Use this guide
Choose the questions relevant to your situation. Expand each answer, save the checklist and request written clarification where evidence is missing.
Questions homeowners ask
Why should I identify my generation supplier first?
AEP Ohio directs customers with a competitive retail electric service provider to that provider for excess-electricity treatment. Keep the supplier contract alongside the utility bill.
Source: AEP Ohio: renewable energy and net energy metering. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
What does AEP Ohio require for parallel generating equipment?
Its guidance says permanent solar and storage systems operating in parallel with the utility are subject to review and approval. Installation completion alone is not evidence of utility approval.
Source: AEP Ohio: installing generating equipment. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Must a competitive supplier offer net metering?
Ohio’s rule permits CRES net-metering contracts but does not require a provider to enter one. Confirm the signed terms.
Source: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28: net metering; effective April 8, 2024. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Which value applies to excess on the standard utility tariff?
The rule converts monthly net excess into dollars using the energy component of the standard service offer. This is not every retail bill component.
Source: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28: net metering; effective April 8, 2024. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Does that standard-tariff credit carry forward?
The rule provides continuing monetary credits on future bills; it does not require cash payment. Credits may be lost if unused or utility service stops.
Source: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28: net metering; effective April 8, 2024. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Which consumption history informs system sizing?
The rule uses the previous three years’ average electricity supplied, or an appropriate estimate when data or circumstances prevent that calculation.
Source: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28: net metering; effective April 8, 2024. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
What is the rule’s sizing boundary?
It limits facilities to 120 percent of electricity requirements at interconnection. This does not itself establish a particular equipment rating or approval.
Source: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28: net metering; effective April 8, 2024. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Who owns renewable energy credits by default?
The rule assigns RECs to the customer-generator unless a contract assigns them elsewhere. Check each agreement.
Source: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-28: net metering; effective April 8, 2024. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
What should I check before changing suppliers?
Save the proposed contract, current credit balance and recent bills. Ask the existing and proposed suppliers, and the utility where relevant, to explain export treatment, effective dates, billing changes and any treatment of existing credits in writing. Put unanswered items in a pending column. A sales illustration cannot establish the new account’s actual treatment.
Where does Solar Survey AI fit in this decision?
Our homeowner education and evidence methodology help organize site and proposal inputs. A defined site survey may document accessible conditions; confirm homeowner scope, availability, conflicts and limits before booking. The supplier and utility determine account treatment and interconnection. Homeowner provider connections and planned free remote diagnosis remain coming soon.
Your decision checklist
- Identify AEP Ohio service and the generation supplier.
- Retain the applicable tariff and signed supplier contract.
- Separate total solar production from grid imports and exports.
- Record the billing period and credit units.
- Ask who handles excess electricity and existing balances.
- Keep the consumption history or sizing estimate.
- Check REC ownership in every relevant agreement.
- Keep utility review and approval evidence separate from installation.
Save or print this guide from your browser. Keep completed records privately.
Continue your research
Compare the agreement before the headline credit
| Record | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Account identity | Utility, generation supplier and effective service dates |
| Signed terms | Standard utility tariff or supplier net-metering contract |
| Measured energy | Billing dates, grid imports and exports; production separately |
| Credit evidence | Starting balance, current calculation, ending balance and units |
| Sizing evidence | Consumption history, estimate and accepted application |
| Other promises | REC assignment, installation scope and utility approval |
Illustrative arithmetic only: suppose a comparison uses 90 kWh of monthly net excess and an assumed $0.05 per kWh credit. That produces $4.50. The rate is invented, not AEP Ohio’s price or a supplier offer. Write down the actual dated rate source and bill calculation before using the example for a decision. Total inverter production is not a substitute for the bill’s net excess.
Example: a homeowner comparing two supplier offers sees a similar purchase price but no written export clause in one offer. Keep export compensation pending and request the applicable contract before comparing total cost. Save the old balance and both effective dates; do not assume a credit balance or previous promise automatically transfers.
This guide concerns selected residential account records for AEP Ohio service and Ohio’s standard net-metering rule, effective April 8, 2024 on the official page reviewed October 6, 2026. It does not describe every supplier contract, municipal or cooperative utility, hospital tariff or other AEP state. Confirm current filed terms and your account’s treatment with the utility and supplier. Our worksheet, examples and questions are editorial advice, not legal determinations, price quotes or savings guarantees. Read electricity bill measurement guidance, approval milestones and proposal and finance checks. Explore Solar Survey AI’s evidence methodology and confirm available survey scope.
About these guides
Published by Solar Survey AI, a commercial survey-services company. Our original decision checklists are recommendations; linked authorities support the referenced facts. We may benefit if you purchase our services. This is not independent certification of our company, a project-specific engineering decision or personal tax/legal advice. Local rules, contracts and site evidence control individual decisions. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
For available survey or inspection services, confirm your project scope and availability with our team. Our planned free homeowner remote diagnosis remains coming soon.
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