Outage Map
Net Metering
Your home uses your renewable energy system power first, and the CEC meter will record any additional power your home needs that your system can’t provide. On a monthly bill cycle the excess energy is subtracted from the power that your home used to give you total net usage or generation.
If at the end of the bill cycle your system generates more power than you use any excess is immediately credited to you at CEC’s wholesale power rate. This financial credit can help offset your monthly facilities charge. If there is any excess dollar credit beyond the facilities charge it can roll over into the following month.
It is a common misconception that once a renewable energy system is turned on it will generate power directly into the CEC power grid and that our meter records total system generation.
Instead, your renewable energy system generates power directly into your home and any excess energy your home doesn’t need gets sent back into CEC’s grid. CEC’s meter will only record the excess energy and not the total generation of your system. This means that your system’s recording device will always have a higher generation figure than the CEC meter.
The facilities charge will continue to be paid by each member connected to Central Electric’s distribution lines or grid. This cost is attached to each meter and helps cover the cost of infrastructure like lines and poles. It is not based on the amount of energy a member may or may not use. Excess generation can help offset the fixed charge, but regardless of how much power is generated or used this charge will occur.
CEC does not do “aggregated metering” (tying in multiple meters to one system).
Central Electric does not “bank” kilowatt hours to be used at a later date. You are reimbursed for the excess power at the end of every billing month.
Yes. If you generate excess electricity in a billing month, that energy is credited to your account at the average system cost for wholesale power over the applicable valuation period, which is what CEC would pay to purchase energy on the open market. The current rate is $0.0468 per kWh and was updated November 1, 2025.
CEC members who generate their own electricity using solar, wind, fuel cells, or hydroelectric power may interconnect with CEC’s electric grid by entering into a Net Metering Agreement with CEC. Net Metering means that the Customer-generator will only be billed for the difference in what the customer uses and what they generate during a billing month.