Every rate on this page comes from the provider's own page, tariff or manual, and every row carries the date we read it.
We last checked the whole table on 10 September 2026.
Terms change without much warning — Denton cut its buyback by more than half in one council vote.
So treat this as the thing you take to the phone call, not a substitute for it.
| Provider | Export basis | Rate | Monthly charge | Fees | Size cap | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise Electric CooperativeCo-op | Retail netting | 11.3¢/kWh retail credit; surplus beyond it at avoided cost | None — the co-op states there is no monthly fee to have solar | $250 one-time, per meter | Policy stated for systems under 50 kW | 2026-09-10Source |
| Grayson-Collin Electric Co-OpCo-op | Retail netting | Full retail rate, kWh for kWh | $40 minimum bill, against $25 on the ordinary residential rate | $40 one-time application fee, billed after the net meter is set | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| United Cooperative ServicesCo-op | Retail netting | Retail offset as a net consumer; wholesale power cost as a net producer | $25 minimum bill for net producers, plus securitisation charges on every delivered kWh | Not published | 50 kW DC and below are net-metered | 2026-09-10Source |
| Tri-County Electric CooperativeCo-op | Avoided cost | 10.5¢/kWh Oct–Dec 2026; 10¢/kWh Jan and Jun–Sep; 10.25¢/kWh Feb–May | $30 minimum — $18 customer charge plus $12 DG charge. Credits may not be applied to it | $500 per solar application, per meter | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| CoServCo-op | Avoided cost | 8.5¢/kWh received energy, September 2026 | $25 minimum — $10 customer charge plus $15 DG customer charge. Credits may be applied to it | $150 DG application fee on any change to an existing system, including added panels or a battery | 50 kW DC or less for the online application | 2026-09-10Source |
| Garland Power & LightMunicipal | Fixed rate | 8.19¢/kWh for each excess kWh produced | Not published | Not published | 10 kW AC maximum | 2026-09-10Source |
| Farmers Electric CooperativeCo-op | Avoided cost | The co-op's own guidance puts it at around 6¢/kWh | $5 distributed generation facility charge | $500 application and inspection; $250 for each failed inspection | Above 15 kW DC the system must not exceed 110% of your maximum historic demand | 2026-09-10Source |
| Fannin County Electric CooperativeCo-op | Avoided cost | $0.059968/kWh | Not published | $50 application fee and a $289.71 meter upgrade fee | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| Trinity Valley Electric CooperativeCo-op | Avoided cost | $0.051889/kWh | Not published | Not published | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| Denton Municipal ElectricMunicipal | Fixed rate | 5¢/kWh, effective 1 January 2025 | Not published | Not published | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| Comanche Electric CooperativeCo-op | Avoided cost | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| GEUS (Greenville)Municipal | Avoided cost | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not more than 25 kW | 2026-09-10Source |
| Navarro County Electric CooperativeCo-op | Avoided cost | Not published | $0 per meter per month for systems 50 kW and smaller; $50 per meter per month where remote meter reading is not feasible | $100 DG application fee | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| Weatherford Municipal Utility SystemMunicipal | Avoided cost | Not published | A Distributed Generation System Capacity Charge billed on the AC capacity of the system, set annually in the city fee schedule | Not published | Not published | 2026-09-10Source |
| Oncor territory — your retail providerREP territory | Set by your plan | Set by your retail plan — see the Electricity Facts Label | Set by your retail plan | No Oncor pre-interconnection study fee for certified inverter systems below 20 kW | Set by your retail plan; several plans cap eligibility well below 50 kW | 2026-09-10Source |
Co-op · Retail netting
Production is credited at the co-op's retail rate.
Anything left over after that is bought at avoided cost, which moves month to month.
Retail credit, no standing charge and a one-off fee under three hundred dollars is the most favourable combination any provider in this table publishes.
Co-op · Retail netting
Kilowatt-hour netting at the full retail rate.
A unit you send back takes a unit off the bill whether you used it or not, and unused units bank to the following month.
The co-op states the $40 minimum stands even in a month you over-generate.
Netting is not free — it costs about fifteen dollars a month against the ordinary rate.
Co-op · Retail netting
Netted while you stay a net consumer over the month: received kilowatt hours are credited at retail against delivered ones.
Tip into net production and the surplus is bought at that month's wholesale power supply cost and banked as dollars.
The catch is the cliff: the arrangement is generous right up to the month you overshoot your own use.
On fees, United's solar FAQ said on 10 September 2026 that it does not currently charge an application fee.
That is a sentence with a "currently" in it, not a published fee schedule.
So this table treats the fee as not published.
Co-op · Avoided cost
Avoided cost, set monthly and published a year at a time.
Unused credits are reconciled each March and paid out by cheque.
The highest avoided-cost rate in this table sits behind the highest interconnection fee.
It is also the only minimum bill that export credits are barred from touching.
Co-op · Avoided cost
Buy-all, sell-all since February 2023.
Everything you export is bought at CoServ's avoided wholesale cost.
Everything you use is billed at retail, whatever the panels were doing at the time.
Credits are a dollar amount and unused ones carry forward.
Systems installed before 1 February 2023 are grandfathered on net metering.
A member may move to buyback but cannot move back.
Municipal · Fixed rate
A bi-directional meter nets the two flows for billing and the city pays a stated rate for the excess.
The tightest published size cap in North Texas, and low enough to rule out most of what gets built on an acre.
The city also requires proof of at least $100,000 personal liability cover.
The permit runs through City of Garland Building Inspection with a third-party reviewer.
Co-op · Avoided cost
No net metering for a new system.
Export is bought at what Farmers EC would otherwise have paid for that electricity.
That is the prior year's wholesale energy cost, stripped of wires and transmission.
Power you generate and use on site is worth full retail; power that leaves is worth roughly a third of it.
That gap is the whole sizing argument on Farmers EC lines.
Co-op · Avoided cost
Avoided-cost compensation, with a stated rate.
Members can bank and roll over a credit balance.
One of only two co-ops in this table that publishes its avoided cost to the cent rather than describing the formula.
Co-op · Avoided cost
Excess energy is credited at the co-op's avoided cost, defined as the prior year's average wholesale energy and fuel component.
Credits carry forward, and a balance over $250 at year end is refunded in full.
The lowest published rate of any co-op here, and about half what Tri-County pays for the same exported kilowatt hour.
Municipal · Fixed rate
A flat rate for excess generation, set by council rather than by a formula that moves with wholesale.
Approved by Denton City Council on 22 October 2024, down from an average of 10.65¢ — a cut of more than half in one vote.
Solar rebates were discontinued in 2023.
It is the lowest published buyback in North Texas.
Co-op · Avoided cost
Energy delivered to the co-op is reimbursed at the avoided cost of energy rate, calculated from the wholesale supplier's monthly invoice.
Credits accumulate against future purchases.
The policy is published; none of the numbers are.
Members are told to call for the terms that apply to them.
Municipal · Avoided cost
Moved from net metering to net billing.
Export is credited at the current Fuel Adjustment Cost, which the utility itself calls avoided cost.
Customers no longer receive credit for the energy charge.
The rate lives in the Distributed Generation from Renewable Resources Rider, Appendix D, inside the DG packet — not on the public page.
GEUS states it offers no rebates or incentives for generating systems.
Co-op · Avoided cost
Export is reimbursed at the avoided cost of generation rate, set from the co-op's fixed-shape wholesale contract price.
The co-op reserves the right to amend it at any time.
Publishes an explicit $0 DG customer charge, which is rarer than a good rate.
What it does not publish is the rate itself.
Municipal · Avoided cost
Net excess generation is credited at the city's avoided cost.
The DG manual defines that as the prior year's total power purchase cost, less demand, transmission, ERCOT fees and distribution.
That figure is then divided by the prior year's total kilowatt hours purchased.
The formula is published; the number it produces is not, and the capacity charge is not in the utilities schedule of fees either.
The city requires liability cover of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence.
Net metering was dropped in 2020.
Ask the utility for the current figures in writing before you settle on a size.
REP territory · Set by your plan
Oncor is a wires company.
Its tariff is for retail delivery service: it delivers the power, owns the meter and approves the interconnection, and it buys nothing back.
Whatever you are paid for export is a term in the contract you signed with your retail provider.
The one arrangement in this table you can renegotiate.
Everyone else gets what their board or council decides.
Retail credit, no standing charge and a one-off fee under three hundred dollars is the most favourable combination any provider in this table publishes.
The co-op states the $40 minimum stands even in a month you over-generate.
Netting is not free — it costs about fifteen dollars a month against the ordinary rate.
The catch is the cliff: the arrangement is generous right up to the month you overshoot your own use.
On fees, United's solar FAQ said on 10 September 2026 that it does not currently charge an application fee.
That is a sentence with a "currently" in it, not a published fee schedule.
So this table treats the fee as not published.
The highest avoided-cost rate in this table sits behind the highest interconnection fee.
It is also the only minimum bill that export credits are barred from touching.
Systems installed before 1 February 2023 are grandfathered on net metering.
A member may move to buyback but cannot move back.
The tightest published size cap in North Texas, and low enough to rule out most of what gets built on an acre.
The city also requires proof of at least $100,000 personal liability cover.
The permit runs through City of Garland Building Inspection with a third-party reviewer.
Power you generate and use on site is worth full retail; power that leaves is worth roughly a third of it.
That gap is the whole sizing argument on Farmers EC lines.
One of only two co-ops in this table that publishes its avoided cost to the cent rather than describing the formula.
The lowest published rate of any co-op here, and about half what Tri-County pays for the same exported kilowatt hour.
Approved by Denton City Council on 22 October 2024, down from an average of 10.65¢ — a cut of more than half in one vote.
Solar rebates were discontinued in 2023.
It is the lowest published buyback in North Texas.
The policy is published; none of the numbers are.
Members are told to call for the terms that apply to them.
The rate lives in the Distributed Generation from Renewable Resources Rider, Appendix D, inside the DG packet — not on the public page.
GEUS states it offers no rebates or incentives for generating systems.
Publishes an explicit $0 DG customer charge, which is rarer than a good rate.
What it does not publish is the rate itself.
The formula is published; the number it produces is not, and the capacity charge is not in the utilities schedule of fees either.
The city requires liability cover of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence.
Net metering was dropped in 2020.
Ask the utility for the current figures in writing before you settle on a size.
The one arrangement in this table you can renegotiate.
Everyone else gets what their board or council decides.
There are two ways to be paid, and the difference is worth more than the rate.
Retail netting means a kilowatt hour you send back cancels a kilowatt hour you take.
It is worth whatever you pay to import, because it is literally the same unit run backwards.
Three providers in this table still do it: Grayson-Collin, Wise and United.
Avoided cost means the provider buys your export at what it would otherwise have paid a generator for it.
That is the wholesale number, with no wires, transmission or ERCOT fees in it.
That is why the avoided-cost rates cluster between five and eleven cents while retail sits above twelve.
You are not being cheated. You are being paid wholesale for something you buy at retail.
On retail netting, the ceiling is your land and your budget. Extra production keeps its full value, so there is no point at which another row of panels stops being worth building.
On avoided cost, the ceiling is your own daytime use. A unit you use on site is worth full retail; a unit that leaves is worth a fraction of one.
On Farmers EC lines that fraction is about a third.
So the array gets sized against the meter history, not the acreage.
And if you have a pool pump, a shop or an EV, that history is bigger than you think — which is an argument for the array rather than against it.
Then read the two columns nobody looks at.
A $30 monthly charge that credits cannot offset is $360 a year before you have exported anything, and it does not shrink if you build smaller.
A $500 interconnection fee lands once. Both change the payback more than a cent on the rate does.
Look at the top of your electric bill, not at the poles. The company whose name is on the bill is the one whose terms apply.
If it is a retail brand you chose — TXU, Reliant, Green Mountain, Octopus, Rhythm, Chariot — you are in deregulated territory and the last row of the table is yours.
If it is a co-op or a city utility, find its row.
If you are not sure, the giveaway is whether you were ever able to shop. Co-op and municipal customers cannot switch providers.
That is the whole distinction, and it decides everything else on this page.
Fourteen North Texas cities have a page here with their own provider section, permit rules, soil and production figures.
Two names come up often enough to be worth answering here.
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative.
Not a retail utility.
Brazos is a generation and transmission cooperative — the wholesale supplier behind a number of the distribution co-ops above.
It has no residential members and sets no buyback rate.
If Brazos appears anywhere in your paperwork, the terms that bind you are still your own co-op's.
Johnson County Electric Cooperative.
No longer exists as a separate co-op.
It consolidated with Erath County Electric Cooperative on 1 April 2000 to form United Cooperative Services, so a Johnson County address on co-op lines is on United's terms.
Oncor is a wires company. Its tariff is for retail delivery service — it delivers the power, owns the meter and approves the interconnection, and it buys nothing back.
There is no Oncor buyback rate to look up, and any page that quotes you one is wrong.
What you are paid is a term in the contract you signed with your retail provider, which means it is the one number on this page you can renegotiate.
Every twelve months, most of you can.
Because they change monthly and we would be publishing something wrong within weeks.
There are two dozen buyback plans in Oncor territory and their rates, base charges and eligibility rules all move.
A table of them dated today is a liability by Christmas.
What we will tell you is what to look for, because the headline export rate is the least useful number on the page.
Read the export rate against the import rate on the same plan, not on its own. A plan paying 23 cents for export while charging 38 cents at peak is worse than it looks.
Check what the credit can be spent on.
Some plans apply credits to the whole bill including delivery charges and taxes. Others apply them to the energy charge only, which is a much smaller number.
This is worth more than a cent or two of rate.
Check the eligibility cap, because several of them would bind on a ground mount.
Caps of 50 kW are common and some plans stop at 25 kW.
At least one requires an array under 20 kW and disqualifies you if you net produce for six months running.
A large array on acreage is exactly the system those rules were written to exclude.
All of it is in the Electricity Facts Label. Ask for the EFL before you sign, and read the export terms rather than the headline.
No. There is no state mandate requiring any Texas utility to net your solar production against your consumption,
which is why the answers on this page vary so much between one provider and the next.
What exists instead is a patchwork: three providers in our footprint still net at retail because their boards chose to,
most buy export at avoided cost, and in deregulated territory it is whatever your retail contract says.
Anyone who tells you Texas has net metering, or that it has none at all, is half right.
For a landowner exporting power, Wise Electric: production credited at its retail rate of 11.3 cents,
no monthly charge for having solar, and a one-time $250 fee per meter.
Grayson-Collin and United also net at retail, but Grayson-Collin costs about fifteen dollars a month more than the ordinary residential rate,
and United's netting stops being generous the month you tip into net production.
The lowest published buyback we found is Denton Municipal Electric at five cents.
Because the old rate was paying retail for something the co-op could buy wholesale, and the shortfall came out of the members who do not have solar.
CoServ moved to buy-all sell-all in February 2023. Denton cut from an average of 10.65 cents to five in one vote in October 2024. Both were explained in those terms.
Whether you find that reasonable or not, the direction of travel across the whole state has been one way, which is an argument for sizing to your own use.
Only if you are in deregulated territory.
On Oncor lines your buyback is a term in a retail contract and you can shop it when the contract ends —
read the export terms of the next plan before you sign, because they vary more than the headline rate does.
On a co-op or a city utility you cannot switch. The provider is the utility, and its distributed generation policy is what you get for as long as you own the property.
Usually, yes — size it to what you actually use during daylight rather than to what your land would hold.
On avoided cost a unit you use on site is worth full retail and a unit that leaves is worth a fraction of one,
so the panels earn their keep by displacing your own consumption.
The exception is retail netting, where extra production keeps its full value and the limit is your land. Same house, same panels, opposite advice, decided by the meter.
The design tool sizes a system for your address and your usage. Three minutes, no phone call, and you can put the numbers on this page against it yourself.
