Last updated: October 14, 2026 · By Oren Tamir, Founder & CEO, NRG Clean Power
Quick answer: A solar true-up bill is the annual settlement statement California utilities send solar customers once every 12 months. On NEM 2.0, it collects a full year of net energy charges in one bill. On the Net Billing Tariff (NEM 3.0), you pay energy charges monthly, and the true-up mostly settles banked export credits. Since 2026, PG&E, SCE and SDG&E also bill a $24.15 monthly Base Services Charge that solar credits cannot offset.
Key takeaways
- On NEM 2.0, your monthly bill is a running tab. The real number arrives once a year at true-up.
- On the Net Billing Tariff, leftover export credits roll into the next year at PG&E but are forfeited at SCE.
- If you export more than you use over the year, you get Net Surplus Compensation of about 1.9 to 2.7 cents per kWh. That is a tenth of what you pay for power.
- The most common cause of a surprise true-up is new load: an EV, a heat pump, or a pool pump added after the system was sized.
- You can avoid a lump-sum shock by paying monthly. SCE and SDG&E both let you.
What is a solar true-up bill?
Your monthly solar bill is not your solar bill. That is the first thing I tell every homeowner who calls us after opening a true-up statement they did not expect.
A true-up is the once-a-year settlement at the end of your 12-month billing cycle. PG&E calls the final statement your True-Up Statement. SDG&E calls the 12-month window the Relevant Period. SCE calls the year-end bill the Annual Settlement Statement. All three do the same thing: they add up a year of charges and credits and send you the balance.
The cycle starts on the date your system received Permission to Operate. It does not follow the calendar year. So your true-up month could be March, August or November, and it is the same month every year until you change rate plans or tariffs.
How does the true-up work on NEM 2.0?
On NEM 2.0, energy charges and credits build up month by month at retail rates, and the net balance is due once a year. Summer surplus offsets winter shortfall. If your credits cover your charges, you owe little or nothing for energy. If they do not, you owe the difference in one bill.
Three things are not deferred, even on NEM 2.0:
- Non-bypassable charges. The CPUC applies these to the net kWh you pull from the grid in each hourly interval. Credits cannot erase them.
- The Base Services Charge. This replaced the old Minimum Delivery Charge in 2026. Solar credits cannot offset it, according to PG&E.
- Any charges you choose to pay monthly. We cover this below. It is the single best way to avoid a shock.
At true-up, your NEM 2.0 account resets. SDG&E is explicit that unused credits do not carry into the next period. If you exported more than you used for the year, you get Net Surplus Compensation instead.
How does the true-up work on the Net Billing Tariff (NEM 3.0)?
On the Net Billing Tariff, also called the Solar Billing Plan, you pay energy charges every month. Export credits are valued at the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator rates. Credits you do not use in a month roll forward for up to 12 months, then settle at true-up.
The NBT applies to systems whose interconnection application was submitted on or after April 15, 2023. It requires an all-electric-friendly rate plan: PG&E E-ELEC, SCE TOU-D-PRIME, or SDG&E EV-TOU-5.
The part almost nobody explains is that the three utilities handle leftover credits differently:
| What happens to leftover NBT credits at true-up | PG&E | SCE | SDG&E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly excess credits | Go to an Energy Export Credit Bank | Carry forward within the 12-month period | Carry forward within the 12-month period |
| Leftover credits at true-up | Roll into the next cycle | Applied to earlier charges, then forfeited | Net surplus repaid at NSC rate |
| If you were a net exporter for the year | Paid NSC, earlier credits recalculated | Paid NSC as a bill credit or check | Paid NSC, then an Annual True-Up Adjustment |
| Charges credits cannot touch | Base Services Charge | Base Services Charge | Base Services Charge, NBCs (non-nettable) |
Sources: PG&E Solar Billing Plan guide, SCE Solar Billing Plan glossary, SDG&E Understanding Your Solar Bill.
The SCE row is the one that costs people money. If you are an SCE customer on the Solar Billing Plan and you have been banking credits all summer, any balance that is not used against eligible charges by the end of your 12-month period is gone. Spending those credits is a reason to time a new EV or a heat pump install before your true-up month, not after.
A second trap: PG&E warns that net exporters can still owe money at true-up. When PG&E pays you Net Surplus Compensation, it recalculates the credits you earned during the year. That recalculation can leave a balance due.
What is Net Surplus Compensation worth in 2026?
Net Surplus Compensation pays roughly 1.9 to 2.7 cents per kWh in October 2026. That is the rate for every kWh you exported beyond what you used over the full 12 months. It is based on wholesale prices, not retail.
| Utility | NSC rate for October 2026 true-ups | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PG&E | 2.740 cents per kWh | PG&E AB 920 rate table |
| SCE | 1.858 cents per kWh | SCE Net Surplus Compensation |
| SDG&E | 2.003 cents per kWh | SDG&E excess generation |
Compare that to the 33 to 55 cents per kWh PG&E charges on E-ELEC in summer. A kWh you use yourself is worth 12 to 20 times more than a kWh you sell back at true-up. This is why I never recommend oversizing a system to “get a check.” The check is small. 1,000 surplus kWh at PG&E’s October rate pays $27.40.
How much is the 2026 Base Services Charge?
The Base Services Charge is $24.15 a month for most households in PG&E, SCE and SDG&E territory, or about $290 a year. It is $12.08 for FERA customers and $6.00 for CARE customers.
| Tier | Who qualifies | Monthly charge |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | CARE customers | $6.00 |
| Tier 2 | FERA customers or deed-restricted affordable housing | $12.08 |
| Tier 3 | Everyone else | $24.15 |
Source: CPUC Base Services Charge implementation update. Start dates: SDG&E October 1, 2025; SCE November 15, 2025; PG&E March 1, 2026.
For solar owners, this charge matters twice. First, you pay it no matter how much you produce. Second, the CPUC paired it with a cut of about 5 to 7 cents per kWh in energy rates. That cut makes every NEM 2.0 credit you earn slightly smaller than it was last year. SCE says this directly: NEM 1.0 and 2.0 monthly credits shrink because the per-kWh rate fell. If your true-up came in higher in 2026 with no change in usage, this is likely part of why. We explain the full math in our guide to the new California fixed charge.
Why is my true-up bill so high?
A large true-up almost always comes from consumption growing faster than production. Here are the causes we see most often across our installs, ranked:
- New load added after the system was sized. An EV charging every night can add 3,000 kWh or more a year. A heat pump replacing a gas furnace adds winter load exactly when panels produce the least. PG&E lists EVs, pools, large appliances and more people in the household as top causes.
- Production you did not notice was missing. A tripped breaker, a failed inverter or a dead microinverter can quietly cut output for months. Without monitoring alerts, the first sign is the true-up.
- Peak-hour usage on a time-of-use plan. Power you pull from 4 to 9 pm costs the most. A home can produce more kWh than it uses and still owe money if it imports at peak and exports at midday.
- Lower credit values in 2026. The Base Services Charge rate cut reduced the value of each NEM 2.0 credit.
- Winter-heavy usage. Solar output in December is often less than half of June output. If your true-up month falls in late spring, you are settling a winter of shortfall in one bill.
Worked example: a NEM 2.0 home in San Jose adds an EV
Here is a simplified example to show how the math moves. It uses PG&E’s E-ELEC rates effective March 1, 2026: summer off-peak 33 cents, winter off-peak 28 cents per kWh.
- Year 1: A 7 kW system produces about 10,500 kWh. The home uses 10,000 kWh. Credits cover energy charges. The homeowner pays the monthly Base Services Charge and non-bypassable charges, and gets a small NSC credit at true-up: 500 kWh × $0.0274 = $13.70.
- Year 2: The family buys an EV and charges overnight. Usage rises to 13,200 kWh. Net imports for the year are about 2,700 kWh, mostly off-peak. At a blended 30 cents per kWh, that is about $810 in energy charges due at true-up, on top of the $290 a year in Base Services Charges already paid monthly.
The fix is not complicated. The homeowner can add 1 kW of panels without leaving NEM 2.0, because CPUC rules allow a legacy system to grow by the greater of 10 percent or 1 kW. On a 7 kW system, 1 kW is the larger number. That covers roughly half of the new EV load. They can also add a battery to shift EV charging to stored solar. Or they can simply move energy charges to monthly billing so year two does not land as one $810 statement. Read can you add a battery to an existing solar system before you decide. Battery additions have interconnection rules of their own.
[CHART: bar chart, “NEM 2.0 true-up before and after adding an EV (PG&E E-ELEC, illustrative)”, x-axis: Year 1 / Year 2, y-axis: dollars due at true-up, series: energy charges at true-up ($0, $810), Base Services Charges paid monthly ($290, $290), source: PG&E E-ELEC rates effective March 1, 2026]
Alt text: Bar chart of a California NEM 2.0 solar true-up bill rising from $0 to $810 after adding an electric vehicle.
Takeaway: Adding an EV without adding solar turned a $0 true-up into an $810 true-up, while the $290 fixed charge stayed the same.
How do I find my true-up date and current balance?
Your true-up date is printed on your monthly solar statement, and it is the anniversary of your Permission to Operate. Every utility also shows your running year-to-date balance each month.
| Utility | What the year-end bill is called | Where to see your running balance | Monthly payment option |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG&E | True-Up Statement / Annual NEM statement | Monthly NEM statement (year-to-date charges) | Payment arrangement on request |
| SCE | Annual Settlement Statement | NEM section of the monthly bill | Monthly Billing Option (opt in with SCE form) |
| SDG&E | Annual true-up statement | Monthly NEM summary | Pay in full or in part any month |
Sources: PG&E solar bill guide, SCE understanding your NEM bill, SDG&E understanding your NEM bill.
My advice: check the year-to-date number every month, not just at true-up. If it is climbing by more than $50 a month in winter, you will see it coming.
What happens to the true-up when my NEM 2.0 term ends?
NEM 2.0 lasts 20 years from your interconnection date. After that, PG&E moves you to the Solar Billing Plan at your true-up date. Your true-up then follows the Net Billing Tariff rules above, with monthly energy charges. A system interconnected in 2019 keeps NEM 2.0 until 2039.
Legacy status stays with the home if you sell it. You can switch from NEM 2.0 to the Net Billing Tariff voluntarily, but you give up the 9-year export rate lock that new NBT customers get. Expired legacy customers also do not get PG&E’s export bonus credit.
The legal fight over NEM 3.0 is over. The First District Court of Appeal upheld the Net Billing Tariff in March 2026, and the California Supreme Court declined to review it on June 10, 2026. Our post on NEM 3.0 being final covers what that means for new buyers.
How do I avoid a big true-up bill?
Pay as you go, size for the load you will have, and watch production. Here is the checklist we give NRG customers:
- Switch to monthly billing if your utility offers it. Same total cost, no annual shock.
- Re-size before you add load. Planning an EV or heat pump? Add panels first, within the 10 percent or 1 kW allowance if you are on NEM 2.0. Our EV charger cost guide has typical annual kWh for each model.
- Turn on monitoring alerts. A dead inverter caught in week 1 costs nothing. Caught at true-up, it can cost hundreds. Our solar repair team handles systems we did not install.
- On the Net Billing Tariff, add storage. A home battery lets you use midday solar at 4 to 9 pm instead of exporting it for a few cents.
- SCE Solar Billing Plan customers: spend banked credits before your true-up month. Unused credits are forfeited.
FAQ
When is my solar true-up date? It is 12 months after your system received Permission to Operate, and it repeats on that anniversary every year. It is printed on your monthly solar statement.
Do I get paid for extra solar at true-up? Yes, if you exported more kWh than you used over the full year. You get Net Surplus Compensation of about 1.9 to 2.7 cents per kWh in October 2026, depending on your utility. That is far below retail.
Can I pay my true-up bill in installments? SCE offers a Monthly Billing Option. SDG&E lets you pay part of your balance in any month. PG&E offers payment arrangements on request.
Does NEM 3.0 have a true-up? Yes. You pay energy charges monthly, but the annual true-up still settles your banked export credits. At SCE, leftover credits are forfeited at that point.
Can solar credits pay the $24.15 Base Services Charge? No. All three utilities treat it as a charge solar credits cannot offset.
Why did my true-up go up in 2026 when my usage didn’t change? The Base Services Charge came with a 5 to 7 cent per kWh rate cut. That lowered the value of each NEM 2.0 credit you earned. A drop in production from an equipment problem is the other common cause.
Not sure your system still fits your home?
If your true-up has been climbing, your system was probably sized for a house you no longer live in. Get a quote in 2 minutes and we will model your next true-up with your actual usage. Or book a virtual consultation with our team. NRG has installed solar across California for more than 30 years.