When your solar panels produce more electricity than your home uses, the surplus flows back to the grid. What Duke Energy pays you for that export depends on when you signed up. Customers who connected before October 1, 2023 are grandfathered on net metering, which credits exports at the full retail rate. Customers who sign up after that date receive the avoided cost rate instead.
The avoided cost rate is significantly lower than retail. Duke Energy Progress customers in Raleigh are credited at 3.40¢/kWh for exported power under Rider RSC-3. Duke Energy Carolinas customers in Charlotte receive 4.53¢/kWh under either Rider NMB or Rider RSC — both pay the same export rate (effective January 1, 2026). All figures are well below the retail rate of around 14–15¢. The practical effect is that your solar payback period gets longer, because excess daytime production earns a fraction of what you pay for grid power at night. Sizing your system to cover your usage rather than maximize exports matters more than it used to.
Charlotte customers currently have a time-sensitive choice: Rider NMB doesn’t require a time-of-use rate and locks in a 15-year bridge period, but it closes to new applicants January 1, 2027. Rider RSC has no stated close date but requires enrollment in a TOU rate schedule.
When you’re getting quotes
Ask each installer what rate they used to calculate your payback estimate. If they’re using full retail rate for export credits and you’re a new customer, their numbers are too optimistic. A conservative proposal models self-consumption at retail and exports at avoided cost. Also ask whether battery storage would improve your economics by shifting excess solar to cover evening usage instead of exporting it.
Common questions
- What is Duke Energy's avoided cost rate for solar in North Carolina?
- The rate differs by territory. Duke Energy Progress customers in Raleigh receive 3.40¢/kWh for exported solar under Rider RSC-3. Duke Energy Carolinas customers in Charlotte receive 4.53¢/kWh — the same rate applies whether they're on Rider NMB or Rider RSC (both effective January 1, 2026). All rates are well below the retail rate of around 14–15¢/kWh and are set by the NC Utilities Commission.
- How does the avoided cost rate affect solar payback in Raleigh and Charlotte?
- It lengthens payback compared to the old net metering arrangement. Under net metering, exported power offset your bill at full retail value. Under the avoided cost rate, Raleigh customers get 3.40¢ per kWh exported versus roughly 14–15¢ they pay for grid power. Charlotte customers get 4.53¢. Either way, you're getting roughly 25–30 cents on the dollar for exports. The practical fix is to size your system for self-consumption rather than maximum production, and to consider adding a battery to shift excess daytime solar into evening hours when you'd otherwise be drawing from the grid.
- Is there any way to still get net metering in North Carolina?
- Only if you were interconnected before October 1, 2023. Those customers are grandfathered on net metering. New solar customers in Duke Energy territory — Progress (Raleigh) or Carolinas (Charlotte) — receive the avoided cost rate for exports. Legislation could change this in the future, but no change is currently scheduled.