Alabama Power Solar Buyback: How Rate PAE Values Excess Rooftop Solar

An Alabama Power customer can have working solar panels and still receive a utility bill that does not resemble the sales estimate. Before assuming the equipment has failed, look at how the proposal priced electricity sent back to the grid.

This article concerns Alabama Power customers. A municipal utility, cooperative or another provider can have a different arrangement. A neighbor's solar bill is useful only after you establish that the provider and billing terms match yours.

Start with the export schedule

Alabama Power's posted Rate PAE, effective with April 2026 billings, covers eligible customer generation with nameplate capacity no greater than 100 kW. It offers time-based purchase options tied to the customer's retail service rate and requires compliance with Rider RGB. It does not promise that every exported kilowatt-hour earns the household's retail purchase price.

The PSC's March 3, 2026 minutes record unanimous approval of the annual PAE update for April billings. The commission explains that the update reflects costs and avoided-cost information. This is a periodically updated utility purchase arrangement, not a fixed return established by a solar sales contract.

Ask Alabama Power which PAE option applies to the account. Keep that answer beside the retail rate and the seller's estimate. Without those three documents, a single advertised “buyback rate” leaves out too much.

Time changes the export calculation

For example, the posted PAE Time of Day option lists 3.84 cents per kWh during weekday hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central Time in October–May billing months, and 3.66 cents at other times. The tariff defines holiday exceptions. Those figures are effective with April 2026 billings and do not describe the other PAE options. The single-phase PAE base charge is $0.91 monthly, separate from other applicable charges.

A proposal should therefore identify the time distribution of exports, not simply multiply the annual panel output by one retail number. Electricity used in the house never enters that export calculation. Ask the seller to show direct household use and grid exports separately, with the assumptions that produced each estimate.

Do not treat a larger system as an automatic answer to disappointing savings. More production can mean more exports rather than more avoided purchases. A revised proposal should demonstrate the financial effect before you consider another expense.

Check charges outside the buyback line

Alabama Power's solar guidance identifies Rider RGB as relevant to interconnected self-generation. Its special rules require written authorization for parallel operation and address customer responsibility for additional metering and necessary utility-system work. and

The posted RGB rider, effective April 2022 billings, includes a $5.41 per kW capacity reservation charge for secondary service under specified backup-power arrangements. Applicability and alternatives depend on the service rate; it is not a flat charge for every solar account.

Request a complete account-specific list of recurring charges. The small PAE base charge should not be presented as the total cost of staying connected. Have the utility distinguish ordinary service charges from generation-related charges, and ask the seller where each appears in the projected bill.

Build a useful review record

Collect the original proposal, signed agreement, production reports, interconnection approval and utility bills covering comparable dates. Mark whether the estimate used all production as retail savings, omitted recurring charges or treated a current purchase rate as permanent. Keep original emails and screenshots rather than replacing them with a corrected estimate.

Solar Exit's billing-review path and contract review can help organize the mismatch. A billing difference alone does not establish misconduct or a cancellation right. Contract terms, dates and what was represented need their own review.

General consumer information, not legal, tax, insurance or electrical advice. No remedy or financial outcome is guaranteed.