The short answer

SWEPCO's Texas tariff for solar homes bills every kWh you take from the grid at the standard rates and credits every kWh you send back at its "avoided cost of energy", the price it would otherwise have paid to make or buy that power. That's a wholesale-level number, so power your home uses as the panels make it is worth nearly four times as much as power you export. Solar homes also pay a $9.42 monthly fee on top of the customer charge.

Two meters, two prices

SWEPCO meters the power flowing into your home and the power flowing out of it separately, and prices them separately:

Power you take from SWEPCOPower you send to SWEPCO
Measured byThe inflow side of SWEPCO's meterThe outflow side of the same metering
Priced atYour normal residential rates: 8.4603¢ a kWh May to October in the base tariff, less in winter, plus fuel and ridersSWEPCO's avoided cost of energy from two months earlier: what it would have spent to make or buy that power
Netted?No. Every kWh you take is billed, even in a month you send out more than you useNo. Credits come off your bill; anything left carries to next month. No checks
SWEPCO Texas tariff sheet IV-63 and its homeowner quick guide. The base tariff rates shown are the ones in force before the rate case settlement below.

Texas rules define avoided cost as the incremental cost SWEPCO would have paid to generate the power itself or buy it elsewhere, and cap what it pays at that. SWEPCO sets it monthly and doesn't post the figure on its site. SWEPCO buys and sells power in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) market, where the market monitor puts the 2025 average real-time price at $32.78 per MWh, about 3.3 cents per kWh. That's the figure our calculator uses for the credit. Ask SWEPCO for its recent monthly avoided cost before you sign anything.

A brick ranch home with rooftop solar panels set among tall loblolly pines in the East Texas piney woods near Tyler, on a clear morning

What a solar home pays SWEPCO

The customer charge doesn't change when you add solar, and the tariff adds an account administration fee for solar homes. Both are billed whatever your meter shows.

Monthly chargeTariff in forceSettlement awaiting the PUC
Residential customer charge$9.42$10.92
Solar account administration fee$9.42$10.92
Fixed charges on a solar home$18.84$21.84

SWEPCO's Texas rate case (PUC Docket 58819) is close to done. A unanimous settlement filed on September 17, 2026 raises SWEPCO's Texas base rate revenue by $47.5 million, applies the new rates to power used since March 18, 2026, and raises both charges above to $10.92. It keeps the same avoided-cost credit for solar. The settlement went back to the PUC on October 6 and still needs the commissioners' approval.

Sizing for a low buyback

Because exports earn so little, what matters is how much of your solar power your home uses as it's made. In our model of 200 Texas homes built from NREL data, a system sized to cover 85% of a home's yearly use sends a little over half its output to the grid:

Used at home as it's made, worth 12.6¢46%
Sent to the grid, worth about 3.3¢54%

That works out to about 7.6¢ for an average kWh the system makes, not 12.6¢. A smaller system, sized to the power your home uses during sunny hours, sends less to the grid, so more of each kWh earns the full rate. Running the dishwasher, laundry and pool pump in the middle of the day helps for the same reason. A battery can store midday power for the evening; our battery guide covers what that costs.

A sunlit laundry room in a Texas home with a washer and dryer running at midday, a window looking out at solar panels on the roof of a detached garage
Use it when it's made

Every kWh your panels make while the washer, dryer, AC or pool pump is running is a kWh you don't buy at the full rate.

Every kWh that goes out to the grid earns SWEPCO's wholesale-level credit instead.

Savings and payback

Here's what our calculator works out for an average month at each bill size, with SWEPCO's 2025 average price from federal EIA data, its $9.42 customer charge, exports credited at about 3.3¢, the $9.42 solar fee subtracted and NREL's sun data for the Tyler area:

Average monthly billYearly use (kWh)System to cover 75% to 95%Yearly savingsPayback
$1008,6274.6 to 5.8 kW$401 to $47726 to 29 years
$15013,3897.1 to 9.0 kW$684 to $80225 to 27 years
$20018,1509.7 to 12.2 kW$968 to $1,12724 to 27 years
$25022,91212.2 to 15.4 kW$1,251 to $1,45323 to 26 years
$30027,67414.7 to 18.7 kW$1,535 to $1,77823 to 26 years

Payback assumes $3.00 to $3.50 a watt for a system covering 85% of use, rates rising 3% a year (SWEPCO's recent pace, capped at 3%) and panels losing 0.5% a year. No incentives: the federal credit ended for home systems finished after 2025.

Those paybacks are long because more than half of each system's output earns the wholesale credit. The settlement's higher rates would shorten them a little, since the power you use at home would be worth more. A system sized to your daytime use, or paired with a battery, keeps more of its output at the full rate.

Getting connected

  1. STEP 1Apply firstSend SWEPCO an interconnection application, through its PowerClerk portal, before anything is installed.
  2. STEP 2ApprovalUnder PUC rules, pre-certified equipment gets connected within four weeks of a complete application; other systems within six.
  3. STEP 3InstallIncludes a lockable AC disconnect switch that SWEPCO crews can reach at any time.
  4. STEP 4InspectionSWEPCO inspects the equipment before it goes live.
  5. STEP 5Sign and goYou sign the interconnection agreement, and SWEPCO meters both directions.

SWEPCO says most applicants, 90 to 95%, are approved in the first review. If your connection needs upgrades to its lines or equipment, you pay for them. Most grid-tied solar shuts off during an outage for line workers' safety, so panels alone won't keep your lights on. Before you sign with an installer, see our guides to checking a Texas solar company and paying for solar in Texas.

How it works

Your estimate in three steps

  1. Enter your billYour ZIP code, your utility and last month's bill.
  2. See your estimateA yearly savings range based on your utility's rates and the sun where you live.
  3. Choose what's nextAsk for a quote call if you want real pricing, or just keep the number.

See what solar could save you

It takes about a minute. You don't need a site visit, a commitment or a sales call to see your number.

Check my savings →

Common questions

Does SWEPCO have a solar buyback program in Texas?

Yes. Under its Texas tariff for distributed renewable generation, SWEPCO credits the power your system sends to the grid at its avoided cost of energy from the second preceding month, and bills the power you take from the grid at its standard rates.

Does SWEPCO offer net metering in Texas?

Not one-for-one. SWEPCO measures inflow and outflow separately. Inflow is billed at your normal rates and outflow is credited at its avoided cost, a wholesale-level price.

How much does SWEPCO pay for solar power in Texas?

Its avoided cost of energy, which it sets monthly and doesn't publish on its site. The 2025 average real-time price in the Southwest Power Pool market, where SWEPCO operates, was $32.78 per MWh, about 3.3 cents per kWh.

Does SWEPCO charge a fee for solar?

Yes. Its Texas tariff adds a $9.42 monthly account administration fee for solar customers, on top of the $9.42 residential customer charge. A rate case settlement awaiting PUC approval would raise both to $10.92.

How long does solar take to pay back with SWEPCO?

In our estimate, 23 to 29 years at $3.00 to $3.50 a watt for a system covering 85% of a home's use, because more than half of that system's output earns the wholesale credit. A system sized to daytime use keeps more of its output at the full rate.

How do I connect solar to SWEPCO's grid in Texas?

Apply through SWEPCO's interconnection portal before installing. Once it's approved, the system is installed and inspected, and you sign an interconnection agreement before it goes live.

Savings are our calculator's estimate, not SWEPCO's. SWEPCO's rates and avoided cost change; check its current tariff before you sign. Sources: SWEPCO: Texas rates, charges and fees, tariff sheets IV-1 and IV-63 (PDF) · SWEPCO: Texas electric rates · SWEPCO: notice of rate change request, Docket 58819 (PDF) · PUC Docket 58819: settlement agreement and filings · PUC: 16 TAC 25.242, purchases from qualifying facilities (PDF) · PUC: 16 TAC 25.211, interconnection of distributed generation (PDF) · SPP Market Monitoring Unit: 2025 State of the Market (PDF) · SWEPCO: solar · SWEPCO: connecting rooftop solar, quick guide for homeowners (PDF) · U.S. EIA: utility sales and revenue data · NREL PVWatts. Reviewed October 2026.

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