South Carolina
Net metering in South Carolina: every utility’s export rule
What happens to the power your panels send to the grid, utility by utility, after Act 62.
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South Carolina solar export rules by utility
Rules for a system applying now. Verified at each utility’s tariff or program page on 5 October 2026.
| Utility | Rule | How exports net | What surplus earns | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | Residential Solar Choice rider (Rider to Rate 5) | Monthly netting in kWh within each time-of-use period; surplus offsets lower-priced periods, then banks forward | Each November at avoided cost (Rate PR-1 off-peak winter credit); bank resets | Time-of-use Rate 5 required; $13.50 minimum bill; credits never offset the basic facilities charge; 20 kW AC limit |
| Duke Energy Carolinas | Rider RSC Residential Solar Choice | Netted within each time-of-use period monthly | Net excess credited at 4.19¢/kWh | Schedule R-STOU required; 20 kW AC limit; renewable energy certificates go to Duke; a non-bypassable charge per kW DC applies (amount not verified) |
| Santee Cooper | Distributed Generation Rider DG-25 | Hourly netting; a monthly net credit of $50 or more is paid by check, smaller amounts carry forward | 4.15¢/kWh exported | $10 monthly charge; $100 application fee; limit is the lesser of 20 kW or the estimated maximum monthly demand; rates set by the Santee Cooper board |
| Berkeley Electric Cooperative | Renewable Surplus Rider | Not published in a source we could verify | 6.03¢/kWh exported, updated each year around 1 March | $150 application, $50 inspection; 20 kW AC residential; not on time-of-day or demand rates |
| Palmetto Electric Cooperative | Net Billing Rider | Monetary credit; excess dollar credit rolls over month to month | 4.662¢/kWh for 2026–27 (4.329¢ in 2025–26) | $100 residential application; 20 kW residential; legacy net-metering members move after 31 December 2027 |
| Greer Commission of Public Works | Residential Renewables rate code 750 | 6.540¢/kWh on-peak, 4.251¢ off-peak | credits carry forward up to 12 months; unused credit paid out at year end | $16.78 monthly facilities charge (also the minimum bill); $100 interconnection fee; Tier 1 for residential systems of 20 kW or less |
| City of Rock Hill (municipal electric) | Tri-Party net billing agreement with PMPA | 3.874¢/kWh on-peak, 2.168¢ off-peak | credits roll over up to 12 months; unused credit paid out at the end of each calendar year | PMPA buys the surplus; rates in effect from 1 January 2021; PMPA calls them minimums and can change them; Act 62 Solar Choice tariffs do not apply to a city system |
| Duke Energy Progress | Rider RSC (Pee Dee) | Structure parallels Duke Energy Carolinas | Current credit not verified | Ask Duke Energy Progress for the current R-STOU and RSC sheets |
| Other co-ops and municipals | Each publishes its own rider | Not published in a source we could verify | Not published in a source we could verify | Check your co-op’s current rider before comparing proposals |
Where a cell says “not verified”, we could not confirm the term at a primary source; we do not fill it from secondary summaries.
Act 62 of 2019: what the law changed
Legacy net metering
Customer-generators who applied before 1 June 2021 keep net metering under Commission Order No. 2015-194 until 31 May 2029. The right passes to later owners of the system or the home.
Solar choice tariffs
The Public Service Commission had to set a “solar choice metering tariff” for applications received after 31 May 2021, designed to “eliminate any cost shift … to the greatest extent practicable” while keeping customer generation available.
Self-use without penalty
The commission must “permit solar choice customer-generators to use customer-generated energy behind the meter without penalty.” Your own consumption is always worth your retail rate.
Annual review
The value of customer-generated energy “must be updated annually and the methodology revisited every five years”, so credits can move.
Santee Cooper sets its own rates through its board, and co-ops and city utilities publish their own riders.
Dominion Energy South Carolina’s Solar Choice rider in detail
Dominion’s Solar Choice rider applies to every customer-generator that applied on or after 1 June 2021, under PSC Order No. 2026-374.
It requires time-of-use Rate 5: a basic facilities charge of $0.4274/day, then 29.907¢/kWh on-peak (4–8 p.m. in summer (May–Sep), 6–9 a.m. in winter), 15.074¢ off-peak and 9.623¢ super off-peak (1–5 a.m. all year, plus noon–3 p.m. in winter).
Dominion’s netting works in kilowatt-hours, month by month, inside each price period. Surplus in a higher-priced period offsets use in lower-priced periods that month; what remains carries forward.
Each November the bank is at avoided cost (the PR-1 off-peak winter energy credit), and the bank resets.
Panels produce most at midday, which is off-peak in summer, so they cannot offset the 4–8 p.m. summer peak without a battery.
Dominion lets customers stay on the rider at least 10 years. Storage counts only if it charges solely from onsite renewables, which matters if you want a battery that also charges from the grid.
Duke Energy Carolinas’ Rider RSC in detail
Duke Energy Carolinas’ Rider RSC, effective 1 January 2026 (Docket No. 2020-264-E, Order No. 2021-390), requires Schedule R-STOU: $13.09 a month, then 33.2758¢ critical peak, 20.9021¢ on-peak, 12.8191¢ off-peak and 9.3782¢ super off-peak, with a $30 minimum customer and distribution charge.
On-peak runs 6–9 p.m. weekdays outside winter; 6–9 a.m. and 6–9 p.m. weekdays in winter.
Duke nets exports within each period monthly and credits any net excess at 4.19¢/kWh. An off-peak kilowatt-hour you use yourself avoids 12.8191¢; one exported as net excess earns 4.19¢, a gap of 8.63¢ (HyreSolar arithmetic). Exports during critical peak hours net against on-peak use.
Santee Cooper, co-op and city utility export credits
Santee Cooper credits exports at 4.15¢/kWh under DG-25 and adds a $10 monthly charge; metering and standby fees for solar were eliminated in April 2025. Its average residential price was 11.38¢/kWh in 2024 (EIA-861), so self-use is still worth more than twice an export.
Berkeley Electric’s Renewable Surplus Rider pays 6.03¢/kWh against a 14.93¢ average price, and it cannot be combined with time-of-day or demand rates. Palmetto Electric moved to net billing on 1 July 2024 and pays 4.662¢/kWh for 2026–27.
Greer CPW credits exports at 6.540¢ on-peak and 4.251¢ off-peak under rate code 750, and the City of Rock Hill’s agreement with PMPA pays 3.874¢ and 2.168¢. How co-op solar differs.
South Carolina export rules: what they mean for your system
Every verified rule pays less for exports than imports, so extra panels earn the export rate, not your retail rate.
A proposal modeled on legacy net metering, or on the wrong utility, overstates savings. Ask which rider it assumes.
Running laundry, dishwashers or pool pumps while panels produce raises self-use.
Dominion’s and Duke’s peak prices are where stored midday power earns most.
Net metering ends on 31 May 2029 for pre-June 2021 systems.
South Carolina city guides by utility
Questions
Does South Carolina have net metering in 2026?
What does Dominion Energy pay for solar exports in South Carolina?
What is Duke Energy’s solar export credit in South Carolina?
What does Santee Cooper pay for rooftop solar exports?
Do electric co-ops in South Carolina offer net metering?
Can I keep net metering if I buy a house with older solar?
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