Duke Energy announced that it filed a net energy metering agreement[1] with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) on November 29, 2021.[2] The filing is an agreement that the utility reached with the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) — on behalf of Vote Solar and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy —, Sunrun Inc., and the Solar Energy Industries Association. Over the past three years, Duke has encouraged private solar ownership through its $62 million solar rebate program, which the utility expects to continue into 2023. According to the press release, 24,000 North Carolina customers have adopted private solar arrays compared to just 6,000 at the beginning of 2018. The North Carolina agreement also follows a similar net metering agreement filed in South Carolina in September 2020.

If the NCUC approves the filing, the agreement would allow for new net metering tariffs to go into effect for customers submitting applications on or after January 1, 2023. The agreement would also create new pricing and incentives for residential solar customers. Additionally, the filing features rate design mechanisms for collecting grid infrastructure costs needed to serve solar customers. It also includes innovative retail rates that vary based on the time of day and when the utility is experiencing peak demand.

[1] Net energy metering tariffs are a process that allows small customers that own rooftop solar arrays to gain credits for excess electricity they generate and provide to the utility (Duke Energy in this case) via the grid.

[2] https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-reaches-deal-with-renewable-organizations-to-modernize-rooftop-solar-policy-in-north-carolina