Will you still get an electric bill after installing solar?
Yes. Solar can reduce the electricity you buy, but customer charges and other applicable utility charges remain. Even a system that produces as much electricity as you use over a year does not guarantee a zero bill. When you produce and use that energy matters.
OG&E and PSO offer a Net Energy Billing Option, or NEBO, for eligible solar customers. Both use time-based rates and billing-period calculations. Electricity exported to the grid is not automatically all paid at avoided cost. The applicable tariff determines how purchases and generation are netted and which energy remains surplus.
Before choosing a system or battery, check how your proposal calculates the bill that remains. Multiplying all annual production by one retail price—or treating every daytime export as a wholesale sale—can misstate savings.
Physical self-use and billing-period netting are different
Solar electricity used while your panels are producing reduces electricity drawn from the grid at that moment. When generation exceeds the home’s demand, the meter records electricity flowing back to the utility.
The billing calculation comes next. Depending on the tariff and time period, that exported energy can offset electricity purchased at other times within the billing period. Only the resulting surplus receives the tariff’s surplus-credit treatment.
| Term | What it describes | What to check in a proposal |
|---|---|---|
| Direct self-use | Solar used by the home while it is produced | The purchases it avoids under your tariff |
| Exported electricity | Energy sent from the home to the grid | How the utility nets delivered and received energy |
| Net surplus | Energy left after the tariff’s billing-period calculation | The applicable avoided-cost credit |
| Remaining charges | Customer charges and other applicable bill components | What still appears on the bill with solar |
Annual generation equal to annual usage does not guarantee a zero bill. Monthly surpluses, time-of-use periods and retained charges can change the result.
How OG&E handles net energy billing
OG&E’s published NEBO tariff requires an applicable standard time-of-use schedule. Sheet 70.12 describes monthly billing: net purchases are billed under that schedule, while excess generation is credited or paid at the applicable on-peak or off-peak avoided-energy price. Only the kWh portion of the standard bill is affected by NEBO.
The tariff ties avoided-energy prices to Southwest Power Pool day-ahead market data. It also provides for dollar credits to carry forward. This is different from banking surplus kWh indefinitely at a retail rate.
Check the applicable time-of-use schedule and meter readings before calculating savings. Do not assume all hours have the same value or that a statewide average price equals the energy charge solar avoids.
Eligibility includes a facility of 300 kW or less and a generating-capacity limit tied to 125% of the customer’s peak load. The peak-load limit is measured in kW; it is not permission to size annual generation to 125% of annual kWh use. Interconnection and purchase-agreement requirements also apply.
How PSO handles net energy billing
PSO’s NEBO sheets 51-1–51-4 use a separate time-of-day schedule. Its rules must be checked independently from OG&E’s, even when the terminology sounds similar. Use PSO’s current rates and tariffs to identify the applicable NEBO sheets and residential rate schedule.
PSO’s NEBO monthly-billing provisions calculate net energy within the respective on-peak and off-peak intervals. Purchases remaining after netting are billed under the applicable schedule; excess is credited at the applicable avoided-energy price. The tariff defines its own seasonal periods, eligibility and metering requirements.
PSO’s minimum-bill provisions apply the fuel adjustment to net delivered kWh and other riders to total delivered kWh. That distinction means an energy credit does not necessarily remove every charge associated with imported electricity.
A city name does not identify the utility. Parts of the Oklahoma City metro and eastern Oklahoma are served by cooperatives or municipal utilities with different rules. Start with the provider and tariff printed on the bill. Our Oklahoma solar permits by city guide separates local permit steps from utility interconnection requirements.
Does daytime export mean you need a battery?
No. Daytime exports may offset purchases within the tariff’s billing-period calculation. Being away from home during the day does not, by itself, make solar uneconomic or a battery necessary.
A battery can change when energy reaches the home or grid. That can create value when it reduces purchases in a more expensive period or uses energy that would otherwise remain low-value surplus. Charging and discharging also lose energy, and the equipment adds cost.
Compare solar alone with solar plus storage using the same household usage and tariff. If the battery mainly provides outage protection, evaluate that benefit separately from bill savings. Our battery-storage page explains the equipment and backup questions to review.
How to check the savings model
Start with twelve months of bills and interval data when available. Compare modeled production with each billing period, using time-of-use detail where the tariff requires it. Include seasonal load changes and expected new loads, such as an electric vehicle.
Ask the installer:
- Which tariff and effective date does the model use?
- How are delivered and received kWh netted in each billing period and time-of-use interval?
- Which kWh receive surplus credits, and where did those credit prices come from?
- Which customer charges, riders and other costs remain after solar?
- Does the design meet the utility’s capacity and interconnection limits?
- How much additional bill savings does a battery provide after losses and cost?
A proposed rate increase belongs in a separate scenario until its terms take effect. Follow the current utility-rate tracker and read the September 2026 OG&E filing explanation for the distinction between an average bill increase and solar’s avoided energy cost.
For a broader comparison of ownership cost, financing and production assumptions, use the Oklahoma solar-savings guide. Ask to see your expected utility bill with solar under the tariff for your address.