APS Net Billing Explained: What Solar Owners Actually Get Paid in 2026
If you're going solar in Arizona under APS, the single most important number you need to understand is the APS export rate: approximately 7.6 cents per kWh. That's what APS pays you, in 2026, for every kilowatt-hour your panels send back to the grid. Older articles still floating around the internet reference 1:1 retail-rate net metering, or the higher RCP rate from 2018–2019. Both are out of date and would lead you to overestimate your solar payback by thousands of dollars over the life of the system.
This guide walks through what APS net billing actually is, how the RCP export rate is calculated, why it matters for your sizing decisions, what changed for existing customers grandfathered into net metering, and the three concrete strategies that produce the best ROI under the new rules. All numbers cite APS's published rate schedules and the Arizona Corporation Commission decisions that govern the program.
Net metering is gone. Welcome to net billing.
Arizona used to have net metering, where the utility credited you at the full retail rate for exported solar. Every kWh you exported subtracted directly from your bill at the same price you would have paid to buy that kWh. The grid was effectively a free, lossless battery.
Those days are over for new APS solar customers. Following the Arizona Corporation Commission's Decision 75859 (the “Value of Solar” case) and subsequent rate updates, APS now uses a Resource Comparison Proxy (RCP) to value your exports. In 2026, that rate is approximately $0.076/kWh. The exact number resets annually based on a formula the ACC approves, generally tied to the avoided cost APS would have paid for utility-scale solar power.
For context, you're buying electricity from APS at $0.1235–$0.3439/kWh depending on time of day on the Saver Choice Plus TOU plan. So every kWh you export is worth roughly 3 to 4.5 times less than every kWh you use yourself. That asymmetry, paying full retail to import while receiving a wholesale-style price to export, is the dominant fact governing solar economics in APS territory today.
What is the Resource Comparison Proxy?
The RCP is APS's methodology for calculating the “avoided cost” of rooftop solar exports. The simplified version: APS estimates what it would have paid to procure equivalent solar generation from a utility-scale source (like a large solar farm) and offers that price for residential exports. The number reflects wholesale solar prices, not retail rates. It is intentionally well below the retail rate because APS's retail rate also covers transmission, distribution, billing, customer service, and other fixed costs that a single rooftop system doesn't eliminate.
The RCP rate is filed annually with the Arizona Corporation Commission and has trended downward each year as utility-scale solar prices have fallen. The 2018–2019 RCP was meaningfully higher than the 2026 rate. New solar buyers sizing systems for a 25-year horizon should model a declining export rate, not a flat one. Some installers' ROI calculators assume a flat export rate forever, which is optimistic.
The math: self-consumption vs export
| What You Do With Solar | Value Per kWh | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Use during summer peak (4-7pm) | $0.3439 | Offsets most expensive grid power |
| Use during off-peak | $0.1235 | Offsets mid-range grid power |
| Use during super off-peak (where applicable) | $0.0935 | Marginal value, only slightly above export rate |
| Export to grid | $0.076 | APS pays the published RCP rate |
The headline takeaway: every kWh you self-consume during the peak window is worth 4.5× what the same kWh would have earned exported. Even off-peak self-consumption beats export by 60%. Only super-off-peak self-consumption is close to break-even with export, which is why charging an EV at 11pm under super-off-peak is one of the few moments when exporting solar would have been almost as worthwhile as self-consuming.
Real-world example: 8 kW system on a 1,500 kWh/month home
To make this concrete, here's a typical APS Phoenix-area scenario:
| Setup | Self-consumption rate | Annual solar value | Annual bill savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar only, no load shifting | ~35% | $1,100–$1,300 | ~$1,200/yr |
| Solar + load shifting (no battery) | ~50% | $1,500–$1,700 | ~$1,600/yr |
| Solar + 13.5 kWh battery | ~80% | $2,400–$2,800 | ~$2,600/yr |
| Solar + 27 kWh battery + load shifting | ~92% | $3,100–$3,500 | ~$3,300/yr |
Estimates assume 14,900 kWh annual production from an 8 kW Phoenix system, household consumption of 18,000 kWh/yr (1,500 kWh/mo average with summer peaks), and 2026 APS Saver Choice Plus rates. Actual values depend on usage patterns, appliance schedules, and seasonal variation. Run your specific numbers in our solar calculator.
Look at the spread between row 1 ($1,200/yr) and row 4 ($3,300/yr). Same panels. Same household demand. The only difference is what you do with the production. That $2,100 annual gap is the entire difference between “solar still pays back, but slowly” and “solar plus battery pays back in under 8 years.” This is why net billing turns sizing and storage decisions into the dominant levers, not the panels themselves.
Why this makes batteries essential
Without a battery, a typical solar home exports about 60–70% of its production during midday hours when nobody's home. At $0.076/kWh, that's a poor outcome for an asset that cost $20,000+. With a battery, you store that midday solar and use it during peak hours (4-7pm) when APS charges $0.3439/kWh. The value swing is enormous: every kWh shifted from export to peak self-consumption is worth $0.268 more.
For a 13.5 kWh battery cycling daily with full peak displacement, that is roughly $1,100/year in extra value, on top of the 30% federal battery tax credit (still available through 2032) and the APS Cool Reward rebate ($3,750 upfront). See the full battery economics breakdown in our APS VPP guide and tax credit explainer.
Three ways to maximize your solar value under net billing
1. Add a battery
The highest-value move. Store excess solar for peak hours instead of exporting at 7.6¢. A 10 to 13.5 kWh battery is the sweet spot for most APS households: large enough to cover the 3-hour peak window for typical consumption, small enough that the federal credit and Cool Reward rebate offset most of the cost. Use our battery calculator to model your specific payback period at current rates.
2. Shift loads to solar hours (or to super-off-peak)
Run flexible loads when your solar is producing, not when APS is charging peak rates:
- Dishwasher: Run after lunch instead of after dinner. Save ~$60/yr.
- Laundry: Wash and dry between 10am and 2pm on weekends. Save ~$80/yr.
- Pool pump: Schedule the main run between 9am and 3pm. Save $200–$400/yr depending on pump size.
- EV charging: Schedule for super-off-peak (typically 10pm–5am) at $0.0935/kWh, not peak. Save $300–$600/yr depending on miles driven.
- Pre-cool the house: Lower thermostat to 70–72°F by 3:45pm so AC runs less during peak. Use our pre-cooling calculator to see specific savings for your AC tonnage.
3. Right-size the system
Oversizing solar means more exports at the low RCP rate. Under net metering, oversizing was free; under net billing, oversizing is actively wasteful. The right system size is the one that matches your high-value usage hours plus a small buffer for battery charging. Match your system to actual usage with our solar calculator, not by following an installer's default sizing rule that may still be tuned to net-metering economics.
What about grandfathered net-metering customers?
Existing APS solar customers who interconnected before the net-metering successor tariff took effect were grandfathered into the previous structure for a defined period set in Decision 75859 and follow-on orders. The grandfathering window is finite. Even existing customers will eventually move onto the current net-billing structure unless they sell the home or substantially modify the system before then.
If you have an older solar system, dig out your interconnection paperwork. The grandfathering end date is usually documented. Once it expires, your export rate drops to whatever the current RCP rate is, which materially changes your system's ROI from that point forward. Adding a battery before grandfathering ends is the most common defensive move for households in this situation.
Important caveats
A few things worth knowing before making sizing decisions:
- RCP rate is reset annually. Don't assume today's $0.076/kWh export rate holds for 25 years. The trend has been downward.
- TOU plan choice matters. Net billing economics shift based on which APS rate plan you select. The Saver Choice Plus plan referenced here is the most common, but Saver Choice Max and other variants have different peak/off-peak structures.
- Battery interconnection adds complexity. Adding a battery to existing solar usually requires a permit, sometimes a service panel upgrade, and a separate APS interconnection application. Budget time and a few hundred dollars for paperwork on top of the battery purchase.
- Future regulatory change. The Arizona Corporation Commission revisits the RCP methodology periodically. A future ruling could increase or further decrease the rate. Watch ACC dockets if you're modeling out long-term economics.
The bottom line
APS net billing means self-consumption is king. Every kWh you use yourself is worth 2–4.5x more than what APS pays for exports. The right combo of solar sizing + battery storage + load shifting can push your self-consumption rate above 80%, and that's where the real savings live. Solar still works in Arizona. It just rewards a different kind of homeowner now: one who pairs it with a battery, schedules loads intelligently, and treats the export rate as a backstop, not a profit center.