TECO Net Metering: How Credits Actually Work

Homeowners searching for "TECO net metering" are usually looking for two separate things at once: what Tampa Electric requires to connect a system, and how the resulting bill is calculated. Those live in different places.

The connection requirements are in Tampa Electric's filed Section 8 standard interconnection agreements.^2,3 The billing mechanics are governed by the Florida Public Service Commission's rule on interconnection and net metering of customer-owned renewable generation, which applies to Tampa Electric as an investor-owned utility.^1,8 Tampa Electric's Tier 1 agreement itself incorporates its Commission-filed tariff by reference and states that the tariff controls in the event of a conflict.²

For the installation and approval process rather than the billing side, start with the Tampa Electric solar guide.

Under the Commission rule that governs Tampa Electric, the utility installs metering that measures energy delivered to and received from the customer, and readings are taken monthly on the normal cycle.¹ Tampa Electric's own filed agreements provide for that bidirectional metering equipment.²

From there, the rule sets the sequence:

• Energy delivered to the utility in excess of what you consumed during a billing cycle is credited to your energy consumption for the next month's billing cycle.
• Those credits accumulate and offset later usage for a period of not more than twelve months.
• At the end of each calendar year, the utility pays for any unused energy credits at an average annual rate based on its COG-1 as-available energy tariff.
• Customer charges and any applicable demand charges continue to apply regardless of how much you generate.

All four points are stated in the Commission rule.¹ The statewide picture, including how municipal utilities and cooperatives can set their own terms, is in net metering in Florida.

We looked for a Tampa Electric rate sheet spelling out monthly netting, credit rollover, and the annual cash-out. Tampa Electric's interconnection agreement references a net metering rate schedule and defers to the filed tariff, but the substantive crediting mechanics we can verify are those in the Commission rule.^2,1

So this page attributes the credit mechanics to the rule, not to a TECO document. That is a deliberate limit. If a proposal quotes TECO-specific crediting terms that differ from the rule, ask for the tariff sheet number and effective date behind them, and confirm it against Tampa Electric's published tariff book.⁷

Tampa Electric's residential Schedule RS, at Thirty-Fourth Revised Sheet No. 6.030 with a date effective of January 1, 2026, states a Basic Service Charge of $0.45 per day and states that the minimum charge is the Basic Service Charge.⁶

That charge does not scale down with production, and the Commission rule preserves customer and demand charges for net metering customers as well.¹ What a realistic remaining bill looks like is covered in your electric bill after solar.

Which agreement you sign follows your system's AC rating. Tampa Electric's filed agreements define gross power rating as the AC nameplate capacity, and for inverter-based systems calculate it by multiplying the total installed DC nameplate capacity by .85 to account for DC-to-AC conversion losses. They also state that the company executes the agreement within 30 calendar days of receiving a completed application.^3,4

The larger tiers carry filed obligations the smallest one does not: general liability insurance of not less than one million dollars for Tier 2 and not less than two million dollars for Tier 3, with Tier 3 also carrying a $500 one-time, nonrefundable application fee.^4,5 Residential rooftop systems almost always fall in the smallest tier; the tier table and fee details are in the Tampa Electric solar guide.