Texas does things differently
There's no statewide net metering law in Texas, so no one has to pay you a fair price for the solar you send to the grid. In most of the state, what you get depends entirely on the electricity plan you pick.
Pick well, and your panels can help you charge your EV for very little. Pick badly, and you can end up selling your solar for 3 cents and buying it back for 16 cents or more. This guide explains your options in plain words.
First: can you choose your plan?
Most Texans, including people in Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth, live in deregulated areas. There, the company that owns the poles and wires (such as Oncor or CenterPoint) isn't the one that sells you electricity. Instead, you pick a retail electric provider, such as Reliant, TXU or Green Mountain Energy. Its plan decides how much it pays for your solar.
If you live in Austin, San Antonio, El Paso or an area served by an electric co-op, you can't choose a provider. Your local utility sets its own solar rules, so check with it directly. The rest of this guide is for the deregulated areas.
The three kinds of solar plans in Texas
1. Buyback plans. These pay you a set rate for the solar you export. Fixed buyback rates we saw in 2026 ranged from about 3 to 10 cents per kWh. For example, Gexa's Solar Export Saver paid about 3¢, Reliant's Solar Payback Plus about 4.3¢, TXU's Solar Buyback Saver about 5.5¢, and Chariot's GreenVolt about 7¢. Some plans, like Chariot Shine, pay the real-time ERCOT wholesale price instead. That averages around 3 to 5 cents but can jump much higher when the grid is stressed.
2. 1:1 or "retail-match" plans. These credit your exports at the same energy rate you pay for power. Examples include TXU's Solar Buyback Match (Oncor area only) and Green Mountain's Renewable Rewards. The catch: they usually don't credit the delivery charge, which you still pay on every kWh you use. Some also cap your credits; TXU's plan, for example, caps banked credits at $1,000. And they often come with longer contracts.
3. Free nights plans. Texas wind farms often produce lots of power at night, when demand is low, so some providers give power away during set night hours. Reliant's plan, for example, makes power free from 9 PM to 6 AM, including the per-kWh delivery charge. That's perfect timing for EV charging. The trade-off: these plans charge more during the day, and most don't advertise any solar buyback. Unless the plan's fine print says otherwise, assume the solar you export earns nothing.
Same panels, three very different bills
Here's one day of EV charging under each type of plan. The car is a 2024 Tesla Model Y Long Range driving about 35 miles a day, which takes about 10 kWh (29 kWh per 100 miles, EPA). It charges after 9 PM, when the sun is down. During the day, your panels send about 10 kWh of extra solar to the grid. The home is in the Oncor area, where delivery costs about 6.1¢ per kWh. Monthly fixed fees (Oncor's is about $4.06) are left out because you pay them on every plan.
| Type of plan | Earned for 10 kWh exported at noon | Paid for 10 kWh to charge after 9 PM | Net cost to charge the car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low buyback (3¢) | +$0.30 | $1.61 (10¢ energy + 6.1¢ delivery) | $1.31 a day (about $39 a month) |
| 1:1 energy credit (10¢) | +$1.00 | $1.61 (10¢ energy + 6.1¢ delivery) | $0.61 a day (about $18 a month) |
| Free nights (9 PM–6 AM) | $0 (no buyback) | $0 (energy and per-kWh delivery are free at night) | $0 for charging |
What the numbers mean
With a low buyback plan, you'd pay about $39 a month to charge your car, even though your panels make enough solar to cover it. A 1:1 plan cuts that to about $18 a month, because you still pay delivery on the power you use at night. A free nights plan takes the charging cost to zero.
But that's not the whole story. The free nights plan charges you more for the power you buy during the day. Reliant's daytime price in Houston worked out to about 24.6¢ per kWh with delivery in mid-2026. So it only wins if your solar covers most of your daytime use.
The fine print that changes the math
Before you sign anything, open the plan's Electricity Facts Label (EFL). Every Texas plan has one, and it's where the real terms are. Watch for these:
Delivery charges: your poles-and-wires company charges for every kWh you use. Since June 2026, that's about 6.1¢ per kWh plus $4.06 a month for Oncor and about 5.1¢ per kWh plus $4.90 a month for CenterPoint. Buyback credits usually don't cover it.
Rollover and caps: some plans let unused credits roll over with no limit. Others cap them, or wipe them out at the end of each month or when your contract ends. If you want summer credits to pay for winter charging, look for unlimited rollover.
The 6 to 9 PM gap: on a free nights plan, the free hours often don't start until 9 PM. On summer evenings, your panels have faded but your air conditioning is still running, and you pay the higher daytime rate. Plug the car in after 9 PM, and try to keep other big loads late, too.
Contract length and exit fees: many solar plans last 12 to 36 months. Leaving early can be expensive. Reliant's free nights plan, for example, has a $295 early termination fee.
Which plan fits you?
Your solar covers most of your daytime use, and you charge at night: a free nights plan is often the cheapest way to charge.
You export a lot of solar and want to bank it for later: look for a 1:1 or high buyback plan with unlimited rollover.
You have, or plan to buy, a home battery: your battery stores your own solar for the evening, so the buyback rate matters much less. But a Tesla Powerwall 3 costs about $13,500 installed, so check first whether a better plan saves you nearly as much.
Whatever you choose, compare plans on Power to Choose (powertochoose.org), the official site run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Plans change often, and some providers don't list every plan there, so check providers' own sites too.
An example: John in Houston
John lives in Houston, in CenterPoint's area. He drives a Ford F-150 Lightning (48 kWh per 100 miles, EPA) about 40 miles a day, and he has an 8 kW solar system. His installer told him he'd "drive for free."
But John kept his old electricity plan without checking its buyback rate. It paid just 3¢ for his exported solar, while charging his truck after dark cost about 18¢ per kWh with delivery. His truck uses about 576 kWh a month. So he was paying about $104 a month to charge it and getting back only about $17 in solar credits. He wasn't driving for free at all.
He waited until his contract ended, so he wouldn't owe an exit fee. Then he compared plans on Power to Choose and switched to a free nights plan. Now his panels run the air conditioning during the day, and the truck charges after 9 PM. His exports no longer earn anything, but his truck's charging dropped to almost nothing. The fix wasn't more panels. It was reading the fine print.
(John is an example, not a real customer. Ford stopped building the all-electric F-150 Lightning in December 2025, but many are still on the road.)