During the year
Solar powers your home first. Surplus exported energy earns kWh credits that offset later grid use that year. When generation and available credits fall short, you pay for the remaining energy.
Self-Generation · Year-End Settle-Up
Summer credits.
Summer credits.
Winter bills.
Here is the connection.
Your solar credits work within a calendar year. At year-end, the remaining kWh look back at eligible energy you already paid for. The resulting dollar credit can help with the new year's bills. Your first year needs a closer look.
Animated diagram with 15 parts and 7 steps. Steps: While you participate in Self-Generating, earlier paid net imports remain on the calendar year’s settlement record. Here, the customer bought 2,500 kWh before building a bank. Net surplus builds a kWh bank and later imports draw it down. This illustrative customer has 3,000 kWh remaining on December 31 and 2,500 kWh of earlier eligible paid net imports. NSP balances the remaining bank against earlier eligible energy purchases in the same year. Here 2,500 kWh become eligible for bill credit, 500 kWh expire, and the bank resets to zero. The first bill of the next year receives a dollar credit. At an illustrative rate of $0.20 per kWh, 2,500 kWh create a $500 credit. Service charges still apply. Only billed purchases after self-generation starts count. In this June-start example, January–May imports are excluded. Eligible billed purchases from June–December total 500 kWh. The 3,000 kWh year-end bank is illustrative. A June start can still earn a partial credit from eligible billed purchases. With 500 eligible kWh and a 3,000 kWh bank, this illustration gives a $100 bill credit at $0.20 per kWh. The remaining 2,500 kWh expire. Once enrolled for a complete calendar year, winter purchases and summer credits are in the same settlement period. A January installation is not required. Understand the first year separately. The calendar year closes December 31; settlement credit appears on the first new-year bill.
Follow the year, then compare a full year with a June start. Illustrative figures. Hover to pause, click or tap to hold.
The kWh bank looks back before a bill credit moves forward.
At December 31
NSP matches your remaining bank against eligible energy billed earlier in the same year. Those earlier purchases still count, even if they happened before the summer credits were earned. Only surplus beyond eligible purchases goes uncredited.
On the first new-year bill
The matched energy becomes a dollar bill credit based on what you paid for it. It appears on the first bill of the new year and stays until used. The kWh bank resets; the settled dollar credit can carry forward.
A June start is a partial year.
It is easy to assume that installing in summer fills a bank for next January and February. But December 31 comes in between. The useful question is: how much eligible billed energy can the remaining bank settle against?
Only eligible energy purchases billed after self-generation starts count. If your system starts in June, your January to May electricity bills do not qualify for that first settle-up. You bought that electricity before you were on self-generation.
NSP dates generation billing from final inspection acceptance. From that start date through December 31, any eligible energy billed when generation and banked credits fall short can be balanced against your remaining year-end bank.
These examples use the same 3,000 kWh closing bank and an illustrative $0.20/kWh paid energy rate. They demonstrate the settlement limit, not a production forecast or today's NSP rate.
A full calendar year
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Self-generation active all year, including winter.
- Bank remaining December 31
- 3,000 kWh
- Earlier eligible billed purchases
- 2,500 kWh
- Bank used at settle-up
- 2,500 kWh
- Surplus expires without payment
- 500 kWh
$500dollar bill credit
2,500 kWh × $0.20. The bank can offset those earlier purchases even though the credits were earned later.
Your first partial year
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
January to May: before start. June to December: participating.
- Bank remaining December 31
- 3,000 kWh
- Eligible billed purchases since June
- 500 kWh
- Bank used at settle-up
- 500 kWh
- Surplus expires without payment
- 2,500 kWh
$100dollar bill credit
500 kWh × $0.20. A large summer bank alone does not guarantee a large credit for the next winter. With zero eligible billed purchases, the settlement would be zero.
You do not need a January installation. A June start can still earn a partial bill credit. And the following January begins your first full calendar year: winter purchases and summer production can then balance within that same year. Installation timing changes the first-year picture, not the annual process for the life of the system.
The questions we hear most.
No. Remaining banked kWh are first reconciled against eligible energy you were billed for earlier that year. That creates a dollar bill credit. Surplus beyond eligible billed energy is not purchased, and the kWh bank resets. The resulting dollar credit remains on your account until used.
No. A summer start can still produce a bill credit if you have eligible billed energy to offset. A smaller eligible amount means a smaller settlement, not an automatic zero. A system started in June enters its first full calendar year the following January; it does not need to be installed in January.
No. Grid imports already offset by generation or banked credits have not been billed as energy purchases and cannot be credited again. Settlement looks at eligible billed energy purchases after self-generation starts. Electricity billed before that start date does not qualify.
No. Annual generation and bill timing are different things. You can pay for winter energy before summer production earns credits. NSP's monthly base charge still applies, and the first partial year can behave differently from a full calendar year.
NSP says generation billing takes effect from acceptance of the final electrical inspection. Panels being on the roof, or a contract being signed, does not start generation crediting.
From The Utility
Read NSP's own explanation.
Billing and year-end credits
NSP Self-Generating Option
Final inspection and start date
NSP installer guide PDF
For your first year, check your generation-billing start date, the energy billed after that date, and the annual adjustment on your first new-year bill.
Sources checked October 18, 2026. This guide covers the Self-Generating Option. Legacy Net Metering and commercial arrangements have their own terms. Time-of-day customers also have period-specific crediting rules.Plan for a full year of solar.
See how self-generation fits your home, then talk with us about production, billing and what to expect in your first year.
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