SCE Solar Export Cap: What the 60% Really Means for Your LA Home
If your solar system was installed after April 2023, Southern California Edison is paying you up to 60–75% less for the energy you send back to the grid. Here's what the '60%' really means — and what you can do about it.
SCE Solar Export Cap: What the 60% Really Means for Your LA Home
If you live in Los Angeles and you've had solar installed recently — or you're thinking about it — you've probably heard someone say "SCE is capping your exports at 60% off." That phrase gets thrown around a lot, and it almost always means two different things at once. In this article, we'll break both down in plain English so you know exactly what's happening to your solar credits.
The Quick Version
Under Southern California Edison's Solar Billing Plan (also called Net Billing Tariff or NEM 3.0), the energy you send back to the grid is now compensated at a rate that's roughly 60–75% lower than what it was under the old NEM 2.0 program. For some hours of the day, SCE pays you close to $0.00 per kWh for your exports.
That doesn't mean solar is a bad deal anymore. It means how you size your system and how you use your power matters more than ever.
What Was NEM 2.0 (The Old Rule)
Under the old Net Energy Metering 2.0 program, every kWh you exported to the grid was worth roughly the retail rate — about $0.30–$0.40 per kWh in SCE territory. In effect, the grid acted like a free battery. You could overproduce in summer, bank the credits, and pull from them at night and in winter.
This is why so many LA homeowners oversized their systems by 130–150% of their annual usage. The extra production paid for itself in 5–7 years.
What Changed on April 15, 2023 (NEM 3.0 / NBT)
California replaced NEM 2.0 with the Net Billing Tariff (NBT), often called NEM 3.0. The headline change: exports are no longer paid at retail rates.
Under the new plan:
- Imported energy (power you pull from the grid) is billed at the full retail rate, including all the time-of-use charges.
- Exported energy (power you send back) is credited at the Avoided Cost Rate — a wholesale-style price that changes hour by hour and season by season.
The result is dramatic. Here's a side-by-side for a typical SCE summer afternoon:
| | NEM 2.0 | NEM 3.0 / NBT | |---|---|---| | Peak export credit (4–9pm) | ~$0.41/kWh | ~$0.08–$0.15/kWh | | Midday export credit (10am–3pm) | ~$0.30/kWh | ~$0.02–$0.05/kWh | | Spring oversupply hours | ~$0.25/kWh | $0.00/kWh (frequently) |
Across the full year, the average SCE export credit dropped from about $0.30/kWh down to roughly $0.08/kWh — a ~60–75% reduction. That's the "60%" everyone is talking about.
The Second "60%" — System Sizing vs. Historical Usage
There's a second number that often gets confused with the export rate cut. SCE's interconnection rules also limit how big your system can be relative to your historical usage.
Under SCE's current review process:
- Systems sized up to 100% of historical annual usage sail through quickly.
- Systems between 100% and 150% may trigger a supplemental review.
- Systems above 150% of historical usage often require additional justification and may be flagged as oversized for export.
The general rule of thumb installers now follow: size to your load, not to the grid. A system that produces ~100–110% of what you actually consume — especially if you pair it with battery storage — gives you the best payback under NEM 3.0.
Why This Actually Makes Solar + Battery a Better Deal
Here's the part most people miss: the NEM 3.0 rules didn't kill solar — they made self-consumption the winning strategy. Every kWh you generate and use yourself still displaces retail-rate power at $0.30–$0.40/kWh. That math hasn't changed.
The grid no longer pays you to be a power plant. So the smart move is to:
- Right-size your system to match your daytime usage.
- Add a battery (Tesla Powerwall, Enphase IQ Battery, FranklinWH, etc.) so your excess solar runs your home at night instead of being dumped onto the grid for pennies.
- Shift heavy loads (EV charging, laundry, AC pre-cooling) into the midday solar window.
- Avoid oversizing. A bigger system isn't better anymore — it just exports more cheaply.
Common Questions We Hear From LA Homeowners
"My system was installed before April 2023. Am I affected?" No. If you received Permission to Operate (PTO) before April 15, 2023, you're grandfathered into NEM 2.0 for 20 years from your PTO date. Enjoy it — but know that your system's value is locked in.
"Should I add more panels to my existing NEM 2.0 system?" Be careful. SCE allows a one-time small expansion (typically ≤10% or 1 kW, whichever is greater) without losing your NEM 2.0 status. Anything beyond that can bump you to NEM 3.0. Talk to us before you add panels.
"Can I get a battery and stay on NEM 2.0?" Yes — adding storage alone generally doesn't change your NEM status. Batteries are actually the single best upgrade for an NEM 2.0 system heading into its later years.
"Why is my export rate sometimes literally $0.00?" That's the duck curve in action. On sunny spring days in California, solar production floods the grid between 10am and 3pm, and the wholesale price drops below zero. SCE passes those hours through to you at near-zero credit. It's why load-shifting and batteries matter.
How SolarFix Helps
If you're on SCE and trying to make sense of your bill, here's where we come in:
- Production audit — we measure what your system is actually generating vs. what was promised.
- Export rate review — we sit down with your SCE billing plan and show you exactly where your credits are going.
- Battery sizing & install — we design and install Powerwall, Enphase, and FranklinWH systems sized to your true nighttime load.
- Load-shift planning — we help you set up automations so your biggest power use happens when your panels are producing.
- Inverter & system optimization — if your system is clipping, derating, or underperforming, we fix it so you're not exporting cheap power you should be using.
The Bottom Line
The "60%" isn't a punishment — it's just the new math of California solar. Solar still makes sense in Los Angeles, but only if it's designed for how you actually use power, not for selling power back to the grid.
If your system was sized the old way (150% of usage, no battery, dumping exports onto the grid), you're probably leaving real money on the table every month. A 30-minute system review can usually tell us exactly how much.
Call SolarFix at (323) 476-5627 or request a system review and we'll come take a look. Same-day appointments available across Los Angeles County.
