Ask "does Texas have net metering?" and the accurate answer is no — there's no statewide mandate that utilities credit solar exports at retail rates. What Texas has instead is three different compensation regimes that map exactly onto the three wire-ownership regimes, and misunderstanding which one applies is the most common way a solar proposal's savings math goes wrong.
Regime 1: Deregulated (TDU) territory — the REP buyback market
In Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, and TNMP territory, the utility that interconnects the system can't pay for exports at all — TDUs are legally wires-only and may not buy or sell energy. The TDU's job is to meter inflows and outflows separately and hand both to the homeowner's retail electric provider (REP). Compensation is then whatever the homeowner's REP contract says.
That creates a genuine market: some REPs offer solar buyback plans crediting exports near the retail energy rate, others credit at wholesale-linked rates, and plenty of standard plans credit nothing for exports. AEP Texas's own program materials say it plainly — customers should shop REPs on their distributed-generation out-flow crediting provisions and switch if another offers more value.
Three field realities for installers:
- Plan timing is a landmine. A homeowner who signs a fixed contract with a no-buyback REP the month before PTO locks in zero export value, sometimes with an early-termination fee standing between them and a fix. Buyback-plan guidance belongs in your sales process before install, and again at PTO.
- Buyback ≠ banking. Plans differ on whether credits net within a bill, roll over, or cash out — and on the non-energy fees that survive regardless. Read the Electricity Facts Label with the homeowner rather than paraphrasing it.
- The meter lag is real. Export crediting starts only after the post-PTO meter reprogram and market updates — commonly 30–60 days behind PTO with the big TDUs — so set that expectation at commissioning.
Regime 2: Municipal utilities — one program, take it or take it
Austin Energy, CPS Energy, Garland, and other munis are vertically integrated: they set their own solar crediting, and there's no REP to shop. Austin Energy credits generation under its value-of-solar-style structure at AE-set rates; CPS has been reported running net-billing (retail-rate credits up to monthly usage, a low rate for true excess). Muni programs are decided by boards and revised over time, so treat every rate in a proposal as a check-the-current-tariff item. Details are in our Austin Energy and CPS Energy guides.
Regime 3: Co-ops — board-set, wildly variable
Each cooperative's board sets export crediting, from member-friendly buyback to avoided-cost rates a fraction of retail. In co-op country the crediting structure should drive system sizing: where exports earn little, self-consumption-oriented sizing (and increasingly, storage) beats maximum-roof designs. See co-op territory.
What this means for how you sell
The same 8 kW system has different economics in Plano (REP buyback market), Austin (AE rate), San Antonio (CPS net billing), and Pedernales territory (co-op rate) — so proposal tooling that assumes one "Texas rate" produces confidently wrong payback numbers somewhere. The durable approach: attach the compensation regime to the job at intake (it follows the wires owner, which you already identify for interconnection), keep the current rate/program snapshot with the proposal, and revisit the REP-plan conversation at PTO in deregulated territory. TexPTO tags each job's utility regime automatically from the service address, so sales and ops work from the same answer to "who pays for exports here — and how much?"
FAQ
Is solar still worth it in Texas without net metering? Frequently yes — self-consumption against retail rates does most of the work, and buyback plans or muni programs add export value. But the math is regime-specific; run it per utility, not per state.
Can the homeowner keep their current REP after going solar? Yes, but if that plan credits nothing for exports, they're donating surplus to the grid. Reviewing buyback options around PTO is standard good practice.
Who pays the export credit — the utility or the REP? In deregulated territory, the REP. In muni and co-op territory, the utility itself under its own program.
Do export credits show up immediately after PTO? No — meter reprogramming and market updates typically put first credits 30–60 days behind PTO with the major TDUs.
Sources
- AEP Texas program materials (TDU role; separate in/out metering; REP out-flow crediting guidance): https://www.txreincentives.com/netmetering.php
- Oncor DG overview (surplus reporting to REP 30–60 days post-PTO): https://www.oncor.com/content/oncorwww/us/en/home/smart-energy/renewables-solar-and-more/residential-small-commercial-thinking-about-solar.html
- Reported Oncor-territory buyback mechanics: https://www.n-tech-es.com/net-metering-oncor.html
- Reported CPS Energy crediting structure: https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/going-solar-with-cps-energy
General information, not financial advice. REP plans and utility programs change constantly — verify current terms before making savings claims.