It’s a credit applied to your bill for the excess energy your home produces that flows back out to the grid.

It’s the energy your home sends back to the grid (and the energy we pay you for) when your renewable energy system produces more electricity than you use in real time. It’s measured by your Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU) through a bi-directional meter.

You’ll need to sign an Interconnection Agreement with your local TDU. The TDU will inspect your system and update your meter to track the excess energy that flows back out to the grid. Once the TDU confirms your system’s ready and they send us meter reads for your excess energy, and you’ve enrolled on a TXU Energy buyback plan, we’ll start applying buyback credits to your bill. This may take up to three billing cycles.

It’s a document created by your TDU that informs them you’re installing or have solar panels or wind turbines at your home and want to connect to the electricity grid. Your TDU will inspect your system and update your smart meter to track the excess energy that flows back out to the grid.

Click here to find your TDU’s contact information.

If you have an existing solar installation and are switching your electricity to TXU Energy, you’ll need to enroll on a TXU Energy buyback plan to get paid for the excess energy you send to the grid. Your buyback credits could start as early as your first bill, contingent upon us receiving a meter read from your TDU for your excess energy. If you’re moving into a home with an existing installation, you’ll also need to contact your local TDU to sign a revised Interconnection Agreement for your system.

You’ll still receive your usual electricity bill from us, and one from your installer. Your installer will bill you separately for your panels, and we’ll bill you for the electricity your home uses when your solar panels don’t receive enough sunlight to produce the energy you need, like on cloudy days and at night. Your bill will also include your plan’s base charge, TDU charges and all other taxes and fees.

If you’re enrolled on an eligible plan, your billed energy charges may be reduced by buyback credits for the excess energy your home sends back to the grid.

On your TXU Energy bill, you’ll see your plan’s base charge, energy charges for the electricity you used from the grid, buyback credits you’ve earned for your excess energy, TDU charges and all other taxes and fees.

What’s not on your electricity bill is your total solar production because a portion of this energy is first consumed by your home before it passes through your bi-directional electricity meter as billable data. You can see your total solar production in your solar panel monitoring system instead.

When your excess energy is sent back out to the grid, it’s tracked by your bi-directional electricity meter. Your TDU sends us your monthly readings from your bi-directional electricity meter and that’s what we use to bill you.

You can create a free account on smartmetertexas.com to see detailed energy data, down to 15-minute intervals, for your consumption (usage from the grid) and surplus generation (excess energy sent to the grid). This site is endorsed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

If your plan has a Buyback Bank, any credits you don’t use will be banked, up to a certain amount, to automatically pay for future energy charges. Credits roll over in dollar values and not kWh values. If you’d like to switch to a plan that has a Buyback Bank, we’ll help you do it for free.

Your banked credits are yours to keep if you remain on an eligible TXU Energy solar buyback plan. Banked credits have no cash, credit or other redemption value and are non-transferable.

No, the energy you produce first flows into your home reducing your need for electricity from the grid and lowering your electricity bill. If you don’t have battery storage installed, any energy you produced that your home doesn’t use in real time will flow back out to the grid as excess energy. You earn a buyback credit on your monthly bill for the excess energy you sent back out to the grid. See the Electricity Facts Label for specific TXU Energy solar buyback plan details.

Yes, our buyback plans support 100% renewable energy.