What Was LA Home Solar Output Worth? Measured kWh per kW at Published LADWP and SCE Rates, 2020–2026
At the average price homes paid, a kilowatt of Los Angeles rooftop panels produced about $445 worth of SCE electricity in 2024 and $370 worth of LADWP electricity in 2025. That counts every kilowatt-hour at the full retail price. How much of the output a bill actually credits at retail depends on the rules. In homes we meter, about 94% of a year’s output cancelled a purchased kilowatt-hour within LADWP’s two-month bill, and 96% over the year on SCE’s NEM 2.0. Under SCE’s Net Billing Tariff only the part used at home counts at retail, a median 38% without a battery and 52% with one.
A kilowatt’s output at the retail price
Median kWh per kW of our fleet that year times the utility’s average residential price.
| Year | kWh per kW (median, our fleet) | SCE average price | SCE value per kW | LADWP average price | LADWP value per kW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1,503 | 18.22¢ | $274 | 20.63¢ | $310 |
| 2021 | 1,560 | 21.33¢ | $333 | 21.19¢ | $331 |
| 2022 | 1,568 | 24.62¢ | $386 | 22.24¢ | $349 |
| 2023 | 1,404 | 32.33¢ | $454 | 22.99¢ | $323 |
| 2024 | 1,373 | 32.43¢ | $445 | 23.84¢ | $327 |
| 2025 | 1,396 | — | — | 26.48¢ | $370 |
| Prices: EIA Form 861, revenue divided by sales for full-service residential customers, as compiled in our California electricity rate history. EIA’s 2025 early release does not include SCE. Output: median complete system-year on two monitoring platforms that year. | |||||
Over 2020–2024 one kilowatt’s output added up to about $1,892 at SCE’s average prices and $1,640 at LADWP’s. For a 6 kW system, six times that: roughly $11,400 and $9,800 over five years, as an upper bound. The two utilities started close together: in 2021 the value was almost the same. Then SCE’s average price jumped from 18.22¢ in 2020 to 32.43¢ in 2024 while LADWP’s moved from 20.63¢ to 23.84¢. Output per kW, meanwhile, was lower in 2023–2025 than in 2020–2022, partly because those years were less sunny; see real-world solar production in Los Angeles.
https://cali-energy.com/research/solar-output-value-ladwp-sce-rates-los-angeles. Aggregated data are free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.How much of the output counts at retail
Homes we meter, latest 12 months (mostly October 2025 – September 2026), median home.
| Homes | Number | Used at home (Net Billing Tariff) | Netted each month | Netted every two months (LADWP) | Netted over the year (SCE NEM 2.0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LADWP, no battery | 48 | 44% | 92% | 94% | 100% |
| SCE, no battery | 44 | 38% | 83% | 85% | 96% |
| SCE, with battery | 15 | 52% | 87% | 89% | 95% |
| Used at home: solar the house consumed directly (or through its battery). Netted: plus exports that offset purchases within the period. 7 LADWP homes with batteries are too few for their own row. | |||||
Netting is what makes most of the output count. A typical LADWP home used 44% of its solar as it was made; the rest went to the grid, but within a two-month bill nearly all of it cancelled kilowatt-hours bought at night or in winter, so 94% of the output counted at retail. Over a whole year the median home bought more than it exported, so annual netting would count all of it; 16 of the 48 LADWP homes exported more than they bought, and their surplus earns a credit LADWP never pays out (LADWP net metering explained).
On NEM 2.0, SCE nets exports against purchases over the year at time-of-use prices; applied to the SCE homes we meter, that counts 96% of output for the median home, though non-bypassable charges are still paid on each hour’s net use. On the Net Billing Tariff an export is credited at an hourly export price instead: only the 38% used at home counts at retail, or 52% in homes with a battery (how SCE solar billing works).
What that meant per kW, latest year
At the latest EIA average prices.
| Home and rule | kWh per kW (median) | Counts at retail | Approximate value per kW a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| LADWP, two-month netting | 1,412 | 94% | $352 |
| SCE, NEM 2.0, annual netting | 1,435 | 96% | up to $444 |
| SCE, Net Billing Tariff, no battery | 1,435 | 38% | $206–$267 |
| SCE, Net Billing Tariff, with battery | 1,461 | 52% | $267–$316 |
| Retail: LADWP 26.48¢ (EIA, 2025), SCE 32.43¢ (EIA, 2024; SCE puts its own 2026 average at 34.4¢). Net Billing Tariff exports valued at 3¢ (a winter-day export credit) to 10¢ (a summer-day credit plus the largest bonus credit, for 2023 starts), from SCE’s published averages. NEM 2.0 before non-bypassable charges. | |||
On these assumptions a kilowatt was worth about $352 a year at LADWP and up to $444 on SCE’s NEM 2.0, but $206–$267 on SCE’s Net Billing Tariff without a battery and $267–$316 with one. The battery raises the share used at home, which is where a net-billing kilowatt-hour earns the retail price; how much it can shift each day is measured in whether a 13.5 kWh battery is too big, and how much solar a home uses in how much solar a home actually uses.
Methodology
- Output
- Median kWh per kW of complete system-years on Enphase and SolarEdge monitoring each calendar year, as in the production benchmark.
- Prices
- EIA Form 861 average residential price (revenue divided by kWh sold) for SCE and LADWP full-service customers, as compiled in our rate history; years without a published figure are left blank.
- Netting shares
- 114 homes with an Enphase consumption meter and a known utility, last 12 complete consecutive months. Monthly flows: production, export, import. Netting adds, within each period, the smaller of export and import to what the home used directly. Two-month periods start with the first month of the window, so they may not match each home’s billing cycle.
- Net Billing Tariff
- Exports valued at 3–10¢ per kWh, a range from SCE’s published average export credits and bonus credits; actual credits vary by hour, season and start year.
- Limits
- Upper bounds and approximations.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the electricity from 1 kW of solar worth in Los Angeles?
At the average residential price, a kilowatt’s yearly output was worth about $445 on SCE in 2024 and $370 on LADWP in 2025. That counts every kWh at retail; what a bill credits depends on the tariff.
Why is a kWh of solar worth more on SCE than on LADWP?
Because SCE’s average residential price is higher: 32.43¢ against LADWP’s 23.84¢ in 2024 (EIA). On SCE’s Net Billing Tariff, though, exports earn a few cents rather than retail.
How much of my solar output does LADWP credit at the full price?
In the LADWP homes we meter, about 94% of a year’s output cancelled a purchased kWh within the two-month bill. Exports beyond your use become a credit LADWP does not pay out.
What share of solar counts at retail on SCE's Net Billing Tariff?
Only what the home uses itself: a median 38% without a battery and 52% with one in the SCE homes we meter. Exports earn hourly export credits.
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Prepared by Cali Energy, October 15, 2026. Figures describe systems in our monitoring fleet and are not a guarantee of what any specific roof will produce; orientation, tilt, shade, equipment and weather change results. Not engineering, financial or utility advice. See our Content Disclaimer.