Ohio Net Metering: How It Works
Net metering determines how much credit you get for solar power your panels produce but you don’t use — it has a direct effect on how fast a system pays for itself.
What changed under House Bill 6
Ohio’s net metering framework was reshaped by House Bill 6, signed into law in 2019. It allows the state’s three large investor-owned utilities — AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, and the FirstEnergy companies (Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, and Toledo Edison) — to credit solar owners for surplus power sent back to the grid at an “avoided cost” rate, rather than the full retail rate you pay for the electricity you use. That avoided-cost rate has generally run at a few cents per kilowatt-hour, well below typical retail rates, though the exact figure is set by each utility’s tariff filings and can change.
Self-consumption vs. exported surplus
The distinction that matters most: under utilities’ current net metering tariffs (AEP Ohio’s is called Schedule NEM), you generally get full retail-rate credit for solar power you generate and use yourself, behind your own meter. It’s only the surplus — power your panels produce that you don’t use and that flows back to the grid — that gets the lower avoided-cost rate. A system sized closer to your actual usage, rather than oversized, tends to make better use of this structure.
Is this the same across AEP, Duke, and FirstEnergy?
All three operate under the same HB6 avoided-cost framework, but the specific tariff schedules, rate structures, and any interconnection fees are set individually by each utility and reviewed by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). We don’t have verified, current numbers for each utility’s specific export rate to publish here responsibly — ask any provider you talk to for your specific utility’s current tariff, or check PUCO’s case dockets directly, rather than relying on a generic percentage.
Could this change again?
A restoration of full retail-rate net metering has been discussed in Ohio legislative and PUCO proceedings, but had not been enacted as of early 2026. This is a live regulatory question — worth asking about directly if you’re evaluating a system’s payback period, since it materially affects the math.
What to ask your utility or provider
- What is my utility’s current avoided-cost export rate, in cents per kWh?
- How is self-consumed solar power credited versus exported surplus?
- Are there interconnection fees or application costs?
- Is my system sized to minimize surplus export, given these rates?
Sources referenced for this page: Ohio House Bill 6 (2019); AEP Ohio Schedule NEM; ongoing PUCO proceedings on net metering. Utility tariffs change — confirm current rates directly with your utility or provider before making a decision.
See What Solar Costs at Your Address
Figures on this page are general. The only way to know what solar costs on your roof in Ohio is a quote based on your address, your roof and your actual power use.
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