LADWP vs SCE: how solar works with your utility in Los Angeles

Which utility serves you?

Check the name on your electric bill: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) or Southern California Edison (SCE).

Most of the City of Los Angeles is LADWP territory, including San Fernando Valley neighborhoods such as Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Encino and West Hills, and Westside neighborhoods such as Bel Air and Pacific Palisades. Many surrounding cities, such as Calabasas, Malibu and Santa Monica, are SCE. A few cities, including Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, run their own utilities with their own solar rules.

LADWP and SCE side by side

How LADWP net metering works

LADWP nets the energy your system sends out against the energy you use, so exported solar keeps close to its retail value.

LADWP is a city-owned utility, so the CPUC’s NEM 3.0 rules don’t apply. Its Net Energy Metering rider covers solar systems up to 1 MW that are mainly meant to offset your own use. Each billing period:

• If LADWP supplies more energy than your system sends back, you pay for the difference at your current rate.
• If your system sends back more than LADWP supplies, you still pay the monthly charges that aren’t based on energy, and the excess is credited at your rate schedule’s energy pricing.
• Credit carries forward to later bills. If credit is left when you close the account, LADWP doesn’t pay it out.

You pay LADWP’s costs to interconnect your system, and systems over 10 kW need a signed interconnection agreement. LADWP can change the rider through its Board and the City Council, so check the current terms before you sign a contract.

How SCE’s Solar Billing Plan works

You pay full retail for grid power and earn a much smaller, hourly credit for the solar you export.

Since April 15, 2023, new SCE solar customers go on the Solar Billing Plan. Residential customers move to the TOU-D-PRIME rate, where prices peak on summer weekdays from 4 to 9 p.m.

• Export credits: each kWh you send to the grid earns an Energy Export Credit set by the hour. Credits are higher from 4 to 9 p.m. and June through September, and lower from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and October through May, which is when most solar is produced.
• Price lock: your export prices are fixed for 9 years based on the year you start. Customers who apply in 2026 are vintage NBT26.
• Early-adopter credit: residential customers who enroll before 2028 earn about $0.04 per kWh extra, or about $0.09 if income-qualified.
• True-Up: once a year SCE settles your account. If you exported more than you used, some credits are adjusted, and eligible surplus earns about $0.02 per kWh.
• Base Services Charge: a monthly grid-connection charge that export credits can’t cover.

Homes already on NEM 2.0 keep it until their 20-year eligibility period ends, then move to the plan available at that time.

What it means for your system

LADWP homes

Because exports are credited against your usage, a panel system sized to your annual consumption can offset much of the energy part of your bill on its own. A battery is about backup power during outages, not about making the solar pay.

SCE homes

Savings come from using your own solar rather than exporting it. That usually means sizing panels closer to what the home uses during the day and adding a battery to carry midday solar into the 4 to 9 p.m. peak. Oversizing the panels to export more earns little.

Either way, we start from your last 12 months of bills and your utility’s current rules. For the tax side, see the solar tax credit in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Does NEM 3.0 apply to LADWP customers?

No. NEM 3.0, the Net Billing Tariff, is set by the California Public Utilities Commission for investor-owned utilities such as SCE. LADWP is a city-owned utility with its own net energy metering rider.

How does LADWP credit the solar power I send to the grid?

Under LADWP’s net energy metering rider, if your system sends more energy to the grid than LADWP supplies in a billing period, the excess is credited at your rate schedule’s energy pricing and the credit carries forward to later bills. LADWP does not pay cash for leftover credit.

How much does SCE pay for exported solar power?

SCE credits exports with hourly Energy Export Credits based on the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator. They are highest from 4 to 9 p.m. and in June through September, and generally well below the retail rate. Residential customers who enroll before 2028 get an extra credit of about $0.04 per kWh.

Do I need a battery with solar on SCE?

You don’t need one, but a battery usually does more for SCE customers than for LADWP customers. It stores midday solar for the 4 to 9 p.m. peak, when grid power costs the most, instead of exporting it for a small credit.