Solar lease and PPA rates: what customers paid per kWh (2025)

Companies such as Sunrun, Tesla, SunPower Capital own rooftop solar systems and sell the power to the homeowner under a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA). Because they sell electricity, they report to the EIA like a utility, in a separate “behind the meter” category. Their price is not a grid electricity rate: these homes still buy the rest of their power from the local utility.

Companies with at least 1,000 residential customers. Grid price: 2025 state average for all residential customers, fixed charges included. Local utility prices can be well above or below it.

How to read the comparison

• A solar price below the utility's average price saves money on every kWh the panels produce, as long as the contract's yearly price escalator does not outpace utility rate increases.
• The utility's average price includes fixed monthly charges. Solar does not reduce those, so the real saving per kWh is smaller than the difference between the two columns.
• Net metering rules decide what power sent back to the grid is worth. In California, homes on the newer net billing tariff get much less for exported power than older customers.
• The EIA figure is an average over all contracts, old and new. A new lease or PPA can be priced differently.

Check your own grid price: electric bill calculator · average bill by state.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 2025, residential sales by “behind the meter” providers; revenue ÷ kWh sold.