreement within 30 days of a complete application, or 90 days when a Tier 3 study is needed.

City-owned utilities and co-ops

Apart from a section on filings and yearly reports, Rule 25-6.065 is written for investor-owned utilities. State law instead requires each city-owned (municipal) electric utility and each rural electric co-op that sells power at retail to offer a standard interconnection agreement and net metering program, and lets each one's governing body set the requirements (section 366.91(6), Florida Statutes). So credits, payouts, fees and tiers can differ from the rule above.

The PSC lists the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) as a municipal utility (PSC, Statistics 2025). If a co-op or another city utility serves you, ask it for its current terms.

Which utility serves you?

Your electric bill. It names the company. See how to read your electric bill for FPL, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric and OUC bills.
The PSC's maps. The PSC publishes service-area maps for investor-owned utilities, city utilities and co-ops. It calls the areas approximations and says to contact the utilities for detail.
One county, several utilities. The PSC lists five utilities serving parts of Orange County, among them Duke Energy Florida, FPL and OUC (PSC, Statistics 2025).

Utility by utility

Rules and tariffs change, so confirm the current terms with your utility before relying on them. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.

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