Community subscription solar helps residents save money on their utility bill without changing their utility company or installing solar panels on their home.

Across New York State, solar farms produce electricity. Residents can purchase solar credits from these solar farms, which show up on utility bills as 5%, 10%, and occasionally 20% cost savings on electricity charges.

For example, if you’ve signed up with a solar farm offering 10% savings and your electricity bill is $100 per month, you would receive $100 worth of solar credits at a price of $90. 

Community subscription can sound confusing at first. If you have questions, we’re here to help. You can find your local Community Energy Advisor here.

No. In fact, community subscription solar saves you money. Depending on the solar farm you sign up with, you could save 5%, 10%, or, more rarely, 20% on your electricity bill.

It varies depending on the solar farm. On your NYSEG bill, you’ll notice several charges under electricity including “electricity delivery charges,” “electricity supply charges,” and “electricity taxes and surcharges.” Different solar farms apply cost savings differently. Some subscription solar farms may only apply the savings to variable charges on your electricity bill, which does not include the “basic service charge.” Other solar farms may apply the discount to the entire electricity portion of your bill. Inquire with your subscription solar provider to find out what your discount applies to.

New Yorkers who receive an electricity bill from an investor-owned utility (e.g., NYSEG) are eligible to sign up for community subscription solar. Renters and homeowners are both eligible.

A few exceptions apply: You cannot sign up for community solar if you already have solar panels installed on your home or have a demand charge on your bill (uncommon).

There are hundreds of community subscription solar farms in New York State. Savings and availability vary across companies. Use this tool to identify a subscription solar farm near you. You can also learn more about what to look for on NYSERDA’s NY-Sun website.

Using your utility account number from your electric bill, you can sign up directly with the solar farm of your choosing. We’ve laid out just a few of the many options available in a table above. These community solar farms were selected due to their clear information on savings information, availability, billing process, and responsiveness to our outreach.

As always, if you have an energy question, contact your local Community Energy Advisor for free information, support, and resource navigation.

Depending on the community subscription solar provider you signed up with, your bill may look one of two ways.

Consolidated Bill Model

If your solar farm uses consolidated billing, you’ll just receive your NYSEG bill, including the cost savings from community solar. You’ll notice a “CDG subscription fee,” which is the discounted amount you pay to the solar farm. You’ll also see “CDG Value Stack Credit” or “CDG allocation,” which is the solar credits you receive from the solar farm. Your “value stack credit” or “allocation” will be more than the “subscription fee,” indicating that you’re saving money.

You can view an example here.

In this example, the customer has signed up with a solar farm offering a 10% discount. The customer paid the solar farm $28.55 (CDG subscription fee) for $31.72 of solar credits (CDG monthly allocation), resulting in savings of $3.17 (CDG customer net credit), a 10% discount

Dual Bill Model

Some solar farms use a dual bill model, meaning that you’ll receive two bills: one from NYSEG and one from the community solar provider. You’ll still pay less for your electricity, per your agreement with the solar provider, but you’ll pay the solar farm separately from your utility. 

You can view an example here.

In this example, the customer has signed up with a solar farm offering a 10% discount. The customer paid $25.51 directly to the solar farm. In return, the customer received $28.34 worth of solar credits, reflected on their NYSEG bill. This month, the customer saved $2.84, a 10% savings.

CDG stands for “Community Distributed Generation” and indicates that you’re signed up with a community subscription solar farm. As opposed to a centralized power plant, community distributed generation refers to the power coming from multiple points in a community such as solar farms and residential rooftop solar. 

On your utility bill. you’ll notice a “CDG subscription fee,” which is the discounted amount you pay to the solar farm. You’ll also see “CDG Value Stack Credit” or “CDG allocation,” which is the solar credits you receive from the solar farm. You should see net savings on your utility bill, per your agreement with the solar provider. Visit this NY Green Bank page if you’re interested in learning more about Community Distributed Generation in New York State.

If you have questions about your utility bill, contact your Community Energy Advisor for assistance at no charge.

No. While signing up for community subscription solar supports solar development and saves you money, it does not replace the energy flowing to your house. You are purchasing solar credits from a solar farm at a discount, but your electricity supply and delivery do not change.

No. These are two different models. 

Through community subscription solar, residents can purchase solar credits from a solar farm without changing their electricity supplier. Through an Energy Supply Company (ESCO), residents may purchase their energy supply through a third party.

While community subscription solar offers savings to New Yorkers, ESCOs have faced heavy scrutiny from New York State’s Department of Public Service due to concerns about pricing. While some ESCOs may offer value to residents (such as renewable electricity, or fixed rates), customers may end up paying more with an ESCO than they would with their utility’s standard supply rate. You can learn more about ESCOs here.

As with any door-to-door sales encounter, be sure to clearly understand who the salesperson represents and what they are selling. As a reminder, utilities do not conduct door-to-door sales. Salespeople may not fully understand the product that they are selling, so you may want to independently research options for community subscription solar before signing up. It may be hard to fully understand the terms of your contract when signing a contract with a door-to-door salesperson.

If you’d like help evaluating options for community subscription solar, contact your Community Energy Advisor.

No. Per New York State regulations, a household can only receive solar energy from one source.

No. Community subscription solar cannot cover more than 100% of your electricity usage, so subscription solar companies typically aim to cover 85-90% of your electricity usage (based on prior electrical use).

If you start using significantly more electricity (if you install an electric vehicle charger or electric air source heat pumps, for example), contact your subscription solar farm to request an “increase in solar allocation.” Your community solar provider can adjust your solar credits to make sure it reflects your current electricity use.

There are many resources about community subscription solar on NYSERDA’s NY-SUN page. If you’re interested in a regular newsletter about community subscription solar and ESCOs in New York State, you may wish to sign up for an Energy Navigator volunteer’s “Green Beings” newsblast. To sign up, contact Gerri Wiley at gerriwiley@yahoo.com.