Can ComEd Hourly Pricing + solar get your bill to $0?

Yes — in some months, and it’s documented under today’s rules: a 20 kW system installed in November 2025 hit exactly $0 in one of its first five billing months on Hourly Pricing, with the other four at $90, $84, $129, and $153. The mechanism: net metering credits are dollar credits, and when a month’s credits exceed its supply charges the supply section goes negative and flows through to a $0 amount due, with the rest banked. It’s month-dependent, not guaranteed: delivery and fixed charges are never separately credited, and export timing decides everything. A battery makes $0 months far more repeatable.

Each exported kWh earns a monetary credit at the wholesale-driven hourly price at the moment it was generated, netted hour by hour against what you drew from the grid. On the default fixed rate, exports instead earn a flat kWh credit. For systems interconnected after Dec 31, 2024, credits offset the supply portion of the bill only — per Illinois Shines, delivery charges are never credited.

ComEd’s own data says participants with net metering saved an average of 30% on supply costs vs the fixed rate — double the 15% for participants without solar (7,500+ participants, May 2018–Dec 2023). Two caveats: that window ends before supply-only net metering existed, and heavy midday exporters can do worse than the fixed rate, as one documented net-producing home shows. The case strengthens substantially with a battery — and the $300/kWh storage rebate requires a Qualifying Utility Product, of which this rate is one option, anyway.

Because netting happens hour by hour at that hour’s price, not kWh for kWh. A documented western-Chicagoland home with a 20 kW system out-produced its usage five months running and still paid $90, $0, $84, $129, and $153 — its exports went out in cheap midday hours (monthly credit rates ranged from a 0.383¢/kWh charge to a 9.177¢/kWh credit) while its imports came in at full evening prices, on top of delivery charges that credits never touch.

Neither expires nor cashes out. Per CUB’s 2026 fact sheet and ComEd, unused monetary credits on Hourly Pricing roll forward indefinitely with no annual reset — and ComEd never pays them out as cash. They sit on the account until future charges absorb them.

A monthly line item based on your usage during the prior summer’s grid peaks: your Peak Load Contribution × scaling factors × the capacity rate — for June 2026, PLC × 0.97854 × 0.9291 × $10.11236/kW-month (CUB’s formula). ComEd’s published example: 2.51 kW × $8.34 ≈ $20.94/month at the prior rate. It resets every June; cutting usage on hot weekday afternoons (2–6 p.m.) — or letting a battery do it — lowers next year’s charge.

Not specifically — but a rate like it either way. The rebate’s terms require taking service on a Qualifying Utility Product “for the life of the energy storage facility” — Hourly Pricing (Rate BESH) is one option that satisfies this, not the only one. The rebate pays $300 per kWh of usable capacity (≈$4,050 on a typical 13.5 kWh unit). Important distinction: taking the storage rebate does not forfeit grandfathered full net metering — the separate generation rebate does. It also can’t be combined with community-solar subscriptions. Full details: the ComEd battery storage rebate, explained.

On this rate, the gap does the deciding: extra panels push more kWh out at 3–9¢ hourly export prices, while a battery converts exports into self-consumption worth the full ~18¢ retail stack — keeping ~89% of every stored kWh. Fleet data shows the first battery captures most of the value (69% marginal utilization vs 34% for a second unit). Panels still win if your base production is undersized. Deeper dive: is a solar battery worth it in Illinois?

Nothing — and that’s the point most pages miss. Delivery on Hourly Pricing is identical to the default rate: 6.228¢/kWh non-summer, 7.595¢ summer, plus the $19.07/month in fixed charges. Under supply-only net metering those are never credited, which is exactly why exported-then-reimported energy loses money and stored energy doesn’t.

Partially. Systems interconnected before Jan 1, 2025 keep grandfathered full retail net metering, so the import/export gap here mostly doesn’t apply. What still matters: the storage rebate won’t forfeit your grandfathered status, the generation rebate permanently will, and the capacity charge and enrollment rules work the same. Start here: ComEd net metering, explained.

ComEd says 1–3 months, taking effect at a new billing cycle. If you dropped Hourly Pricing within the past 12 months, you wait 12 billing periods before re-enrolling. If you’re with an alternative retail supplier, you must cancel that service first — and time any switch so supplier exit fees don’t apply.

The market cap is $3.70/kWh — but extremes are rare: prices exceeded $1.00/kWh for only about 15 hours total across 2019–2024. Solar homes are naturally hedged (you’re producing during many high-priced afternoon hours), and a battery lets you ride out spikes on stored energy instead of grid imports.