Texas has no mandatory net metering. This single fact rewrites the economics of every rooftop solar system in deregulated Texas. The credit you receive for the kilowatt-hours your panels export to the grid depends entirely on which Retail Electric Provider you pick — and the spread between the best and worst buyback offer can change a 7-year payback period into a 13-year one.
Here is the practical landscape.
Why Texas Is Different
Most of the country runs some flavor of net metering. The utility credits each exported kWh at the retail rate, effectively spinning your meter backwards. California, New York, Massachusetts, and most regulated-utility states use a version. Texas does not.
In deregulated Texas, the wires utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP) does not credit exports. The TDU's job is just to measure them. Your REP — the company you signed your retail contract with — decides what to do with the exported kWh. They can offer you full retail credit, partial credit, wholesale-rate credit, or no credit at all. There is no PUCT-mandated floor.
This freedom is the entire pricing variation between Texas REPs on the solar buyback side.
The Four Buyback Structures You'll See
1) Full Retail Buyback (Net Metering Equivalent). Every exported kWh credited at your retail rate. If you pay 13 cents per kWh, you receive 13 cents per kWh for exports. Same as net metering. A handful of Texas REPs offer this on specific solar-targeted plans. The catch: the underlying retail rate is usually 1 to 3 cents higher than the cheapest fixed-rate plans, so you're paying a premium for the buyback symmetry.
2) Fixed-Rate Buyback Below Retail. The REP credits a flat rate that's lower than what they charge you for imports. Common structures: pay 14 cents, get 9 cents back. Or pay 12 cents, get 7 cents back. The asymmetric spread reflects the REP's cost to handle the energy plus their margin.
3) Wholesale-Indexed Buyback. Exports credited at the ERCOT real-time price plus or minus a small adder. On a sunny summer afternoon when wholesale prices are high, this can pay 20 to 50 cents per kWh. On a mild fall day, it might pay 2 cents. Excellent for solar-heavy production curves but unpredictable.
4) No Buyback / Self-Consumption Only. Some REPs offer cheap fixed rates for solar customers but credit exports at $0. You only benefit when your panels offset your own usage. Pairs well with batteries.
Why the Same System Has Different Paybacks
Consider a 7 kW solar system on a Houston home producing 10,800 kWh per year. The household uses 14,500 kWh per year. Self-consumption rate without batteries: about 45%. Exports: about 5,900 kWh per year. Imports: about 8,600 kWh per year.
Plan A: Full Retail Buyback at 14 cents.
- Imports cost: 8,600 × $0.14 = $1,204
- Export credit: 5,900 × $0.14 = $826
- Net supply cost: $378
Plan B: 12 cents import / 6 cents export buyback.
- Imports cost: 8,600 × $0.12 = $1,032
- Export credit: 5,900 × $0.06 = $354
- Net supply cost: $678
Plan C: 11 cents import / no buyback.
- Imports cost: 8,600 × $0.11 = $946
- Export credit: $0
- Net supply cost: $946
The Full Retail plan saves $568 per year vs No Buyback. On a $20,000 net system cost, that's a 4-year reduction in payback period. Same panels, same sun, same house — different REP.
How to Pick the Right Texas Solar Plan
Step 1: Calculate your expected exports. Use PVWatts to estimate annual production. Multiply by 0.4 to 0.6 to estimate the export share (lower if you have batteries, higher if no batteries and a daytime-empty house).
Step 2: Pull your import baseline. Last 12 months of kWh imports from Smart Meter Texas, minus what you'd self-consume from solar.
Step 3: Run the four scenarios above with real plan numbers. REPs that offer solar-specific plans publish their buyback rates on the EFL. Search Power to Choose for "solar" or "buyback" in the plan name. Verified Texas solar plans include:
- TXU Renewable Buyback
- Reliant Simple Solar Sell Back
- Green Mountain Solar Buyback
- Chariot Solar
- Octopus Energy Texas Solar Buyback (wholesale-indexed)
Each has different terms. The EFL is the contract.
Step 4: Watch the gotchas.
- Monthly fees specific to solar customers. Some plans add $10 to $30 per month "solar service" charges that quietly eat the buyback credit.
- Export caps. A few plans cap monthly credits at a fixed kWh — exports above the cap earn $0.
- System size restrictions. Some buyback plans require systems under 10 kW or 20 kW. Oversized systems may be ineligible.
- Buyback rate contract length. A 1-year buyback agreement on a 25-year asset is a problem. Look for plans that lock buyback rates for the contract term.
- Rollover and expiration rules. Some plans roll unused credits forward indefinitely. Others zero out monthly or annually.
Batteries Change Texas Solar Economics
Without net metering, the value of an exported kWh is by definition less than the value of a self-consumed kWh. That asymmetry favors home batteries.
A 13.5 kWh Powerwall or equivalent can lift self-consumption from 45% (typical solar-only) to 75-90%. In a no-buyback environment, that's the difference between selling kWh at $0 and using them yourself at 12 cents.
A second value driver: ERCOT volatility. A battery that discharges during peak August afternoons (when wholesale prices spike) and recharges overnight (cheap or free hours) is doing exactly the load-shifting that some Texas TOU plans pay for. The combination of solar + battery + a TOU or wholesale-indexed plan is the highest-yield setup in deregulated Texas right now.
The cost: a battery adds $10,000 to $15,000 to a typical residential install. ROI hinges on your buyback environment, your TOU spread, and how much demand-response value you can extract. Texas has limited residential demand-response programs but more are coming.
What the PUCT Is Considering
The Texas Legislature and PUCT have studied a statewide minimum buyback rate ("solar export credit") several times. As of 2026 nothing is mandated. Bills introduced in 2025 went nowhere. The market remains REP-set, REP-priced, REP-managed.
If you have or plan rooftop solar in Texas, treat REP shopping as a recurring discipline, not a one-time setup. Solar plans change, REPs change their terms, and your usage profile evolves. Re-shop annually.
A Note on Co-op and Municipal Solar
If you're served by Pedernales, Bluebonnet, Bandera, or another co-op — or by CPS Energy, Austin Energy, or another municipal — the buyback rules come from your utility tariff, not a REP. Most Texas co-ops and munis offer some version of avoided-cost buyback (3 to 5 cents per kWh) plus periodic incentive programs. Austin Energy's Value of Solar tariff is the most generous in the state but limited to the city. Check your specific utility's solar policy.
The Bottom Line
Texas solar makes sense — but the payback math depends as much on your REP as on your panels. Run the four-plan comparison above with your real usage. Re-shop the supply contract every cycle, just like a non-solar customer. And if buyback is weak, lean into batteries instead of chasing a perfect credit rate. Self-consumption is the most reliable Texas solar value.