Duke Energy Florida in 2026: rates, the $30 minimum bill, and net metering

Duke Energy Florida is the state’s second-largest electric utility and the one serving Central Florida and the west coast: St. Petersburg, Pinellas, part of Orlando and Osceola, Polk, Lake, Sumter and more. In 2026 it lowered the typical 1,000 kWh bill by about $50 versus January, keeps a $30 monthly minimum bill, and credits net metering 1 to 1 with a year-end settlement at a generation rate.

Who does Duke Energy Florida serve?

By its own press releases, Duke Energy Florida supplies about 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in 35 Florida counties, with about 524,000 in Pinellas County alone. It is the utility for all of St. Petersburg, a large share of the Orlando metro outside the OUC city limits, parts of Kissimmee and Osceola outside KUA, and parts of Polk around Lakeland.

The fastest way to know whether you are a Duke customer is the logo on your bill. In Orange and Osceola there are streets where one side is Duke and the other is municipal, and the net metering rules change completely from one side to the other.

How much does Duke charge per kWh in 2026?

Duke does not publish a single-page RS-1 breakdown the way FPL does, and its rates changed three times in 2026. This is what is documented in its official releases:

Using real customer bills, EnergySage reports an average of 17¢/kWh in Orlando and 16¢/kWh in St. Petersburg in 2026, taxes included and utilities mixed. The number that matters is yours: divide your bill total by the kWh and you have your real cost per kWh. How to find each line is in how to read your Duke Energy bill.

Heads up: a solar proposal built between January and February 2026 used Duke rates that no longer exist. If they showed you “$X a month in savings” on that basis, today’s real savings are lower. Ask them to redo it with a summer 2026 bill.

What is Duke’s $30 minimum bill?

Duke charges a $30 monthly minimum usage fee, and its official page confirms it will keep charging it. It came out of the 2021 rate settlement and mostly hits people who draw very little from the grid, which means homes with panels. From 2025 through 2027 Duke offers a manual adjustment for income-qualified customers, but its own page says it applies only to someone who “is not also a net metering customer.”

In practice: in a month where your panels covered everything, the Duke bill does not go below $30 plus taxes and fees. That is the minimum bill, and our design and our guarantee start from there.

How does net metering work with Duke?

Duke credits 1 to 1: each kWh you send to the grid is worth the same as one you buy. Net metering is that kWh compensation through the bidirectional meter. The concrete rules come from Florida PSC Rule 25-6.065, which applies equally to Duke, FPL and TECO:

• Monthly credit: one month’s surplus is credited to the next month’s consumption.
• Annual true-up: at the end of each calendar year the utility pays unused credits at an average annual rate based on its COG-1 “as-available” tariff. That is avoided energy cost, not retail.
• Tiers: Tier 1 up to 10 kW, Tier 2 over 10 up to 100 kW, Tier 3 over 100 kW up to 2 MW.
• Duke fees and insurance: Tier 1 no application fee, no disconnect switch, no insurance; Tier 2 $240 fee and $1 million policy; Tier 3 $750 fee and $2 million. The PSC sets the insurance ceilings; each utility proposes its fee.
• Capacity: Duke checks that the system does not exceed 90% of the transformer or service drop rating.
• Meter: Duke swaps your meter for a bidirectional one at no cost; SolarReviews documents about three weeks from a complete application.

What all of this looks like on a real bill, month to month and at settlement, is in net metering in Florida.

Does Duke have a time-of-use rate?

Yes, RST-1 (Residential Service Time of Use) is optional. The documented on-peak periods are 6 to 9 PM and 5 to 10 AM, Monday through Friday; everything else is off-peak. Unlike FPL, whose summer peak lands at midday, Duke’s peaks land when your panels produce little or nothing. For most solar homes it does not improve the result; it may help if you charge an EV at night and have a battery. It is decided with hourly data.

How do I download my Duke bill?

Go to duke-energy.com or the app, register with your account number and turn on Paperless Billing: you get a PDF every month and can see up to 24 months of history online. For the diagnosis we need 12 bills or, better, the 13-month usage chart Duke prints on the bill.

What does this mean for sizing your system?

With Duke the math has three pieces: the kWh you replace is worth less today than in January (good for your wallet, bad for the proposal’s “savings”), the annual surplus is paid at COG-1, and the $30 minimum bill does not go away. Designing above consumption does not pay; designing below leaves you buying expensive kWh in August. Our point is ~110% of annual consumption, with monthly production shown, not just annual. Per-watt prices for your city are in solar panel cost in Florida 2026; if you are in Central Florida with Duke, the solar subscription also exists, with a fixed payment, no debt and 30% savings guaranteed by contract.

When solar does NOT make sense with Duke

• Bill under $100: the $30 minimum bill plus taxes leaves little margin.
• Tile or metal roof, or less than 4 years of roof life: it disqualifies for subscription, and for a purchase the roof should come first.
• You are on the municipal side of the street (OUC, KUA, Lakeland Electric): the rules are different and the number changes; see your city page.
• They offer you a system “big enough to have leftover”: with Duke, December’s leftover is worth pennies.

What to check before deciding

• That the proposal uses a 2026 bill from March or later, not January.
• Your real cost per kWh: bill total ÷ kWh.
• That the system stays under 90% of your service capacity and near your annual use with a reasonable margin.
• That savings subtract the $30 minimum bill and taxes.
• That the Tier 1 interconnection is approved before turn-on.