Georgia utility solar programs

The 2001 Act: connection rights, not a retail credit

The Georgia Cogeneration and Distributed Generation Act of 2001 is the state framework. Per the DSIRE summary for Georgia, it allows residential customers with solar, wind or fuel cell systems up to 10 kW, and commercial facilities up to 100 kW, to connect to the grid. DSIRE states that Georgia allows, but does not require, utilities to offer net metering, and records no renewable portfolio standard or voluntary target.

The Act's operating limits, in the DSIRE net metering record, are purchase at avoided cost and a small aggregate cap. All utilities, investor-owned, municipal and cooperatives, must offer bidirectional or single directional metering to customer generators, depending on connection. Monthly net excess generation, or total generation, is purchased at avoided cost, or a higher rate if green priced. Aggregate capacity is limited to 0.2 percent of a utility's system peak demand from the previous year. Avoided cost is the utility's avoided purchase cost, not retail.

Georgia Power: a filled monthly netting pilot, then instantaneous netting

Georgia Power's history explains the current offer. Its 2019 rate case required monthly netting for 5,000 rooftop customers or 32 MW, whichever came first, per the PSC decision summarized for DSIRE, and that cap was met in 2021. The 2022 rate case kept the cap, so new customers use the Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources schedule, RNR, with instantaneous netting.

Per Georgia Power, RNR excess is credited at the annual Solar Avoided Energy Cost Rate plus an additional 4 cents per kilowatt-hour, summed monthly to reduce the total monthly bill. It lists the avoided cost as 3.3153 cents per kilowatt-hour for 2025, with the 4 cent adder approved in the 2022 rate case. Georgia Power's current FAQ lists the successor rate as 3.2188 cents per kilowatt-hour for 2026, with the same 4 cent adder. Exported power is not banked as a retail kilowatt-hour for later use. Subscription is first come, first served to 0.2 percent of prior year annual peak demand.

The EMC side: local policies under the same cap

Per DSIRE, Georgia has 41 electric membership corporations serving about 4.4 million of its 10 million residents and 73 percent of its land area. An EMC customer does not get the Georgia Power RNR tariff: the cooperative's own distributed generation policy and rider set the purchase terms and whether new purchases are open.

Diverse Power shows the range. In its published notice, the cooperative states it will not purchase any new excess power until further notice, while current members continue, quoting its policy under Georgia Code 46-3-56: purchase is required only first come, first served until cumulative capacity equals 0.2 percent of its annual peak demand in the previous year. Based on its 2025 peak, it will not purchase additional excess power for 2026, though applications will be kept on file.

What a Georgia quote must name

A Georgia quote is incomplete unless it names the serving utility, the program or rider, and the credit basis in that tariff. For Georgia Power, confirm the current year's avoided cost rate, whether the 4 cent adder applies, and the RNR tariff version. For an EMC, ask in writing whether it is purchasing new excess energy under its 0.2 percent cap, and at what rider rate. Georgia Power states that neither it nor the State of Georgia offers a residential solar rebate.