Ohio Net Metering

What This Statewide Page Covers

Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) and the Ohio Revised Code set the framework investor-owned electric utilities must follow for net metering. Each utility then files its own tariff for how imports, exports, and credits show up on the bill.

Use this page to understand the shared rules. Use the utility links below for the tariff that matches the name on your bill. AEP Ohio customers who need Schedule NEMS detail should go straight to AEP Ohio net metering — that page owns AEP-specific billing depth so this hub stays statewide.

Cents-per-kilowatt-hour export rates and savings figures belong on your tariff and bill rather than a statewide headline percentages. Tariffs change. Start with a recent bill.

What Net Metering Means in Ohio

Under Ohio law, net metering measures the difference, in an applicable billing period, between the electricity your electric service provider supplies and the electricity your qualifying generator feeds back.

The Public Utilities Commission’s consumer guide puts it in plain English: when your system produces more than the house needs, extra power can flow back through a meter that registers both directions, and that excess can lower the bill as a credit under the utility’s net metering tariff.

Net metering is a billing arrangement. It is not the same step as interconnection approval or permission to operate. You interconnect under Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4901:1-22, then request the utility’s net metering tariff.

PUCO and ORC Framework

Ohio Revised Code 4928.67 requires each electric utility to develop a standard contract or tariff for net metering (and a separate hospital tariff). That tariff must match the rate structure and monthly charges of the schedule the customer would otherwise take.

Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28 (effective April 8, 2024) fills in the operating rules for customer-generators on utility net metering tariffs, including sizing, metering, how excess becomes a credit, competitive suppliers, and renewable energy credits.

A qualifying non-hospital net metering system must use solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, or hydropower (or a microturbine or fuel cell); sit on the customer-generator’s premises; operate in parallel with the utility; and be intended primarily to offset part or all of that customer’s own electricity needs.

At interconnection, the facility must be sized so it does not exceed 120% of the customer’s electricity requirements, using a three-year average or a reasonable estimate when history is missing. That statewide sizing rule sits under every investor-owned utility’s tariff.

How Excess Generation Becomes a Credit

For customer-generators on an electric utility’s standard net metering tariff, when the utility receives more electricity from the customer than it supplied in the monthly billing cycle, Ohio’s rule converts that excess to a monetary credit at the energy component of the electric utility’s standard service offer. That credit carries forward on future bills.

PUCO’s own net metering page states the same idea in consumer language: production is credited at the energy rate of the standard service offer — net metering customers are not credited for distribution or transmission services. That is why “every exported kilowatt-hour is worth the full stacked residential rate” is not the statewide rule.

The utility is not required to pay the monetary credit other than by applying it to future bills. Credits are tied to the premise and may be lost if you do not use them or stop taking service from that utility.

Individual tariffs can add details (true-up language, shopping-customer schedules, meter fees). Those details belong on the utility pages linked below — not as a one-size Ohio cents-per-kWh claim.

The Bidirectional Meter

Net metering uses a single meter capable of registering flow in each direction. If the existing meter cannot measure two-way flow, the customer-generator is responsible for the expense of an appropriate meter under ORC 4928.67. OAC 4901:1-10-28 adds cost-estimate and advanced-meter rules when setup or reprogramming is required.

Solar you use in the house as it is produced never needs to be “sold” to the utility first. Exports are what the two-way meter sees leaving the premises. Nighttime and cloudy hours still import. The bill math is tariff-specific after that.

Shopping for Generation (CRES)

If you buy generation from a competitive retail electric service (CRES) provider, that supplier may offer a net metering contract at any price, rate, credit, or refund for excess generation — but it is not required to. Only customers who have signed an interconnection agreement with the electric utility may engage in net metering with a CRES provider.

The utility still delivers power and still handles interconnection. Verify export treatment with your supplier and read the matching utility open-access / shopping schedule when one applies.

Municipal Utilities and Electric Cooperatives

PUCO’s net metering page states that rural electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities are not required to offer net metering, though some do. Their programs follow local rules, not the investor-owned utility tariff stack.

Examples that matter for many Ohio roofs: Columbus Division of Power (City Code Chapter 1163.24 net metering after an approved interconnection agreement) and Cleveland Public Power pockets inside Cleveland. Always confirm the utility name on the bill before assuming PUCO tariff language applies.

Go to Your Utility’s Page

Statewide rules are shared. Billing details are not. Pick the guide that matches your bill:

• AEP Ohio net metering · AEP Ohio solar
• Duke Energy Ohio solar (Rider NM)
• AES Ohio solar (D5 net metering)
• Ohio Edison solar · Toledo Edison solar · Illuminating Company solar (FirstEnergy Ohio)
• Columbus Division of Power solar

Comparing utilities side by side? See Ohio solar utilities. Statewide programs: Ohio solar incentives.

Ohio Net Metering — FAQs

Does Ohio pay full retail for every exported kilowatt-hour?

Not under the statewide standard-tariff rule. Excess on a utility’s standard net metering tariff is a monetary credit at the energy component of the standard service offer. Distribution and transmission are not credited that way. Utility-specific riders can refine the math — read the page for your utility.

Can I oversize the array to maximize credits?

Net metering systems are meant to offset your own use. OAC 4901:1-10-28 sizes facilities at interconnection to no more than 120% of requirements. Individual utilities may add application screens for oversized designs.

Do credits expire?

They carry forward on future bills under the statewide rule. They may be lost if unused or if you stop taking service at that premise from the utility. Some tariffs also describe written true-up or refund mechanics — check your utility page.

I shop for generation. Is net metering automatic?

No. A CRES provider may offer a net metering contract; it is not required. You still need an interconnection agreement with the electric utility.

Where should an AEP Ohio homeowner start?

AEP Ohio net metering for Schedule NEMS and export credits, or bill analysis with a recent statement.

Official Sources

• PUCO — Net metering (consumer guide)
• Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28 (net metering)
• Ohio Revised Code 4928.67 (standard net metering tariff)
• Ohio Revised Code 4928.01 (definitions)
• Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4901:1-22 (interconnection)
• Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-21-13 (CRES net metering)
• Solar Brokers — AEP Ohio net metering

Last reviewed: September 2026. Tariffs and PUCO materials can change.