Is solar worth it in Oklahoma in 2026?

How Oklahoma pays for your solar power

Net metering at the retail rate. Oklahoma Corporation Commission rules net your solar output against your use at retail rates over each billing period; only surplus beyond your use is paid at the utility's avoided energy cost. OG&E requires a time-of-use rate.

In the calculator, 40% of your solar output is used at home at the retail price and the rest is exported at about 100% of retail (our default for this kind of rule), so each solar kWh is worth 100% of the retail price on average. Change it if your utility pays more or less. Method

How exports are credited

Net metering in Oklahoma is set by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) under 17 O.S. § 156 and OAC 165:40-9. The OCC says the energy a customer’s system produces is netted against the energy used at that location, which compensates the customer at the full retail energy rate, but only up to the amount of energy consumed in that billing period. Any consumption beyond production is billed at the standard rate. Utilities must buy any excess production at the utility’s avoided energy cost, paid or credited in the next billing cycle. The OCC gives a limit of 300 kW and a 125% peak load limit, so a system cannot be sized to produce far more than the site uses.

OG&E, the largest investor-owned utility, runs this as its Net Energy Billing Option (NEBO). Under the tariff:

• Net energy is the energy the system produces less the energy the customer consumes at the same site, measured over the monthly billing period.
• If you used more than you produced, you pay your standard time-of-use (TOU) rates on the net kWh.
• If you produced more than you used, the surplus is credited or paid in dollars in the next billing periods at OG&E’s avoided energy cost, on-peak or off-peak.
• Avoided energy cost is based on day-ahead Southwest Power Pool (SPP) locational marginal prices, averaged for the month, so it changes every month.
• If a credit carries forward for 24 consecutive months or exceeds $100, OG&E or the customer may choose a one-time payment. A credit moves with you if you transfer service.

OG&E’s tariff also limits the system to 125% of the customer’s peak load; larger systems that produce net excess energy default to its QF tariff instead. OG&E does not appear on every Oklahoma homeowner’s bill. Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) and electric cooperatives follow the same OCC rule but have their own tariffs. The PSO tariff could not be opened for this page, so ask PSO or your co-op for their terms.

State incentives in 2026

No open statewide residential solar rebate, income tax credit, property tax exemption or sales tax exemption was confirmed in the sources checked. The OCC and OG&E pages describe net metering and nothing else for homeowners.

The federal residential credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025. See the federal credit explainer.

What it means for payback

Over a billing period, each kWh you produce offsets a kWh you would have bought, at the retail energy rate. Only the surplus earns the avoided cost, which OG&E’s tariff ties to wholesale prices and the TOU rate design may leave low. Surplus is therefore worth less than power used on site. Size the system to cover your annual use rather than to produce a large surplus; the tariff’s 125%-of-peak-load limit also keeps oversized systems out of NEBO.

Because OG&E requires a TOU rate, when you use power matters. OG&E’s solar page lists Oklahoma summer residential rates of 18.4 cents/kWh on-peak (2 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays) and 3.27 cents/kWh off-peak. Check the current rate schedule before modeling a system. A system that produces at midday while you use most of your power in the evening peak may not offset as much value as the production total suggests. Shifting load or adding a battery can help; see are solar batteries worth it and net metering vs net billing.

OG&E itself says it is highly unlikely that a residential system covers 100% of consumption, and customers always pay meter charges, riders, fees and taxes.

Other rules worth knowing

OG&E requires a bidirectional meter and, in Oklahoma, an additional meter base that records total production. It says there is no incremental charge for the smart meter. It reviews net metering applications within 30 business days of a complete application, and reprogramming the meter takes up to seven business days after approval. If you move into a home that already has a system, you can take over net metering by applying for interconnection.

The NEBO tariff requires you to sign a standard purchase agreement for small power facilities and install the system to OG&E’s interconnection standards. OG&E may limit the number of installations on a single distribution circuit or substation for operational reasons.

The sources checked do not cover homeowner association covenants or local permits, so read your covenants and ask your city before ordering.

Berkeley Lab does not publish a Oklahoma median from enough systems, so the calculator starts from the U.S. median of $3.60/W. Put your own quote in.