Reading a Con Edison Bill After Solar

The first Con Edison bill after a solar system is switched on is where expectations meet the tariff. It is almost never zero, it is frequently confusing, and most of the confusion comes from one structural fact: a Con Edison bill has two halves and solar only fully attacks one of them.

Supply and delivery

Supply is the electricity itself — the commodity. If you buy from Con Edison, this is Con Edison’s supply charge; if you use an ESCO, it is that company’s charge appearing on the same bill.

Delivery is the cost of moving it to your house over poles, wires and substations, and of maintaining all of that. It is Con Edison’s regardless of who supplies your electricity, and it is typically the larger half of a New York City bill.

Solar reduces the number of kilowatt-hours you buy. That directly reduces supply, and it reduces the volumetric part of delivery. It does not reduce the fixed part of delivery, and it does not reduce the basic service charge at all.

Line by line

• Basic service charge. A fixed monthly amount for being connected. Solar does not change it. This alone means your bill has a floor.
• Delivery — per kWh. Falls with your consumption from the grid.
• Supply — per kWh. Falls with your consumption from the grid.
• System benefit charge and similar public policy charges. Volumetric, so these fall too — which is precisely the shortfall the CBC exists to restore.
• Customer Benefit Contribution. New since your system was interconnected. Calculated on the DC size of your system at $1.29 per kW-month for Con Edison in 2026, so an 8 kW system adds $10.32 a month here. It does not vary with production.
• Sales tax. Applied to the taxable elements as before.
• Credit balance. Where your banked exports appear. This is the line worth learning to find.

How the credit balance behaves

During the strong months your exports exceed your imports and a dollar credit accrues on the account. Con Edison does not send that to you; it sits there. Through the winter, when the array cannot cover the house, the balance is drawn down to pay the bill.

So the correct way to read the bill is not month by month. It is to watch the credit balance rise from spring, peak around late summer, and fall through winter. If it reaches zero in January rather than March, the system is undersized for the house — which is information, and worth having before a second winter.

Why the bill is not zero

Three reasons, in order of size for most households:

1. The basic service charge and the fixed portion of delivery do not move.
2. The Customer Benefit Contribution is a new charge that did not exist before.
3. Unless the system was sized to cover 100% of annual consumption — and many are deliberately not, because the economics of the last few kilowatts are weakest — you are still buying some electricity.

A small bill is the correct outcome. If you were told the bill would be zero, compare that promise against these three lines and take it up with whoever made it.

The first bill is usually strange

The billing cycle rarely aligns with your permission-to-operate date, so the first statement often covers a period that is part pre-solar and part post-solar. It is not a good basis for judging anything. The second full cycle is the first honest one, and the first full year is the only one that really answers the question.

What to check on that first full bill

• That the CBC line matches your system’s DC size × $1.29. If it does not, the size on file may be wrong.
• That exports are actually being recorded — a meter that was never properly exchanged or reprogrammed will show consumption only.
• That the account is on the correct rate and the net-metering arrangement is in place.

If exports are missing, raise it immediately rather than waiting a quarter. Retroactive correction is possible but it is far easier when the gap is one cycle long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Con Edison bill not zero after solar?

The basic service charge and the fixed portion of delivery do not change with consumption, the Customer Benefit Contribution is a new charge based on system size, and most systems are not sized to cover 100% of annual usage. A small bill is the correct expectation.

Where does my solar credit appear on a Con Edison bill?

As a credit balance on the account. It accrues through the strong production months and is drawn down through the winter, so it should be read across a year rather than month by month.

What is the new charge on my bill since installing solar?

The Customer Benefit Contribution, calculated on the DC size of your system at $1.29 per kW-month on Con Edison for 2026. An 8 kW system adds about $10.32 a month, and the amount does not vary with production.

My first bill after solar looks wrong. Should I worry?

The first statement usually straddles your permission-to-operate date and covers part of a pre-solar period, so it is a poor basis for judgement. Check the second full cycle, and if exports are not being recorded at all, raise it immediately.

This article is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Incentive amounts, eligibility rules and deadlines change and depend on your utility, your tax situation and your property. Confirm current terms with NYSERDA, your utility and a qualified tax professional before making a decision.