FPL Solar Bill 2026: What You Actually Pay With Panels

FPL residential power costs 12.258¢ per kWh all-in for the first 1,000 kWh in 2026, on top of a $10.52 monthly base charge — and a $30 minimum base bill that solar cannot take you below. Going solar on FPL lowers your bill. It does not zero it, and FPL says so in writing.

Rates verified against FPL's January, September and October 2026 residential rate sheets and its electric tariff on September 5, 2026.

Most FPL solar articles are really net-metering articles. This one is about the bill: every line item on the residential rate sheet, what a solar customer still pays after credits, and how to check a quote against the real numbers. For the crediting mechanics — how credits roll forward, what happens at year end, how each Florida utility differs — read Florida net metering by utility.

How much does FPL charge per kWh in 2026?

12.258¢ per kWh all-in for the first 1,000 kWh, plus a $10.52 monthly base charge, before taxes and any city franchise fee. Above 1,000 kWh the all-in rate rises to 14.258¢. Here is where those numbers come from.

This is FPL's Rate Schedule RS-1, the standard residential rate. Every line appears on your bill; most homeowners have never looked past the total. The per-kWh items below the base energy and fuel lines are what FPL calls clause charges — costs the Public Service Commission lets the utility recover separately and adjust year to year. They are not optional, and they are not taxes.

Northwest Florida is on a different sheet. The former Gulf Power service area pays a transition rider charge of +0.421¢/kWh where peninsular accounts get a −0.040¢ credit — about 0.46¢/kWh more on everything. If you are in the Panhandle, check FPL's Northwest Florida rate sheet, not the figures above.

Your effective rate is higher than 12.258¢

Higher than 12.258¢, because that figure is the variable rate only. Add the fixed $10.52 and a 1,000-kWh household's effective rate is about 13.3¢ before taxes. A 600-kWh household pays about 14.0¢, because the same fixed charge is spread over fewer kilowatt-hours. FPL's own published figure for a typical 1,000-kWh 2026 bill is $136.64 — about $3.54 above what the rate sheet alone produces. FPL does not publish what that "typical bill" figure includes, so treat the difference as taxes and fees and confirm it against your own bill.

The honest way to find your rate: divide the total on your last FPL bill by the kilowatt-hours it billed. That blended number is what any solar proposal should be compared against.

Why doesn't my FPL bill go to zero with solar?

Because of the $30 minimum base bill, and FPL is unusually direct about applying it to solar customers. From FPL's net metering FAQ: "Our $30 minimum base bill ensures all customers contribute to fixed system costs, which do not vary with electricity usage. These costs include poles, transformers and wires used by all customers, including net metering customers, even if your kWh reserve is applied to lower your bill."

Read that last clause again. Draining your solar credits does not get you under $30. The credits offset energy; the minimum is a floor underneath them.

Where does the floor bite? The rate insert says the minimum applies when "monthly base electric service costs fall below $30." FPL does not spell out the arithmetic there, but its RS-1 tariff sheet lists the $10.52 base charge and the 7.865¢ base energy charge together under "Monthly Rate," with the clause charges below as "Additional Charges" and the $30.00 minimum at the foot. Read that way, the floor engages below roughly 248 kWh of net billed usage in a month. Under the old $25 minimum and 2025 rates it was about 217 kWh. Both the floor and the usage level that triggers it moved against solar customers on January 1, 2026.

Practically: a well-sized system will still produce a bill of about $30 before taxes in your best months — more if there is still net usage on the meter, because fuel and clause charges ride on top of the floor. Any quote modelling $0 months is wrong, and wrong in the direction that flatters the payback.

Is the $30 minimum a solar penalty?

No. The minimum base bill applies to every FPL residential customer, solar or not, and it rose as part of a general rate agreement rather than any solar proceeding. The 2025 settlement contains no minimum-bill language and no solar language at all. It is a base-revenue deal: $945 million more from January 1, 2026, another $705 million from January 1, 2027, a 10.95% return-on-equity midpoint and a 59.6% equity ratio, running through the end of 2029. The part that matters to you is the term — those increases are locked in for four years, which is the window your quote's escalation rate has to survive.

The minimum does hit solar customers harder, because they are the only residential customers who routinely get near it. FPL's own FAQ names net metering customers specifically, which tells you they know.

What does an FPL solar bill actually look like?

Using 2026 rates, for a home that runs 1,400 kWh in August and much less in April:

There is no separate solar rate on FPL residential, no demand charge and no standby charge — what is left after the meter nets your production is billed at the ordinary rates above. That is worth confirming, because some Florida municipal utilities do impose extra charges and the stories get generalised to the whole state.

In a surplus month, the extra kilowatt-hours roll forward as a credit rather than paying you. At the end of the year the remaining balance is converted at FPL's average annual COG-1 as-available energy rate — an avoided-cost rate, meaning what it would have cost FPL to generate the power, with no delivery or fixed costs in it. FPL's FAQ describes this as a credit on your December bill; its tariff is more precise and applies the credit to the next month's billing cycle. Either way it is a bill credit, not a cheque — FPL only pays you out if you close the account.

FPL does not publish COG-1 as a fixed number. Its tariff says it will provide a non-binding estimate within thirty days of a written request. Ask for it before anyone sizes a system on the assumption that surplus is worth retail, because every kWh you bank and never use back is converted at avoided cost, not at the rate you pay. If your usage is concentrated at night, a battery is the lever, not more panels.

How do I check an FPL solar quote against the real rates?

Inflated Florida solar proposals tend to fail on the same four assumptions. Three you can check against the rate sheet above in ten minutes; the fourth is a tax question.

1. The starting rate. Under 2026 rates the variable charges total 12.258¢/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh; with the $10.52 base charge, a 1,000-kWh household's effective rate is about 13.3¢ before taxes, closer to 13.7¢ with them. Lower-usage homes run higher. A proposal opening with "your current rate is 17¢" needs an explanation.
2. The escalation rate. Anything above roughly 3–4% a year compounds into fantasy over 25 years. FPL's approved 2026 increase for a typical 1,000-kWh bill was about 2%, and the settlement locks the structure in through 2029.
3. The $0 bill. If any month in the projection falls below $30, the model does not know about the minimum base bill. Ask for a re-run.
4. The federal credit. On a cash or loan deal in 2026, a 30% federal credit line is simply wrong. See below.

Every one of these numbers has a specific place it hides on a proposal — how to read a solar proposal line by line shows where. And once you know your real rate, what solar panels actually cost in Florida in 2026 is the other half of the calculation.

What does system size add to your FPL costs?

One number: $400. FPL rates systems in AC, not the DC figure on your proposal — "the array direct current (DC) rating multiplied by 0.85" — so crossing 10 kW AC, about 11.8 kW DC, moves you from Tier 1 to Tier 2. Tier 2 costs a $400 FPL application fee, proof of at least $1 million in liability insurance, and a mandatory manual disconnect switch that inverter-based Tier 1 systems are exempt from. An 11.7 kW DC array stays under the line; a 12 kW DC array does not. That is one panel of production for $400 plus an insurance endorsement many Florida homeowners policies do not carry by default.

There is also a hard ceiling most homeowners never hear about. FPL's net metering guidelines: "your renewable system must be estimated to produce less than 115% of your annual kWh consumption." So sizing to your usage rather than your roof is not only good advice — an oversized system will not be approved. Extra panels are the easiest place for an installer to add margin without adding value; how to spot installer markup in Florida covers the tell.

The full tier table, the fees at every Florida utility and what happens if you cross the line are in Florida net metering by utility. What that $1 million endorsement costs, and which Florida carriers hesitate to write it, is covered in Florida's Tier 2 solar insurance requirement.

What changed on your FPL bill in 2026?

The minimum base bill went from $25 to $30. The January 2025 rate sheet read: "Residential customers whose monthly base electric service costs fall below $25 are subject to a minimum $25 base bill." Every 2026 sheet says $30. For a homeowner without solar this is invisible. For a solar homeowner who zeroes out usage, it is the entire bill.

Base rates rose under a four-year agreement. On November 20, 2025 the Florida Public Service Commission approved it. FPL's own words: "For 2026, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill in most of Florida will increase by $2.50 a month, or about 2%, from the current $134.14 to $136.64." Northwest Florida was the exception — FPL described it as "relatively flat," going from $143.60 to $141.36.

September 2026 was a one-month rebate, and it is over. The September rate sheet carried a Storm Restoration Recovery Refund of −0.797¢/kWh, and FPL's tariff applied it "for a period of one (1) month." On 1,000 kWh that made September about $7.97 cheaper than every other month of 2026. October's rates are identical to January's; nothing else on the residential sheet changed. If you are comparing bills to judge whether solar is worth it, do not use September as your baseline.

Does FPL offer a solar rebate?

FPL does not advertise a rooftop solar rebate on any of its residential solar or net-metering pages. Neither Duke Energy Florida nor Tampa Electric advertises one on the pages we checked either. If a salesperson tells you an FPL rebate is waiting, ask them to show you the page.

Florida's real incentives are the sales-tax and property-tax exemptions, which apply statewide regardless of utility — see Florida solar incentives 2026. A few municipal utilities do run programs; Orlando's OUC has a battery rebate, for instance. FPL territory is not one of them.

Can I still claim the 30% federal solar tax credit in 2026?

If you are buying with cash or a loan, no. The residential clean energy credit under section 25D terminated for expenditures made after December 31, 2025 — in practice the system had to be installed and paid for by that date. Any 2026 FPL quote showing a 30% federal credit on a purchase is overstating your savings by thousands, and you, not the salesperson, sign the tax return.

Leases and power purchase agreements work differently. The finance company owns the system, so any commercial credit claimed under section 48E belongs to the company, not to you — you never claim it on your return. Do not assume it is automatic on their side either: the 2025 law added foreign-entity sourcing restrictions and construction-start deadlines to 48E. Ask the finance company in writing whether the system actually qualifies before accepting a payment priced as though it does, and compare the 25-year total rather than the first-year payment. A small annual escalator adds up to more than you would think over 25 years, and lease vs. loan vs. cash shows the gap in real numbers.

Before you sign: what to get in writing

1. A month-by-month bill projection. Any month under $30 means the model does not know about the minimum base bill.
2. Confirmation that FPL has pre-approved the system. FPL's guidelines are explicit: "All interconnection applications must be approved prior to installation and operation."
3. Who files the interconnection application, and who pays if permission to operate — the utility sign-off that lets you switch the system on — runs late.
4. On a lease or PPA, the escalator and the full 25-year payment total, not the first-year payment.
5. The cancellation window. Florida gives you specific rights here: Florida's solar contract disclosure law.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my October 2026 FPL bill higher than September's?

Because September was a one-month rebate. The September 2026 FPL rate sheet carried a storm restoration recovery refund of −0.797¢/kWh, which FPL's tariff applied "for a period of one (1) month" — about $7.97 on 1,000 kWh. October's rates are identical to January 2026's; nothing else changed.

Can I get a $0 FPL bill with solar?

No. FPL's $30 minimum base bill applies to net metering customers explicitly. A well-sized system reduces an FPL bill to roughly that minimum in the best months, not to zero, and taxes ride on top.

What is my real FPL electricity rate?

Divide the total on your last FPL bill by the kilowatt-hours it billed. That blended figure — typically 13 to 14¢ for an FPL residential customer in 2026 — includes the fixed base charge and taxes, so it runs above the 12.258¢ per-kWh rate. It is the number to check any solar proposal against.

Did FPL's 2025 rate case change what solar customers pay?

Yes, but not through any solar-specific rule. The settlement the Public Service Commission approved on November 20, 2025 raised base rates and the minimum base bill sits at $30 — but it contains no net-metering language at all. What changed for solar homes is the size of the floor, not the crediting rules.

Sources

• FPL Residential Rates and Clauses, effective January 2026, September 2026 and October 2026, and the Northwest Florida sheet — base charge, energy, fuel and clause charges, the transition credit and rider, the one-month storm restoration recovery refund, and the minimum base bill note.
• FPL Residential Rates and Clauses, approved January 2025 — the prior $25 minimum base bill and 2025 rates.
• FPL Electric Tariff, Sheets 8.030, 8.201, 8.940 and 10.101 — the RS-1 monthly rate structure and $30.00 minimum, the one-month refund, net metering of excess generation, and the COG-1 as-available energy tariff.
• FPL net metering FAQ, net metering guidelines and net metering tiers pages — the minimum base bill as applied to net metering customers, AC = DC × 0.85, the 115% sizing limit, pre-approval before installation, tier application fees and insurance, and the manual disconnect switch requirement.
• FPL newsroom release, November 20, 2025 — Public Service Commission approval of the four-year rate agreement and the typical 1,000-kWh bill figures.
• 2025 Stipulation and Settlement Agreement (Docket 20250011-EI), filed as an exhibit to NextEra Energy's SEC Form 8-K — base revenue increases, return on equity, equity ratio and term.
• Florida Public Service Commission Rule 25-6.065, Interconnection and Net Metering of Customer-Owned Renewable Generation, and section 366.91, Florida Statutes.
• Public Law 119-21, §70506 (termination of the section 25D residential clean energy credit) and §70513 (section 48E).

Rates change. Confirm current figures with FPL before deciding, and confirm tax treatment with your own tax adviser — this is not legal or tax advice.

Get a second opinion on your FPL quote

I am an independent solar broker. I do not install anything, which means I have no system to sell you and no reason to inflate your utility rate. If you have an FPL solar quote in hand, I will read it line by line against the rate sheet above and tell you plainly whether the numbers hold up.

Get a free quote review — there is no cost to you. If you decide to move forward with an installer I introduce you to, that installer may pay me a referral fee; you never pay me anything, and the review is the same either way.