Solar in Ohio: how the rules work
How Ohio credits the power solar panels send back to the grid, what homes there pay for electricity, and what to check when a home with solar is bought or sold.
How exported power is credited
Power sent to the grid is credited at the full retail rate (kWh for kWh), at least within each billing period.
Under PUCO rule OAC 4901:1-10-28 and AEP Ohio's Net Energy Metering Service tariff, kWh are netted over the monthly billing period and the customer pays full rates only on net consumption. When a month ends with net excess, the negative kWh are credited as a monetary credit at only the generation energy component of the customer's standard service schedule. That credit excludes other generation components, transmission, distribution and riders, making it well below the all-in retail rate; no exact AEP cents figure was confirmed. The credit rolls forward indefinitely, AEP is not required to pay it out, and it is lost when service ends. The 1.0 share applies to exports that offset same-month use; monthly excess earns roughly the generation-energy share of retail. There is no solar-specific surcharge. The 2019 PUCO update limited system size to 120% of requirements and trimmed credits to the energy component. In Nov 2025 AEP Ohio proposed moving to net billing with distribution charges on gross flows. PUCO's Jan 7, 2026 order in the five-year review (Case 25-0349-EL-ORD) declined to change the net metering rules. As of Sept 2026 the regime is unchanged, with no grandfathering tiers.
What changes for a home with solar
A savings estimate that counts exported power at the full retail rate matches how exports are credited here. Where only month-end surplus earns a lower rate, homes that use most of their power themselves come closest to that estimate.
Electricity here costs about 18.7¢ per kWh (2026) and has risen about 2.5% a year over the last decade. A lease or PPA escalator above that pace makes the solar payment rise faster than utility rates have.
When a home with solar is sold in Ohio
- Owned outright: proof it is paid off, the warranties, and the utility’s interconnection or net-metering agreement, which has to move into the buyer’s name.
- Loan: a payoff letter, and whether the buyer can assume the loan. Many solar loans are secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing that title will find.
- Lease or PPA: the transfer process and how long approval takes, the buyer’s credit check, the current payment or rate and its yearly increase, and a buyout quote.
- Every case: whether the export-credit terms above stay with the home after the sale, and the last 12 months of production from the monitoring app.
Have the solar contract for a Ohio home?
Upload it and get a letter-graded report card: price, production, payment changes, value and transfer terms, measured against Ohio’s rates and rules.
Grade a solar contractSources
- www.aepohio.com/lib/docs/cleanenergy/renewable/NetEnergyMeteringService2-10-2020.pdf (2020-02-10)
- sea-ee.com/in-five-year-review-of-net-metering-rules-puco-declines-to-implement-changes/ (2026-01-21)
- www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/ohio-utility-slash-rooftop-solar-compensation (2025-12)
- www.utilitydive.com/news/ohio-regulators-trim-credits-limit-system-size-in-new-net-meterin (2019)
- Electricity prices: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B (2026) and EIA state annual averages 2014–2024
- Installed price: EnergySage marketplace, September 2026