Your Solar True-Up Bill, Explained (California 2026)

California’s utility regulator describes two patterns. Customers on the original net-metering tariffs, NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0, have annual billing with an annual true-up: charges and credits both roll over for 12 months. Customers on the Net Billing Tariff — NEM 3.0, which SCE calls the Solar Billing Plan — pay monthly so that they are not surprised by a large annual bill, and only their credits roll over until the true-up (CPUC). The 12-month cycle is called the relevant period; on SCE it ends in the month your system started service, so a system switched on in March gets its True-Up bill each March (SCE). PG&E and SDG&E follow the same framework; this page uses SCE, the state-regulated utility for most of Los Angeles County outside LADWP and the city utilities. For the monthly statement itself, see how your SCE solar bill works.

A legacy net-metering customer chooses between two billing options. On the Annual Billing Option, SCE’s default, you pay set fees each month and all net energy charges once a year, at the end of the 12-month cycle. On the Monthly Billing Option, which you can opt into, you pay set fees and net energy charges in full every month. Either way, remaining net energy charges are due at the end of the cycle, a credit balance can be paid out at the Net Surplus Compensation rate, and the balance resets to zero for the next cycle. Each monthly bill on annual billing shows “Year-to-Date Charges” — the annual total so far, due at the end of the cycle (SCE).

The set fees grew in November 2025, when SCE added a Base Services Charge — $24.15 a month for most customers, $12.08 on FERA and $6 on CARE — and cut the price of each kilowatt-hour by about 10%. Solar customers pay it monthly on net metering and the Solar Billing Plan alike, and the power you generate cannot offset it (SCE). Cheaper kilowatt-hours also mean each exported kilowatt-hour credits a little less, which can move a true-up that was close to zero. If a settlement balance is more than you can pay at once, SCE offers payment plans and assistance to those who qualify, and switching to monthly billing avoids a lump sum next year (SCE; can’t pay your electric bill). How long legacy terms last is in NEM 2.0 grandfathering.

On the Solar Billing Plan, exports earn Energy Export Credits that are applied to each monthly bill, and unused credits roll forward. At the true-up SCE compares the year’s grid use with the energy you exported. If you exported more kilowatt-hours than you drew, the tariff calculates an Energy Export Credit Adjustment equal to the net surplus kilowatt-hours times SCE’s posted rate. Credits still unused at year-end pay that adjustment first, then any remaining energy charges for the year; ordinary credits left after that are forfeited, while unused bonus credits carry over. Net surplus is then paid at the Net Surplus Compensation rate (SCE Schedule NBT).

SCE’s own example: a home drew 900 kWh from the grid and exported 1,000. The credits covered the 900, and the credits earned on the extra 100 kWh are adjusted. Because they were already applied to monthly bills, the adjustment appears as a balance on the settlement bill, labeled “EEC Adjustment.” SCE’s reasoning: export credits are meant to offset your own charges, not to erase the bill or earn income, and Net Surplus Compensation, about 2¢, may not cover the whole adjustment (SCE).

If a community choice provider supplies your power, SCE still sends the bill, but your generation charges and credits are administered by that provider (SCE). Clean Power Alliance bills its energy charges net of credits every month and trues up all customers once a year, each April, rather than on each system’s anniversary. Surplus earns Clean Power Alliance’s Net Surplus Compensation rate, set 10% above SCE’s, and a credit over $100 at the true-up is mailed as a check; a smaller credit stays on the account unless you ask for a check (Clean Power Alliance). The same rules apply on its Solar Billing Plan. Switching between SCE and a community provider mid-cycle triggers a settlement as of the switch date (SCE Schedule NBT). Lancaster, Palmdale and Pico Rivera run their own community choice programs; see which utility serves your city.

LADWP is not on the state’s net-metering tariffs. It bills about every two months and nets the kilowatt-hours you export against those you draw at retail prices. Extra energy becomes a dollar credit with no time limit that is never paid out: it cannot cover taxes or, on the standard R-1A rate, the $10-a-month minimum charge, and it is zeroed when you close the account (LADWP; LADWP net metering). Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena run their own net-metering rules as well; the differences are in which utility serves your city.

Cali Energy is a licensed Los Angeles solar, battery and electrical contractor (CSLB #1032379). Send us your settlement bill or a recent statement and we will walk through what was billed monthly, what settled at the true-up and why. Call +1-323-844-7777 or ask for a true-up review.

Figures on this page come from the primary sources below and, where noted, from Cali Energy calculations using the stated assumptions. Rates, incentives, and program terms change; each was verified October 4, 2026.

1. SCE — Guide to your Net Energy Metering bill (Annual and Monthly Billing Options, Year-to-Date Charges, settlement, CCA customers)
2. SCE — How the Solar Billing Plan works (True-Up bill month, 900/1,000 kWh example, EEC Adjustment, NSC)
3. SCE — Schedule NBT, Net Billing Tariff (Special Condition 4.e, Annual True-Up Process)
4. SCE — EEC Adjustment pricing (delivery and generation, by month)
5. SCE — Net Surplus Compensation Rate (by month the relevant period ends)
6. SCE — Base Services Charge (amounts, November 2025 start, solar customers)
7. SCE — Solar Billing Plan sample bill (June 22–July 21, 2026)
8. CPUC — Net Energy Metering and Net Billing (annual vs. monthly billing, true-up, NSC)
9. Clean Power Alliance — Go Solar (NEM and Solar Billing Plan true-up, NSC, payouts)
10. LADWP — Service Rider NEM, Net Energy Metering