The rules are changing for solar customers in North Carolina. Net-metering as it is currently structured goes away after October 1st, 2023. After that date, all new solar customers will receive the lower “avoided cost rate” for any excess power they send to the grid. Other changes kick in as well. For existing solar customers, net-metering with full value on every watt produced continues until 2027 due to a negotiated “bridge rate”. Sundance Power Systems’ President & CEO, Dave Hollister, is part of the leadership group of independently-owned solar companies that got the bridge rate completed. We are proud to be part of negotiations with Duke Energy and fighting for North Carolina solar customers, both existing and new!
By getting started on your solar system by October 1st 2023, you will be locked in to these full benefits through 2026 as a “legacy customer”
Legacy customers will continue to receive full net metering through the end of 2026. That means they will receive a 1:1 credit for production of electricity from their solar system. This is the current status of net-metering in North Carolina and it will change for everyone, legacy customers or new ones, after 2026. Legacy customers simply get to hold on to current net-metering for another 3-plus years and earn a higher ‘credit’ for every watt they produce with their solar system.
After 2026, ‘credit’ for over-production of electricity will be handled differently. Currently, all solar customers in NC have a yearly reset. This essentially means that overproduction in the height of summer can be used to offset the lower producing winter months. For legacy customers, the annual ‘reset’ will be in effect through 2026. Starting in 2027, the utility will credit legacy customers monthly for every watt produced beyond the amount of watts they used that month. The utility will pay the wholesale rate, about ⅓ of the retail rate of energy that the customer pays. This will be taken off the following month’s power bill. While it will no longer be the 1:1 value of each watt, solar customers will still receive some value for any extra electricity that they produce. Again, legacy customers will receive the full 1:1 pricing for energy produced through the end of 2026 while new customers after Oct 1 will go directly to the monthly reset policy.
Contact Sundance today to learn how you can benefit from the new Bridge Rate!
