The RG&E Solar Interconnection Application

RG&E serves most of Monroe County. The villages of Fairport, Spencerport and Churchville run their own municipal electric utilities, so RG&E’s process described here does not apply to them; ask the village utility for its own metering and interconnection rules. Its interconnection process is the utility half of a two-part sequence, and in this county the other half — your town — is where the variability lives.

What the application is

A formal request to connect a generator to RG&E’s distribution network. The utility establishes that your system can export onto your circuit without causing voltage or protection problems for the other customers on it. For a standard residential rooftop array this is normally routine.

It becomes less routine on a circuit already carrying significant distributed generation, where the application may come back requiring a study or a distribution upgrade.

The full sequence, both halves

1. Interconnection application filed with RG&E by your installer, with the design, inverter specification and account details.
2. Screening against circuit capacity, then approval to install — permission to build, not to run.
3. Municipal building permit. This is where Monroe County diverges: Rochester, Greece, Irondequoit, Henrietta, Penfield, Webster, Pittsford, Brighton, Chili and Gates each run their own building department, with their own requirements and turnarounds.
4. Installation, then municipal electrical inspection.
5. Certificate filed with RG&E; the meter is exchanged or reprogrammed.
6. Permission to operate. Only now may the system run.

An installer who works mainly in Henrietta may have no idea what Pittsford’s queue looks like. Ask which authority is issuing your permit and what its current turnaround is, based on that installer’s own recent projects there.

What to agree before signing

• When the interconnection application will be filed — before installation, so a surprise arrives before the roof is drilled.
• What happens if a study or upgrade is required: your deposit, your right to cancel, and who pays.
• Which municipality is issuing the permit, and its current timeline.

What you end up with

Phase One net metering, crediting exports at the full retail rate, held for 20 years from interconnection.

And the Customer Benefit Contribution: a monthly charge on the DC size of your system at RG&E’s 2026 residential rate of $1.31 per kW-month, the second-highest in New York after Central Hudson. An 8 kW system pays about $10.48 a month, roughly $126 a year. It is billed on capacity regardless of output and recalculated annually rather than fixed at interconnection.

Have this ready

• Your RG&E account number and service address exactly as RG&E holds them.
• Twelve months of usage history.
• Proof of ownership, or written landlord consent.

Why Monroe County projects stall

Three places, and only one is RG&E. The building permit sits with your town, and a plans examiner in one Monroe County town may ask for detail another does not. The electrical inspection is scheduled locally, and any correction means a second visit. And the certificate handoff — the moment the passed inspection is actually sent to RG&E — depends entirely on your installer’s paperwork discipline rather than on any queue at all.

A good installer gives you a current range for each of the three rather than a single total. A total with no breakdown is a hope, not an estimate.

One question that is worth asking early

Ask whether the installer checked RG&E’s hosting capacity information for your circuit before designing the system. It is the difference between a proposal built for your address and one built from a template, and in the older Rochester neighbourhoods where solar uptake has been heaviest it is not a formality.

If it stalls

Ask for the electrical inspection certificate and the date it was submitted to RG&E. The most common cause of a long wait after installation is a certificate that passed and was never sent, and that request surfaces it immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who issues the building permit for solar in Monroe County?

Your town or the City of Rochester — Greece, Irondequoit, Henrietta, Penfield, Webster, Pittsford, Brighton, Chili and Gates each run their own building department. The RG&E step is identical across all of them; the municipal step is not.

Can RG&E require a study before approving solar?

Yes, where a circuit already carries significant distributed generation. Agree in writing before signing what happens to your deposit, whether you can cancel, and who pays if a distribution upgrade is required.

What does RG&E charge solar customers monthly?

The Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.31 per kW-month of DC system size for 2026 — the second-highest in New York. An 8 kW system pays about $10.48 a month, roughly $126 a year.

Why is my system still off after installation?

It is waiting on permission to operate, which follows electrical inspection and the meter change. The most common cause of a long wait is an inspection certificate that passed but was never submitted to the utility.

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.